Six-Thousand Miles from Home for my First Travel Nurse Assignment

Welcome back! If you haven’t read part 1 of my “How I got my first travel nurse assignment…and maybe my last?” series, check it out here!

Six-Thousand Miles from Home

I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I’m from Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. I earned my bachelor's, passed my NCLEX, and obtained my CCRN all from this little island! With the experiences I gained from working at the ICU for three years, I set off on my first travel nurse assignment. My new journey into travel nursing took a LOT of preparation.

Before I quit my old job and submitted my 2-weeks resignation, I made it a point to leave on good terms. The team that I worked with was one that I still cherish, even today. They made every full moon, black cloud, and crazy shift bearable and their company and friendship outside of work are ones that I’ll hold onto as long as I can. I’m not quite sure what it is about Guam, but I couldn't find that kind of friendship and camaraderie during my first assignment.

I digress, enough sob stories. I’m sure you’ll want to hear about where I went for this assignment. My plans for travel nursing actually started several months before I quit. I did my research through endless FaceBook posts, Reddit forums, and other travel nurse blogs to try and pinpoint where I wanted to go. Eventually, I settled on the West Coast.

Major factors that influenced my decision on traveling to the West Coast were:

1. Nurse unions are prevalent in California, Oregon, and Washington.

2. I have family and friends in each of the aforementioned states.

3. Most of the travel nurses that I worked with on Guam recommended the West Coast…especially after their horror stories from working on the East Coast.

In the months prior to receiving my first contract and signing, I applied for my licenses in California, Washington, and Oregon. To keep things short, I will say that Washington and Oregon were the easiest of the three to apply for and receive my licenses. California on the other hand was a whole story I can go into in another post. I’m sure many of you will want to hear about my experience with getting my California license. If you’re interested, keep an eye out for a future post on this!

After I received my licenses I created various profiles with a handful of travel agencies. Eventually, I narrowed my decisions down to two travel agencies. I had my eyes set on working in either Oregon or Washington. One agency, Fusion Med Staff, had several tempting assignments in the Seattle area. The other agency, Aya, had assignments in the Portland area. Since this would be my first assignment, I was adamant about ensuring that I would work in an ICU that I was comfortable with. Ultimately, Aya sent me an offer for a contract to work at a MICU (medical ICU) in Portland. By the beginning of April, I had my contract signed and was set to leave in May for Portland, Oregon!

If you've enjoyed reading so far, stay tuned for part 3!

Until next time! Salamat and si yu’us ma’ase!