‘I was motivated mainly by adventure’

Kirsten Newcomb labored in Virginia for 10 many years before her job took her somewhere with year-spherical sunshine and warm weather conditions, with the extra rewards of sunbathing sea turtles and lush jungle climbing: Hawaii.   

In March 2020, the 35-12 months-aged moved to the island of Maui just after quitting her longtime job as a personnel nurse to become a travel nurse. “I was motivated mainly by adventure,” Newcomb suggests. “My favourite detail that I’ve done on Maui so far is I went paragliding off the aspect of Haleakala, which is the huge volcano.”

Vacation nurses are registered nurses who get the job done limited-term contracts, generally lasting about a few months, at hospitals with staffing shortages all over the country. Skyrocketing demand for vacation nurses has elevated awareness about the job’s hardships as effectively as distinctive positive aspects: versatility, globetrotting, and bigger shell out.

Due to the fact of the pandemic, need for journey nurses soared about 82% in 2020, according to vacation nurse agency Aya Healthcare. There ended up 12,817 journey nurse task openings on regular just about every day in 2020, up from 7,054 in 2019, according to Aya Healthcare knowledge. At the height of the pandemic in December 2020, there ended up about 30,000 openings, up from just about 10,000 a 12 months before.  

Kirsten Newcomb is from Virginia and has labored a few vacation nurse contracts in Maui.

Image by Helen Zhao

Vacation nurses can explore the state on short-term contracts and acquire time off concerning gigs, being aware of they can likely safe a new job quickly. “When I start out hunting for a new agreement, it usually usually takes about a 7 days,” suggests Newcomb. “I can rather substantially choose where ever I want to go following.”

“It’s nearly a de-risked adventure,” suggests April Hansen, an govt vice president at Aya Healthcare and previous travel nurse. “This is where by well being care fulfills the gig overall economy.” 

“When you have an entire nation that is going through a pandemic, and the hero is the nurse … that delivers a different degree of recognition to just how important and how transportable our skill established is,” Hansen says. “You can essentially just take your capabilities on the highway and build your possess profession route.” 

Journey nurses are commonly paid out far more than team nurses, as incentive for uprooting their lives and moving, temporarily, to a new location. Hansen suggests travel nurses commonly make wherever from $2,000/week to a lot more than $5,000/week. That price includes a tax-cost-free stipend for food and housing. Average shell out for registered nurses in the U.S. ranges from about $1,000/7 days to about $1,500/week, according to ZipRecruiter info.

When hospitals are confused by people, they pay best dollar to use journey nurses quickly. Newcomb labored a crisis contract in Dallas, Texas in 2020 that aided her conserve $30,000 in the previous yr, but the experience was grueling and the pay out didn’t generally feel truly worth it. “I imagine I observed additional individuals pass away than I experienced in the whole 10 a long time prior in my whole nursing career,” she states. 

“I couldn’t watch the information when I was traveling to my mothers and fathers above Xmas, due to the fact the news would show hospitals and I would straight away recall what that felt like. And I would promptly start out crying.”

Newcomb hasn’t been in a position to help save as much money dwelling in Maui, mainly since the cost of living is larger, but she’s happier and the healthiest she’s ever been.

Throughout the pandemic, lots of nurses traveled to hospitals in require, out of a connect with to responsibility. In doing so, quite a few have gotten to check out attractive locations. “I just understood if I was going to start out journey nursing I wanted to go somewhere epic,” Newcomb says.

The report “Journey Nurse who Earns $7,000 a Thirty day period in Hawaii: ‘I was Motivated Primarily by Adventure’″ was initially published on Increase (CNBC + Acorns).