I am currently an agency nurse.  Agency nursing can be great and sometimes it can be hard.

I have been doing this for less than a year and have survived a winter season.  The seasonality here where I live is due to the annual migration of the snow birds to the state. They bring their co-morbidities with them. I was mostly staying in one hospital during this time but now that season is over I have been traveling more.

It’s been an amazing experience I have to say.

• I make my own schedule.  I let them know when I am available and they schedule me.  I can take holidays off if I want too.
• The pay is a bit better.  You get paid more than the average med-surg nurse.
• You work all over the place.  You get to see so many different places and meet so many different people from regular med-surg floor to psych.  Always something different.
• It’s great to be exposed to all kinds of things and different ways of doing things.
• I do have to know all the different protocols for each of the hospitals in which I work.  This always takes time with each new place I go.

Lately I have been traveling longer distances for work.  My day goes a little something like this.  I get a call at 0430 telling me I am either confirmed at a certain hospital or what choices there are for the day.  I pick where I want to go and then I am confirmed and expected there.  I have traveled as little as 10 minutes for work and a little over an hour for work. Someday’s it’s difficult to know I may not make it home until a little before it’s time for bed. Some days I am exhausted.  I generally walk 3-6 miles a day in my work as a nurse.