A Long Distance Travel Nursing Relationship
Last week at the hospital I met a guy who's wife was travel nursing in Anchorage, Alaska while he stayed behind to work in the Southeastern U.S. Now that is a long distance relationship! His wife had always wanted to go to Alaska and she didn't care whether he went with her or not. He said the two of them didn't really mind living apart from each other for a few months because the travel nursing company she worked for paid for him to fly out to Alaska once every month to visit. The travel nursing company was happy to do this because by keeping her in town (and, therefore, at work), she was able to make more money for herself and her travel nursing company. A win-win proposition.
Salmon Fishing and Travel Nurses in Alaska
He also said that there is a real need for travel nurses in Alaska. One reason for this need, he said, was due to the seasonal shortage of nurses around salmon fishing season. Apparently during salmon fishing season a lot of the local nurses decide it is more lucrative to catch and smoke salmon for the year than show up to work. Many Alaska hospitals then have trouble getting the nurses to come in to work.
Northern Lights
One thing he and his wife got to experience this past March was seeing the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). He said it was something she will definitely never forget. Since she worked twelve hour shifts, she was able to do a lot of sightseeing on her days off. On some wildlife hikes she got to see mountain goats, caribou and moose, etc. I absolutely love being out in nature and seeing unusual animals I have never seen before. I can't imagine how cool it would be to get to go on an assignment like this where the wildlife is so abundant and unusual. Alaska is on my list of places to travel nurse.
Benefits/Pay
He couldn't remember the name of the agency his wife was working for, but he did say that the pay was really good, they had great medical benefits and even provided her with a rental car for the entire assignment. The housing was top-notch and they paid her utilities, among many other things. Alaska is starting to sound really good to me. Kids, start packing your bags. School's out in June.