Life as a Traveling Endo Nurse

There are probably as many reasons for becoming a travel nurse as there are travel nurses. My own experience began in January of 2007 when my daughter said, “Guess what Mom? I’m pregnant!” It was good news and bad news since she lives in San Diego and I live in Pennsylvania. I knew right away that I had to figure out some way to be there.

Although I had talked about being a travel nurse for years, I didn’t know if there would be a need for a traveling endoscopy nurse. Guess I should have checked sooner, since there is definitely a need for experienced endo nurses in many travel locations.

My daughter had heard of a company with a great reputation — American Mobile Healthcare — that was based in San Diego and that handles travelers. Since I didn’t know where else to start, I contacted them and was immediately set up with a recruiter. In the meantime, I started the arduous process of applying for a California license.

Finding a travel location is easy if you are not particular about the destination, but finding a position in a popular city like San Diego at just the right time seemed like an impossible hurdle. Miraculously, a position at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla opened up for the first week in September and lasted 13 weeks. My granddaughter, Avery Rose, was born September 24.