I have officially signed the contracts and finished onboarding for my third travel nurse assignment so I decided it was time to share where it will be. The beginning of January I will be heading to: The Space Coast, Florida! I have accepted a 13 week contract on a Progressive Care Unit (PCU). I will technically be part of the supplemental staffing/float team- meaning I can float to any of the four hospitals in the hospital system if needed. The unit I am going to is not a designated Covid Unit, but I know that giving the current times and stats of Florida, I very well could be working on a Covid Unit or with Covid patients this assignment. And I’m okay with that, I realize that is part of travel nursing now and I am always more than happy to work alongside my fellow front line workers to help in anyway I can.

Direct Hospital Contract

This contract is a little different in I am signed and working a contract directly with the hospital. I love my travel nurse company and I am honestly a little sad to not be working with them this contract. However, this hospital system only hires contract nurses directly- and this is where I really wanted to be. I looked for contracts through multiple agencies- but none were available in this area. When I found this I applied and had an offer within a week after a phone interview (much like my travel RN job experience.) I did have to come down to do my onboarding (drug test, HR paperwork, etc) where with travel jobs they would have set me up at a location close to home to complete that. Once I get started and really see how the process works I’ll share more information about taking a job directly with a hospital as a contract nurse!

Close to Family

The best part about this contract is my parents live one mile from the hospital I am assigned too! They lived in Greenville, near me, the year we got married. However, they have been back in Florida since our wedding, so we haven’t lived close for the past year. I’m excited to spend the winter closer to them and my best friend who lives close to here as well! Bradley and I are also looking forward to a much warmer winter. Greenville has mild winters, but we are excited to be able to spend a lot of time outside and on the water. Covid + isolation + grief has made for a long year for us, and we are ready for some rest and relaxation (when we aren’t working.)

Finding a RV Site

If you own a RV and you want to find a spot to park it in Florida, find it EARLY! The snowbirds really fill up the RV parks in Florida in the winter. I called/emailed at least TEN locations before I finally found one. It was definitely a tad stressful, but we finally found one. Most RV dwellers who are travelers I follow suggest submitting/accepting the assignment after you find a spot. In the future, I plan to do this. I was really interested in this specific contract so we knew we may have to find alternative housing for a while.

Other post about travel nursing that may interest you:

Travel Nurse Contract #2: Washington, D.C.

My First Travel Nurse Contract: My thoughts and experiences

Culbertson’s Go Tiny