Nursing Uncharted Ep. 97 - Shifting with Life Seasons with Ann King
In this heartfelt solo episode, Ann takes listeners on a reflective journey through her six transformative years as a travel nurse. She dives into the personal and professional growth she’s experienced, the freedom and flexibility that travel nursing offers, and the lessons learned from navigating different life seasons. Ann opens up about the importance of mental health, finding a sense of home, and embracing change as a catalyst for growth. Her insights and stories will inspire nurses and anyone seeking to grow through life’s changing chapters.
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We Discuss
00:00 Reflecting on Six Years of Travel Nursing
02:53 The Seasons of Life and Career
05:49 Growth Through Travel and Experience
09:12 Mental Health and Personal Growth
12:03 Finding Home in Travel Nursing
Transcript
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Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Nursing Uncharted. It's your host, Ann. And today it's just me. I am doing another solo episode and it has been so long since I've done this. I have had so many guests wanting to come on and share their story, share their experience and just be a part of this. And that makes me so excited, but I think it was time to maybe have a one-on-one session with you again. So I can kind of...
vent, unload, reflect on where I'm at in my career and my life as a travel nurse. coming up soon will be my six year anniversary of traveling. And it's so crazy to think about I've been doing this for six years. It feels like I just decided to drive to San Diego on a whim and take my very first travel assignment. It feels like that was yesterday, but to think that it's been six years.
There's a lot to unpack in those six years and how I ended up here. So I've shared this story before, but I'm from middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania, small town girl. Never, ever, ever did I think that I would end up here. And I'm so happy that I am here. And it took a lot. took a risk. I took a risk. I had support from my family, my friends. It just, I think back and there's just so much to unload, but it really made me think about
why I ended up here in comparison to anywhere else in the country, because we have the option as travel nurses to go wherever we like. you know, it's summertime now, I'm getting to what we call local summer. It's, you know, September, October is when the locals of San Diego really get to enjoy the weather, the beaches, the weather tends to be the nicest during these times. Everyone's back to school, everyone's back in their hometowns, and it's really a time for the locals.
to enjoy the benefits of what San Diego is. So I grew up in Pennsylvania. You experience all four seasons of the year. We have a beautiful fall, cold winters, rainy springs, and hot, humid summers. And I've been talking with a couple of nurses. I've been talking with my crew here from the podcast, and we talked about traveling with the seasons. And seasons, when I think about that, it's just what I said. You have winter.
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spring, summer, fall. But there's more to the seasons than just the weather. It's where you are in life. It's where you are in your career. And what you really want for yourself or you're afraid to do for yourself, you just need that push to do it. And that's basically how I ended up where I am now. I never thought that I could do what I did. I mean, I never thought I would be here talking with you guys.
having a podcast, sharing my story, learning so much from all of you, I never thought I could get here. And I did that because of the freedom that we have as nurses and as travel nurses. So right before recording this episode, I had a conversation with my producer about, you know, what did you do this summer? Why did you do what you did this summer? And I took a break. I took...
time off to see my family, my nephew graduated from high school. I was able to go and spend that time with him, my brother, my parents. Like we were all together. And when, if I had a permanent job, I wouldn't be able to do that. I wouldn't be able to pick up and just take the time I need for myself and that you need the time with your family. And I really feel the freedom that you have as a travel nurse allows for that to happen.
And it's crazy to think about, I took the summer off. I don't, I have a per diem job and I work that I pick up hours. And when I need the extra cash, I'll do that. But now it's time for me to refocus. I enjoyed my freedom this summer. I enjoyed the time with my friends, my family, but now I need to circle back and focus on finding another assignment. And I did that and I actually...
I have two assignments lined up. One is a very short contract. And then I come back and start another one right away. So right now my life is kind of crazy, but I was able to not have that craziness all summer long because of the flexibility that you have as a travel nurse. And going back to the seasons and talking about the seasons, the weather seasons, but the seasons of you as a nurse, I'm not the same nurse that I was.
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When I even came to San Diego for the first time six years ago, I look back at my social media, my posts, my videos, my photos, and I'm like, who is that person? And it's so crazy because I don't feel that it's been that long, but just to know the growth and the changes that I've had from just six years ago is crazy. And it's hard not to take a step back and analyze that.
sitting by myself and you're kind of reflecting on your day, your brain just kind of goes deeper and deeper and deeper into that and you realize, how did I get here? Why am I here? Why am I doing what I'm doing? it's pretty incredible what different places and different people in your life, how that can impact you as a person and for me as a nurse. I feel
that when you are maybe, I I'm not encouraging everyone to go out there and travel, but I do feel that traveling has really made my, made me more of a well-rounded nurse. Like I knew, I know what I know. I'm a very confident nurse in my specialty, which is neonatal ICU. I will never forget the experience, the education, the mentors I had in my home hospital, as travelers call it.
I was just having a conversation with my coworkers at my per diem job about how even people that have been at that hospital for so long when there's travelers that come in, because we just had a bunch of travelers at that hospital, we learn from them. We learn from each other. And the influences you have from people of all over the country, all over the world, we had an international traveler.
come on and talk about her experience. And it's so incredible. And everybody that I talk to on this podcast, in my real life, I try to take something from them because I think that that just allows us to grow. And it allows us to get through these changes and these advancements and these seasons of our life and our career. And I think that I just...
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I'm just talking now, but all this stuff is just kind of flooding my head. And I just hope that this maybe encourages people to, you know, let the walls down and allow yourself to take in as much as you can from the people that you work with and that you encounter. You're going to encounter patients and their families that maybe are on vacation and they're not expecting to be in the hospital, but you know, they're from a completely different state or country and just listening to them and
taking that in will make you grow. It will change you. And like I said, six years ago till now, I look back and sometimes I cringe because I'm like, why did I post that? Who was I? Like, I cannot believe I was not embarrassed to post what I post sometimes. And it's just, it's so crazy. And I talk with my friends, like, and you're just so different from when I met you five, six years ago to who you are now. And I like that. That's not something that...
I get insecure about or, no, is that a bad thing? I think it's a good thing. think that growing as a person, growing in your career only makes you better. And I was really hesitant to do this episode because I didn't know where it would go. I was talking to myself, practicing before this, and I didn't know how deep it would get. just even talking...
Right now, I'm reflecting on things that I didn't really think about. And I think this year, I've really focused on mental health. I went through a lot. I've shared some of that. And it has truly changed me. I had a health scare within my family, within myself. I've had relationships, friendships, other relationships change. And people come in and out of your life.
And I've really wanted to help nurses out there that we all go through it. I'm not the only person that goes through things like this, but we give so much of ourselves that sometimes we forget that we need to refill that tank. So this year I've really focused on mental health and I'm like, how do I wrap this up and put a bow on it? And I just think that when we go through things, good or bad, you need to be able
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to allow it to change you in some way because we either learn from it to do it again and be better or we learn from it and we don't want to be that person. And these are the struggles that I've gone through over the past year. And I'm extremely thankful for this podcast because I do feel that this has allowed me to heal from all the craziness that has happened. It's allowed me to like...
meet new people and learn about things that I never knew even existed in the nursing industry. I've met business owners. I've met aesthetic nurses that practice beyond what I ever thought a nurse could practice in. And I just think it's amazing. And a lot of the people, it's so funny when I meet these people and have the initial interviews, I'm like ready to sign up to go back to school or shift my career and go that pathway because I'm just so fascinated with how
different and how many different paths you can take as a nurse. And, you know, it's it's something that I feel like we talk about on the surface level, but when we don't dig as deep and we don't get as vulnerable as we should, because when we show up at work, we have to be confident, we have to help others, we have to tuck away our feelings and put on a show sometimes because we're working through
some really difficult situations. We've talked about this on previous episodes, but we are people at the end of the day and we have stressors every day where you're going through financial troubles, social troubles, whatever they may be. But when you're at work, you're expected to like just shove it away and continue through and then go home and what? Do you decompress with your loved ones? Do you decompress with your friends? Do you sit there and talk to your cats and dogs?
Like, I don't know. I can only speak for myself and I know that when I come home, I come home alone. I love it. I love living alone. I'm not complaining about that. it's, you know, we have to know how to take care of ourselves and we have to know how to grow and change with everything that's happening. Health care is changing dramatically and it's changing quickly. And we have to...
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be mindful of what is best for ourselves and where we see the projection of our career in the future. And this kind of shifted into a crazy way. And I'm not trying to like preach or tell you to do anything that you don't want to do, but I'm just kind of sharing my heart, my mind, and my struggles with you guys in hopes that someone may be feeling that same way and can just be encouraged that
This does not mean this is a stop, this is a barrier. This just means you have to push and you have to take those experiences and grow and go through the seasons of what it is to be a nurse and a person at the end of the day. People listening, take this for what it is. Take this as my vulnerability and where my path has led me. And to circle back to my six-year travel anniversary,
It's incredible. I'm literally living in the place that I traveled to for my very first travel assignment. I've gone elsewhere in California. I've gone back to Pennsylvania. I'm going back to Pennsylvania for my next travel assignment. But, you know, I'm happy that I found a home. And I think back to before even doing this podcast, speaking with my recruiter with AMN and asking, like, what's your goal? Or other people that...
I work with, what's your goal? And it was for me to find a new home where I'm happy. And I've realized that I'm happy here. And it's so funny because at work, people are like, do really? you like, why do you want to stay here? And it's, I'm just happy. There's no, like, there's not one thing that I can write down on a piece of paper that's like, this is the reason why I want to stay here. It's just, it feels right. And I think that that's the most incredible thing about travel nursing is you can experience so many different places.
and have flexibility and freedom and find a place that feels right. We didn't choose where we were born or grew up. You know, that was kind of chosen for us. So for me, I was able to explore places that I never in my life thought that I would be able to explore. And I feel at least for now, I found my new home and I am so grateful for nursing my career. It's allowed for that flexibility. And I'm extremely grateful for the travel nurse industry because it allows me
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to continue to do that. So I hope someone can take something away from this. I love some feedback. I'm here to talk about these things. If you're kind of going through the same thing, come be a guest on here. I definitely in the beginning thought that I loved these solo episodes, but I've really come to realize I love meeting you, talking with you, and hearing more and experiencing more about what everyone else is feeling right now. So reach out.
Give me a like, shoot me a message, and thanks for listening.
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Thank you for tuning into Nursing Uncharted. You can learn more about this episode and our show on our website at amnhalthcare.com. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast platform. You can also find show updates and nursing opportunities on our Instagram at amnnurse. Special thanks to AMN Health Care for making this show possible.
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