It’s Time to Try Something New

Tony Robbins coined the famous saying, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” It’s never been more true than when it comes to your progress in your healthcare career. While you are likely making a meaningful difference in your long term, traditional healthcare job, it’s possible that things have become, well, mundane. Routine. And you just might feel like you are in a rut, professionally.

In spite of burnout, and a projected 1 in 4 healthcare workers expected to leave their jobs in the next few years, over half remain “optimistic” about their futures in medicine. This means, that like in any other industry, that optimism needs nurturing, to ensure it continues to grow into career development and opportunities to make a difference. This type of meaningful work, where you feel valued, is the number one indicator of workplace success and longevity within a career field, across all careers.

Travel nursing and travel allied healthcare opportunities offer such a wide variety of placements, facility types, and experiences, that your breadth and depth of knowledge is likely to expand in ways you didn’t think possible. Even if you eventually return to a traditional career setting, you will have seen and experienced such a variety of settings that you will be able to apply that new knowledge to any future opportunities. All this translates into a more meaningful and helpful experience for patients, and therefore improved job satisfaction for you. Here’s what to expect as travel healthcare placements push you past your typical comfort zone, into an elevated standard of care.

A change of scenery

If you’ve been working in the same fast-paced emergency room for the last decade, it might be time for a change. Instead, you might select a placement in home health, hospice, a nonprofit, acute care, a trauma center, a community hospital, or another setting. Sometimes, a change of scenery is just what you need to experience a different type of professional environment, where the pace and schedule, the colleagues and interactions, and the patients you work with are different from your usual. Trying out a different environment brings with it entirely new patients and processes, and acquiring multiple of these opportunities over time means, to some extent, you’ve “seen it all,” making you exceptionally prepared in the future for anything the healthcare field throws your way.

Learning something new

A whopping 86% of workers wish that they would have the chance to learn new skills in their profession, and 83% want to refine or enhance the skills they currently have, one survey says. These high numbers speak to our innate curiosities as humans, healthcare workers, and people who want to improve others’ lives. But, in the hustle and bustle of traditional placements, aside from the occasional mandated professional development, there’s not always time or space to really expand your knowledge of your field. Instead, with travel healthcare, you have the chance to try new equipment, learn new skills, and explore process improvements.

Working with new people from a variety of backgrounds

Sure, you are besties with your go-to colleague friends at the traditional healthcare position you’ve worked in for years. But what are you missing by not learning from and working alongside doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals around the country, with a wider variety of backgrounds and experiences? Expanding your horizons when it comes to the colleagues you interact with daily is essential for personal and professional growth. One way to take full advantage of travel healthcare opportunities is to really invest in these relationships, even if it’s for a short time, to get to know others and learn from them. You can spend time asking them questions and observing their processes, and also spending time with them outside of work.

Explore new places for personal growth too

Problem-solving. Decision making. Decluttering your thinking. Increased hope. Appreciation, gratitude, and self-empowerment. These are just a few of the many benefits that travel, and exploring new places, has on our psyches, according to psychologists. One of the key reasons travel healthcare professionals pursue this career path is to be able to spend time in other places around the country, from major cities to more suburban and rural communities, where they can experience a new way of life, new sites and sounds, and an overall change of pace. But, moving can be a big commitment (in fact, 75% of people who move cities permanently regret it) so travel healthcare placements offer a much lower risk, and short term try out of a new city, rather than a permanent situation. This gives our travel healthcare professionals the chance to sample lots of cities and communities around the country, both to scout out locations to live in permanently later, or to keep on moving from place to place.

This combination of growing personally and professionally, often at the same time, is a moving experience for many of our healthcare professionals, one that they carry with them for the rest of their career. Often, it’s what keeps them coming back for additional placements in new cities, so they can continue on this path of growth, and avoid stagnating. We are invested in helping you grow, both personally and professionally, by helping hand pick your potential placements for you. Schedule a phone call today with our highly experienced recruiters to chat through your options, or check out our job opportunities on our website.