Category: Personal Experiences

Working in Miami, FL as a family nurse practitioner was exciting at first. During the first year, it was a learning process and figuring out what worked best for me as a provider. I have always loved being challenged and trying new things. So after 3 years of working in the same primary care office, I was ready for a change. I knew I did not want to stay in Miami because I was interested in working with a different population. My patient population in Miami was majority Hispanic and elderly.

Sometimes we get comfortable working in the same environment. However, health care is constantly changing and I think the best thing we can do is work in different environments and with different patient populations, in order to gain a diverse set of experiences and skills.

 

In addition, I was personally fed up with living in a large city; where there is constant traffic, rude people, and a high cost of living. I was aware that leaving my family and friends would be tough, but at least I knew I would only be gone temporarily. The great thing about locum tenens is that when your assignment ends, they always bring you back home (for free).

Another reason why I decided to become a travel nursing practitioner is because I have friends that live all over the USA. Since I graduated from Florida State University, most of my friends moved away for their jobs. I try to visit some of them each year, but they are all just so spread out. Thus, by doing travel work I am able to visit them all routinely, while I make an income.

I believe locum tenens work is actually easier to jump into opposed to travel nursing as an RN. The reason for this is because everything we need is in our brain. Compared to RN’s that have to learn an entire new floor and where they keep items.

Nonetheless, I am glad I decided to become a travel nurse practitioner. One of my mentors told me it may be difficult at first, but it will only make me stronger. And she was right!

In my last post I suggested some questions for every new locum tenens Nurse Practitioner to ask their recruiter. In this post, I will share some responses I received from my recruiters based on those questions.

• What type of lodging would I be provided with?
  As I mentioned in my last post, most agencies said they normally set up an extended stay hotel for their providers during assignments. They gave examples such as Holiday Inns, Best Westerns, or bed and breakfasts. I did have one agency ask me if I would be okay staying in a motel 8, in which I kindly declined. I was offered an assignment with an Indian Health Services facility, in which they would arrange a house for me to live in.

• How will I get to my assignment?
  My recruiters stated that locum providers usually fly to their site and are provided with a rental car. This is different in comparison to RN travel because the majority of them drive their own car to the site. If they were to fly, they would not have a rental car paid for. They are usually reimbursed in the form of mileage, in comparison to nurse practitioners that have their travel paid for upfront. When I was interested in going to D.C. for one of my assignments, I asked if I could possibly bring my car with me via the Auto Train that runs from Florida to Virginia. They actually agreed to do it since it was the cheapest option (only cost $250). They are consistently opposed to shipping your car. However, if you manage to convince them that you will drive your car, you can use the mileage reimbursement to cover the shipping costs.

• What is the pay rate for family nurse practitioners?
  Each time I asked this, they tried to ask me what I was expecting to make hourly. I deferred the question back to them asking for a range. Some agencies told me family nurse practitioners can make $40-50/h, which I thought was very low, especially for locum tenens work. My hourly rate back home was $60/h and I was comfortable making the same rate or more. So when I told these agencies my minimum was $60/h, they thought I was crazy. Meanwhile, other agencies told me family nurse practitioners can make anywhere form $60 to $90/h depending on the site, location, and experience. The rate depends on your experience, location of the site, and the agency.

• How does the licensing process work?
  Coming from Florida, one of my main concerns was obtaining a DEA license. Florida doesn’t allow nurse practitioners to obtain one (boo I know), so I have never had one before doing locum tenens work. When looking up the cost of applying for a DEA, I noticed it was $700+. That’s a good sum of money I did not want to be responsible for. So when speaking with my recruiters, I inquired if they would cover the cost of a DEA. Many agencies said absolutely, while others said they could not. I am grateful that when the time came, my agency applied and paid for my DEA license.

As discussed in my first post, the term “locum tenens” encompasses all work for healthcare providers that is temporary. That being said, my first locums assignment was actually in South Florida (where I lived). So locums work doesn’t have to include travel. It can be work you do in addition to your full-time job. Although at the time I was working full-time between being a nursing instructor and a family medicine provider, I wanted to test the waters of being a locums Nurse Practitioner. I wanted to see what it felt like to step into a new environment for a short period of time.

I wanted something local that would be per diem, and All Medical Locums Agency found me just that.

So my first assignment as a locums provider ended up being at Target Clinic! When I mentioned to my family and friends that I would be working at Target they were super confused. They couldn’t understand why I would suddenly work as a cashier. They had no idea Target even had clinics. Wearing the standard uniform; red shirt and khaki’s (can’t say I was a fan); I began work at Target. The good thing is I was provided with 32 hours of training. I know some people think that working as a locums provider, they are thrown into a new environment cold turkey. That isn’t usually the case.

Working at a retail clinic was a different experience because customer service is the top priority. I was the sole provider and had to take vital signs, give vaccines, and perform rapid strep tests etc., something I was used to delegating. However, I did enjoy working at Target because everyone who worked there was always positive and friendly (something hard to find in South Florida). I also liked seeing a variety of ages and treating mostly acute cases, which was a change from my typical chronic patients at my permanent clinic.

After several months of working at Target, I was confident that I was ready for the next step. I was ready to leave everything I had behind, and become a Travel Nurse Practitioner!