Searching for an Assignment after my Mini-Retirement

When I started my mini-retirement this summer, I wasn’t exactly sure how long I would be gone for. I figured it would be 3 months at a minimum, but I didn’t want to commit to any jobs until last minute. Finally, at the end of May I decided I would go back to work at the beginning of July. From my previous experiences, searching 1 month ahead of time in a state I am already licensed in, is more than enough time.

I had interviewed with a few sites that I liked, but then found out the credentialing could take 60-90 days. I was surprised that this ended up being more common than I thought. I didn’t want to wait until August or September to start working.

So, my search criteria priorities quickly became:

-Credentialing in less than 30 days

-Site needs to be in a state that is currently warm for summer but normally too cold for me to visit outside of summer

-Patients need to be all ages

I was initially nervous when the majority of the sites seemed to have the longest credentialing. It had been a while since I was the one actively searching for an assignment versus sites just pursuing me. Since I am a family nurse practitioner, I needed experience working with pediatrics to keep my credentialing active. It had been 2 years (outside of telemedicine) since I had worked with any children.

Thus, I couldn’t work at the geriatric clinics I normally work with. I felt like I was a newbie traveling nurse practitioner all over again. I didn’t stress out because I knew that job opportunities can change day to day.

There was an assignment in Florida I really wanted but they wanted me to start the following week, and I still had plans to travel in Europe for the remainder of the month. Therefore, they went with someone else.

Soon after, I had 3 solid options to choose from. I ended up prioritizing location. One of the options was in Maine. I had worked in Maine before and really enjoyed it, so I didn’t mind returning there. The facility seemed very fair as far as scheduling and workplace culture.

The other option was in California, right outside of San Francisco. This was honestly just my backup option. I didn’t really want to work there, especially because as a locums now you have to be paid as a W2 employee in CA, and I wanted to get paid as a 1099 contractor (because you can take home more of the pay). It was my backup option because CA is always desperate for traveling nurse practitioners.

I ended up choosing my 3rd option which I will share in another post. I just found it interesting that many sites seem to be looking for coverage way in advance than they used to be. I remember in the past, the sites wanted someone that is available to start within a couple of weeks or the same month. Now, a lot of the listings are for positions 3 months from now. I am sure many people like knowing what they are doing in advance, but I have gotten used to being a last minute planner when it comes to choosing an assignment.

Health Insurance – Part 2

See here for my original post on obtaining health insurance as a Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner:

Health Insurance

Over the past few years, I found myself working mostly with Comp Health because they have the contract with the geriatric clinics I typically work with. Since Comp Health pays traveling nurse practitioners as W2 employees, one of the benefits they provide is health insurance.

While having this health insurance, I make sure to get all of my preventative care and labs done while on assignment. I always take some time off during an assignment to go back home. At this time, I will schedule appointments with my Dentist and Primary Care Provider. Since I am still on assignment, then these appointments are all covered by my employer provided health insurance.

Last year, I even had a minor surgery. I decided to plan it while on assignment so I had good insurance to cover the majority of the expenses. I took a week off after the surgery and then returned to my assignment.

When I am not working with Comp Health, I get a high deductible health plan from the Marketplace (Affordable Care Act health insurance options). My premium is low ~$200/month. I just keep this insurance in case of a medical emergency.  

The reason I am sharing this is because if you know you will need some type of medical procedure soon, I recommend you taking on an assignment with a W2 agency that provides health insurance. Then schedule your medical appointments in the middle of your assignment so that it can be covered by the health insurance provided by the agency. Most sites do not mind if you take some time off as long as you let them know ahead of time.

European Mini-Retirement

I spent 6 weeks in Europe during my latest mini-retirement/sabbatical. The first 4 weeks were spent with my boyfriend traveling around Spain. A new city for me was Alicante. I really liked it there because it’s a  small town that is on the beach. It’s very walkable and has a cute city center. The beach is beautiful and meets m Florida standards.

I went to Seville again because it was my boyfriend’s first time. It ended up being better than I remembered. We stayed in the old town area which has a very nice vibe and architecture. I also went to Valencia again but it wasn’t as enjoyable as my first time. Interestingly, I almost spent my 3 month sabbatical there last year instead of Barcelona. Thank goodness I went with Barcelona, because there isn’t much to do in Valencia and it isn’t as walkable as Barcelona. There are way more things to do in Barcelona and I like the diversity there too. We concluded the trip by spending a week in Barcelona, so we could just relax and be somewhere familiar.

I then met up with a friend in Belgium. I had been there before but went to the Atomium for the first time which was pretty neat. The Belgian chocolate was better than I had remembered. We spent a day in Luxembourg which was interesting. There isn’t much to do there and it’s actually pricey. I did enjoy the free public transportation including trams and buses.

Afterwards we spent a week in London. This was my second time visiting there. Last time we did a more historic tour, going to the tower of London, Henry VIII palace, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Shakespeare’s globe etc. This time it was more of a local, artsy, culinary tour.

We went to Borough marketplace and had some yummy food there. We went to Chinatown, Covent Garden, and other cute areas. We visited Windsor Castle which I really enjoyed.

Then I met up with my mom in Scotland. We had both wanted to go there after watching the show Outlander. Scotland did not disappoint. My favorite part was the Scottish Highlands. We had perfect weather and got to drive through mountains of green landscape. We got to feed Scottish Cows (called Coo). I also enjoyed Edinburgh castle, as I have always been quite fond of Mary Queen of Scots.

Afterwards, we went to Stockholm, Sweden. It ended up being more diverse than I expected, with many Africans, Arabs, and Asians. I went to the Viking Museum and saw my first Viking ship which was actually huge!

On our way back to the USA, we made a quick stop in Paris for 2 days. Paris is one of my favorite cities and any opportunity to spend extra time there is a plus. Since I have been to Paris several times already, this time we spend the day right out of side of Paris to visit Chateau Malmaison. This is the home of Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte. It ended up being better than I could have imagined!

Even though you can easily find Napoleon in Paris (at the Louvre, Hotel Invalides, etc) I have never seen so much of his stuff in one place. They had plenty of his original furniture, paintings, busts, swords, china, clothes, and even boots. Since I have been Napoleon’s #1 fan since learning about him as a child, I felt like I was in an adult Disneyworld. I have hundreds of pictures to look back on.

I had a great time again in Europe but have to admit that I am exhausted. I might have to take a break from going back to Europe for a while.  

Mini Retirement – Year 2

Last year, I started my yearly 3-month mini retirement. In 2022, I spent 3 months living in Barcelona, Spain and traveling around Europe. In 2023, I wanted to focus on my relationships. In previous posts, I talked about retiring early so I can spend more time with family and friends. I wanted to test that out and see if it’s all that it is cracked up to be. Sometimes relatives are only tolerable in moderation.

I spent the first half of my mini retirement mostly with family and catching up with friends. Both of my sisters have kids now, so I acted as an aux-pair for a few weeks. I absolutely love my niece and nephews. They bring me so much joy. But they did take up all of my free time and energy so I knew I couldn’t be a full-time baby sitter forever.

I also helped take care of my 86-year-old grandmother that is dependent on my parents. The first week I had a lot of patience. By the end of the month, I was sort of over it. I can see how caregiver strain is a thing. And it felt like I was back at work except doing the role of all of my supportive staff as well. I am glad I was able to provide my parents with some time off so they could go on a quick getaway.

Then, I was focused on my relationship with my boyfriend. We spent one month “living together” in Europe to see what that would be like. We spent most of the time in Spain and a little bit in Belgium. We definitely learned a lot about each other, and had our ups and downs. I am glad I gave us the time to invest in our relationship so that we can continue to grow together.

The last part of my mini retirement was traveling around Europe with one of my best friends and then later with my mom. My friend met up with me in Belgium, and then we traveled together to Luxembourg and London. Then my mom met up with me in London and then we traveled together to Scotland.

Honestly, the 3 months went by really fast. I am surprised I am more of a “worker bee” than I originally thought. I feel guilty when I am not working and seeing patients. It has motivated me to think of side projects I want to work on when I decide to pull the plug on working full time as a nurse practitioner.

I also realized that I enjoy one aspect of locum tenens not often talked about – which is Solitude. Solitude is the positive aspect of being alone. Working as a traveling nurse practitioner, I get my own place, that I do not have to share with anyone. I am away from most of my close friends and family, which gives me the opportunity to work on myself, and avoid distractions. I can do whatever I want, when I want. There is definitely something freeing in solitude.

Questions from Readers – July

Occasionally I like to include a blog entry answering some of the most common questions I get from readers about locum tenens as a nurse practitioner. Feel free to comment any questions you have or email me at travelingNP.com@gmail.com.

  • Is there a limit to how many state licenses I can hold?

No, you can hold a nurse practitioner state license in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico if you want to. However, it can get costly when accumulating licenses. I recommend having about 5 active state licenses at any given time to increase your job options.

Also, the more state licenses you have, the longer it can take to acquire other state licenses or to complete credentialing. Depending on the state and site of work, they may need a verification from each of your active and inactive state licenses to support that you are a nurse practitioner in good standing. Some states may take several weeks to provide this information, which can delay credentialing or obtaining a new state license.

So, although there is no limit in the amount of state licenses you can hold at one time, just apply for licenses in moderation.

Flying Business Class to Europe for $50

Since becoming a traveling nurse practitioner and collecting points and miles, I avoid flying more than 4 hours at a time in economy. My international flights (unless going to the Caribbean) tend to be in business/first class. As many of you have noticed, I fly to Spain quite often. I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to book business class to Europe.

Off season, such as in the fall, winter, and early spring, you can find business class flights from the East Coast of the U.S. to Spain for only 42,500 miles and $50. These are flights through Iberia, which is Spain’s main airline carrier. To fly from Miami to Madrid on business class one way, off season, normally costs at least $1600.

I use points from my Chase or American Express credit cards and transfer them to British Airways. British Airways is a UK airline carrier that partners with Iberia. So, I can use the British Airways miles to book the Iberia flight. By using 42,500 miles, I only have to pay $50 out of pocket. Not bad for a flight that costs more than $1600. Even if you do not want to go to Spain, it is still a good deal to book this flight and then pay an extra $50-100 to go anywhere else in Europe (since traveling within Europe is relatively cheap).

If you are wondering where these points come from, check out my page on travel credit cards. You can easily get double the amount of points needed for this one-way ticket from just one sign up bonus.

That Time a Physician Asked me to Borrow Money

Earlier this year, one of my previous co-workers, a physician, called me out of the blue asking for a favor. I had known him for a few years, as we worked together on and off. I was surprised he called me because we didn’t socialize outside of work. He is about 20 years older than me, and normally preoccupied with his wife and children.

I figured it had to be an emergency so I answered the phone. He said he needed to borrow $65,000 to pay back a debt by the end of the week or he could face some jail time. I was in shock that he was calling me from all people with a request to borrow money. I figured he must be desperate. He told me a story about how his previous physician partner at the prior practice they co-owned had written some bad checks that they were both liable for. And if he didn’t come up with the money by the end of the week he could be going to prison.

I felt really bad for him because he is honestly the nicest guy. So sweet that if you were having a bad day, he would offer to see some of your patients for you. All of the patients and staff love him. So, I couldn’t imagine him going to prison.

His story about his partner doing bad things was believable, considering I am from Miami and there is medical fraud there all of the time. He said due to the problems with the previous practice, his credit is bad so he can’t take out a personal loan. He had been expecting to receive bonuses from his current position, but stated that he was given a difficult patient panel that prevented him from getting the bonuses so he could pay off the debt. He said his dad is selling his house so he could pay me back in 2 months.

I was at work and told him I would see what I could do and let him know later that day. Of course, I was not planning on lending him $65k – that’s just ridiculous. But I felt so bad for him I considered lending him something. I consulted with a few close friends and relatives about lending him the money, and they all told me “hell no”. They said it’s one thing if we were best friends, but you don’t lend a random co-worker a large sum of cash like that. I knew they were right, but I felt really bad about the situation.

I am glad I decided to google the doctor – because it turns out, he had already been arrested multiple times! From what I read, he had scammed previous physician partners from shared profits, several times. His first arrest was over a decade ago. I was in complete shock! I couldn’t believe he wasn’t who I thought he was.

Later that week, I found out he was arrested again, and let go from our job. I was surprised our employer hired him in the first place, since they do thorough background checks. But apparently, they thought it was a personal problem and didn’t think it would affect patient care. Our employer had even lent him $20k one time to help pay the debt. He was supposed to pay them back with the quarterly bonuses he received, but never did. He always told me he received $0 in bonuses, but that ended up being a lie as well.

He had asked the other physicians to borrow money over the years. Most said no. One did lend him money, and he paid him back. I am not sure what he does with all of the money from his salary, bonuses, and scams. Does he have a gambling problem? That would be the only explanation. I can’t believe someone that makes his income has absolutely nothing in savings. I remember when he started at my job he drove a minivan, and within a month he upgraded to a jaguar.

Most people think all doctors are rich. But this is just an example of how that can be far from the truth. Even when they try to portray wealth with a fancy car. One day, I was helping some of the staff open their 401ks at work. Since I am contracted through an agency, I wasn’t sure which company their employer used for the 401k. The Doctor walked by, so I asked him if he contributes to his 401k at work. I was surprised when he said “no”. I figured, ok he must be set then. Little did I know…

Anyways, it’s crazy how little you know people… Fortunately, my support system helped me make the best decision for myself. As a healthcare provider, we are always wanting to help people, but we have to make sure it’s not a detriment to ourselves.