How to Stay in Touch with Family and Friends while Traveling

Every year the number of nurses applying for travel nurse positions is increasing due to the array of benefits that this position entails. Not only does it give the applicant a chance to travel the United States and work with reputable healthcare facilities, but it also expedites their growth in the industry. Travel nurses have a substantial amount of experience working in different environments and their flexibility becomes a core virtue that substantiates their credibility as well as their dedication.

Travel nurses who have applied via Travel Nurse Gateway will have an extensive list of companies to choose from. This empowers them to choose the assignment that best meets their personal specifications. Although the assignment can designate the travel nurse to any location, their job description stays the same. This means that a nurse who specializes in emergency care will be assigned to the emergency room, which will help them develop all the skills and tools in their arsenal to grow in their careers.

Although there is no doubt that a travel nurse assignment is an enriching experience but there is no denying that keeping in touch with your family and friends can prove to be difficult. Due to the nature of their work, nurses are always on their toes working as hard they possibly can. This is exactly why it becomes difficult for travel nurses to maintain their relationships with their loved ones.

Travel nurses dedicate a substantial amount of their time to their profession and taking time out to contact their loved ones becomes an onerous task. However, this should not be the case as there is nothing more important than family and friends.

We have articulated a list of tips that will help every travel nurse to stay in contact with their loved ones.

Tips to consider while on a traveling assignment

For all of the travel nurses out there who are having trouble maintaining their relationships with their loved ones, rest assured we have you covered. Given below are the top tips that have been specifically designed to help travel nurses stay in contact with their family and friends.

1. Create a mailing list

Before you begin your travel assignment the very first step you should consider taking is creating a mailing list for all of your loved ones. This mailing list is a solution to all of your problems as it will allow you to send mass emails and messages to your loved ones. An occasional email or picture of your experiences will go a very long way with your loved ones as they will realize that you took time out of your hectic schedule to reach out to them.

You can easily create a mailing list through your email account and creating one before you embark on the assignment will make your life much easier. During the course of your assignment you can easily take out a little time to send a mass email to all of your loved ones telling them about your experiences. Trust us your efforts will speak volumes as your loved ones know how demanding the nursing profession can be. We would also recommend unsubscribing to any unnecessary mailing lists so that your mail box only has correspondence from people that you want to communicate with.

2. Time to get tech savvy

As a nurse working with technology is part and parcel, but using social apps is a whole different story. These days there are so many different applications out there that can be downloaded on both android and apple devices. Most of these applications are free and allow people to send messages and make calls all around the world!

So you do not need to worry about those harrowing phones bills by simply downloading these user-friendly applications. Some of the most prominent social applications that can help travel nurses or anyone else for that matter stay in touch with their family while traveling are mentioned below,

• Whats app
• Google Hangouts
• imessage/Facetime
• Facebook messenger
• Skype

All of these applications are free of cost and are available on different platforms. These applications make communication a piece of cake and as a travel nurse you will need all the help you can get.

3. Stick to a communication schedule during your assignment

Of course it will take time to get used to your new schedule and life style, but that does not mean your relationships should suffer. A normal assignment lasts around 13 weeks and this is a very long time especially since there is a high chance you are assigned to a location you have never been before. We would recommend taking at least a week to get used to your new schedule and then allot a communication schedule.

You should take everything into perspective when allotting a time to contact your friends and family members as it should feel like a reward. We would recommend allotting a time right before you head to work as contacting your loved ones after a hard day’s work can be quite draining. As a travel nurse, adhering to a schedule should be no problem. However, it will require a certain degree of dedication as we understand how tough your schedule can be.

4. Send as many postcards as you can!

The oldest method of communicating with loved ones while traveling is through post cards and they still play a significant role. You can easily purchase these postcards from the market and write personal notes to your loved ones who will no doubt appreciate the effort. Most postcards will even include pictures of the local places that will give your loved ones a glimpse into your travels!

Even though these postcards are sent via snail mail, they will always have a personal touch which will show your loved ones just how much you appreciate them. So for all of the travel nurses out there, consider the tips given above in order to make sure your social life does not get compromised while your career exponentially grows.