New User, Old RN HA HA!

Hello, My name is Cathy and I'm 40+ years old, kids off to college, am I too old to start traveling now? Worked 25+ years as staff nurse(CCU) in small community hospital. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!!

Welcome to the site, Cathy! Glad to meet you.

As for 40+ being 'too old', I'd heard that 40 is the new 30. Thus, I think it'll work out. And just in case...here is an interesting story I'd found: Travel Nursing Careers spotlight aging RN's Hope it helps.

'Cat'

Thanks for the encouragement Cat! I'm really getting excited at the prospect of traveling with my husband to places we've never seen.

cathyorn wrote:Thanks for the encouragement Cat! I'm really getting excited at the prospect of traveling with my husband to places we've never seen.

Once the kids are out of the house, it can be the perfect opportunity. Take an assignment in say, Las Vegas, work three days/week, see the sights for four with your husband.

After three months, ready for a change? How bout Alaska or sunny California for the next three months. Unlimited opportunities for where you can go.

I would caution you though, that working agency can be highly stressful, as you're constantly getting pulled and needing to orient yourself to a new location.

I'd highly recommend that you work a few agency shifts before thinking about Traveling. It will give you a feel for how you'll need to function walking into a new hospital for the first time and being expected to function.

This article may be of interest:

Born to Roam Travel nurse-turned-entrepreneur gears her agency to nomadic nurses who crave job security, Nurseweek.com:"On the strength of the nursing shortage, Terri Hill, RN, has traveled from the operating room to the boardroom of her own small but growing company, HC Travelers. Travel nursing for the Indianapolis surgical nurse began as a lark with a purpose. It was a chance to reconnect with distant family and-at least by one nurse-alleviate California's desperate need in 1990 for operating room nurses. With her husband and four children in tow, Hill accepted a six-week assignment to a Los Angeles-area hospital. It was a memorable month and a half of work and leisure that years later would lure her back to travel nursing and a career that she could not have imagined."
http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/02-09/hill_web.asp
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Best of luck!

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com/traveler/

I'm 40+ and also have 3 kids over 21 and a 9 yr old and finally going on my 1st assignment mid Oct. Just finished writing my resignation letter to my hospital of 16 years...a bit scary but I'm excited.

I'm going to Springfield, Mo for 13 weeks with Fastaff, St. John's is changing their charting system and need the extra nurses for a while. My recruiter with Fastaff has been EXCELLENT!! Very helpful with walking me through the ropes of getting everything ready for my first travel assignment! Wish me luck and God Bless all you nurses out there!!