Featured Traveler: Kim B.

From the Farm to Nursing

Our featured traveler for June is a Midwestern girl with 15 years of nursing under her buckle. Combining her passion for Labor & Delivery and Mother/Baby with old fashioned horse sense and excellent care, Kim is successful with her young charges both on and off the farm. After relocating to Florida with 12 horses in tow (some of them babies themselves) Kim ultimately decided to satisfy her curiosity for travel nursing and joined the Convergence team.  She’s been with us for a year now, and loves the lifestyle!

Like most travel nurses, Kim enjoys “seeing new places, learning about the local cultures, and of course, meeting new people.”  But Kim sees special rewards in being a travel nurse. She states, “I have come to realize that patients love to know that travel nurses are caring for them.  They find it interesting and usually want to know why we travel, where we’re from, and ask other questions that really help to ‘break the ice’ with them and their family members.  On my last assignment I met a wonderful couple where one of them was from the same city that I was born and raised.  It was awesome to have that connection with the family.  You never know who you are going to meet during your travels.”

Kim has some good advice for other Travelers: “Become acquainted with the staff on the unit before getting comfortable and even then, don’t get too comfortable.  Staff members can also be extremely helpful with the city and can tell you about things to see and do.”

For those nurses new to the Travel business, Kim recommends: “Really get to know your recruiter and have a frank conversation about why you want to travel; discuss how the two of you can work together to make it happen successfully.  Your recruiter should be assisting you along the entire process and your cooperation makes that possible.”

Wise beyond her travel years, Kim continues: “Your recruiter and the credentialing staff need to be your primary friends. they can make or break you as a traveler.  Waiting until the last minute to meet credentialing requirements and a lack of communication with your recruiter will cause you to fail.  I see it all the time.”

Kim says she has chosen to work with Convergence because they demonstrate that she is appreciated.

“My recruiter is so helpful and understanding. I only need to tell her something once, and it’s handled. She is available through phone, email, and text and when I need her she responds quickly! When my recruiter calls me, it’s at night, when I work.  Night shift nurses rarely get to connect with management.  Additionally, their insurance package is very good and Convergence covers the cost.”

Our thoughts about Kim? Well, she’s the perfect example of a travel nurse – smart, well spoken, clinically adept, attentive, personal, professional, dependable and resourceful.  We could go on… but more importantly, that’s why we love that she is a Nurse.