Travel Nursing and Cruising

[Teknav]

The last time we were vacationing in Little Cayman Island, I found out that there was only one nurse who practiced basic first aid during daytime hours. The local government was interested in hiring a physician who can permanently reside there; there were no takers. My wife (Ob/Gyn doc), was approached at staying and having her work papers immediately approved by the Governor; she declined the offer. If someone was bit by a shark or suffered a heart attack, after the airport shut down at sunset, you would have been out of luck for immediate treatment until the next day; a flight to a Grand Cayman hospital would be necessary. It is very difficult for a single medical provider to work under these conditions. Little Cayman island is a heaven for snorkelers and SCUBA divers. It has no night life, whatsoever. It neither has a marina nor a public boating facility for refueling. Just try not to get sick at night, while you're there!

Mauritz

[JanetGroene]

One of my readers, a travel nurse, had a gig on a cruise ship that accommodated him with wife and kids! Crowded quarters but the kids pretty much had the run of the ship.

[Rubyvee]

I'm a nurse, I've traveled and we're getting ready to live aboard. I'd rather retire than continue to work as a nurse, but it's definitely possible. I've always worked in large teaching hospitals, and as a rule, there are a lot of travel nurse openings there. It more or less depends upon your specialty. We weren't living aboard when we traveled (DH is a nurse, too) so they always rented apartments for us, but I imagine a travel company would be willing to give you a stipend instead so that you could put it toward a marina. You'll want to be careful about WHERE you stay -- I'm assuming you won't have a car, and some of the large teaching hospitals are in less than wonderful parts of town.

Where I'm living now, some of our staff live in condos near the water. They say it's safe to ride their bikes back and forth to work, but the marinas there are pricey.

As far as how the staff would treat you as a travel nurse -- that's probably a question for a nursing forum, not a cruising forum, but if you're social you'll probably be just fine.

Good luck! Sounds like a great way to start cruising without waiting for retirement!

[Krogensailor]

I have two friends that sailed around the world working emergency rooms for short burst's. Apparently hospitals are allways in need of staff, and will hire casual/transient pro's.

[bobconnie]

Again, Connie and I traveled all over the Pacific by working our way ! Myself as a machinst, diesel engine mechanic. Connie as a RN, with a Calif. Lic. and experinced in Peds, Nursery, ER, ICU. We never had any problems finding work, after the kids were all gone from the boat, we started to take travel nurse jobs, first up and down the PNW, from Alaska, to Frisco, then to the gulf and she took jobs in Fla, AVI, Miss, and Louisiana. These jobs worked out well for us, and the stypen turned out to be plenty to get a nice marina, mostly close to the hospital. We found there were always some cheap cars for sale around the marinas we were in, sold by sailors leaveing we bought and sold a couple in Fla, worked out well ! Just sayin we found it worked for us !