800.866.0407
After going through the hardest thing she’s ever been through, Sara Cox needed a change, and becoming a travel nurse was just the opportunity she needed.
It started with the end of her marriage, leaving Sara with the need for something new. She says, “After my divorce, I decided I was going to do something for me, so I packed my cats up, and we moved to Tennessee. That’s when I got started as a travel nurse and haven’t looked back.”
Reconnecting with family
What aspects of travel nursing have helped Sara look consistently forward? For one, her work as a travel nurse has enabled her to both reconnect with her family as well as make new friends.
Specifically, while working in Greensboro, North Carolina, Sara was able to reconnect with her brother. “I had the opportunity for 13 weeks to live with my big brother who I haven’t gotten to live in the same house as him for 15 plus years.” She even got to build a relationship with her 5-year-old nephew. “Getting to come home and seeing both of them every day was absolutely amazing.”
This wasn’t the only assignment Sara had that reconnected her with family members. She spent last summer in Melbourne, Florida, which wasn’t far from family either. “They’ve lived in Florida almost my entire life, so being from South Carolina, I don’t get to see them very often.” But reconnecting with her extended family made her work location “feel a little bit more like home.”
Home on the road
Still, home is never more than a phone call away. “When I’m new to an assignment, I always turn to my mom. My mom’s been a nurse for 41 years. My dad is in healthcare as well, so having people that actually understand — even if I’m hundreds of miles away from them — is nice. It’s great to be able to talk to somebody that really understands.”
Plus, traveling with her two cats, Saban and Lucifer, means Sara is never alone. “If you’re not at home, then you’ve got to make it feel like home whenever you move — so I always take them with me.”
Making new friends
Sara’s also developed deep friendships within the RNnetwork team. Previously, Sara worked with another travel nurse company, but didn’t have a good experience. When she switched to RNnetwork, Sara was matched with a recruiter she “absolutely fell in love with.” However, as that assignment came to an end, her recruiter accepted another position within RNnetwork.
Still, her recruiter made sure to find someone else who would be a good fit for Sara. “She hand-picked someone that matches my personality.” It wasn’t long before Sara began to consider her new recruiter, Lauren Camino, to be one of her best friends. In fact, Sara says, “We’re like two peas in a pod.”
RELATED: Why you should choose a recruiter that always has your back
Working with Lauren is one of the things Sara loves most about RNnetwork. “I couldn’t have asked for a better recruiter. Having somebody think that much of me to get someone who matches my personality and my energy level, that’s what made me stay.”
As a whole, for Sara Cox, travel nursing has been largely about building relationships. Whether with family members, co-workers, or even strangers, Sara Cox has enjoyed the connections she’s made. Of travel nursing, Sara says, “You get to meet people you didn’t think that you would meet otherwise. I’ve met some absolutely amazing people.”
Planning for the future
And at the end of the day, Sara has had the opportunity to choose where she is going to build her life next. For her, being a travel nurse is “getting to do a trial and error with all of these different locations.” She says, “It’s nice because you get to see what feels like home, and you get a small taste of an area before you make a big commitment.”
That place that feels like home, surrounded by the right people, is exactly what Sara is looking for — a journey she’s been enabled to go on because of travel nursing.
“I want to find a place where I feel 100 percent comfortable, a place that I can make a home, because I haven’t felt like I was home in a really long time. And as much as my heart will always be in my hometown, you get to a point where you have to do something else. You have to change things. If you’re not happy, you’ve got to do something about it,” Sara says. “I used to have my whole life planned out, but I’ve since learned that everything can change in a simple conversation. Now I just kind of take it day by day, and I know at some point I will find what I’m looking for. Until then, I’ll continue traveling.”
Looking to experience your own travel nursing adventure? Give us a call at 800.866.0407 or view today’s travel nursing job opportunities.
