Travel Nursing with Toddlers: Why You’ll Love Family Life on the Road

Joel is an Aya Healthcare travel nurse who started nursing school with an incredible surprise.

When I started my nursing journey, we found out my partner, Natalie, was pregnant. Our first kid was born my first week of nursing school — an accelerated, 11-month BSN program. It was the most chaotic time ever. But sometimes you don’t know how much you can do until you’re challenged.

We got through that, then I got a job out in Salt Lake City a few months later, after I passed boards. I worked out there for a couple years until I got enough experience to become an OR travel nurse. Since then it’s been great to experience all the different surgeons, all the different cases and all the different nuances of care in different areas.

I’m originally from the St. Louis area. I have a lot of family there. I told my manger back in Salt Lake that I wanted to go back, and she said, ‘Oh I think our resource manager knows a travel nursing recruiter.’ The next thing I knew she was telling me about a travel nursing job in St. Louis. Three days later I had the job.

I’ve found that it’s completely possible to work as a travel nurse with a family. I won’t lie, it’s challenging. But at the same time if you can make it work, it’s worth it.  My oldest, Madelynne, is almost five, Liliya will be three in November, and then little Elijah is two-weeks-old today. They don’t mind moving around. They’re really adaptable.

My main driving goal is to take care of my family and raise them in the way me and their mama want them to be raised. Travel nursing has given me the ability to not only provide for everyone and let Natalie stay at home and raise our kids, but also for us to be near family and have that support. And I get to go work in the OR, which I LOVE. It’s a win/win!

Want to read more about what it’s like to book traveling nurse assignments with a family? Aya travel nurses, like Casey with his wife and two kids, Bealie and her close-knit family, and Dakota, her husband Ronnie and their kids all make it work!