Travel Nursing Experience Prepares Nurse For Special Mission
An article in the Contra Costa Times (I love that name … sounds like an underground revolutionary group) describes an effort by a California nurse, native to Kenya, to bring much needed medical services to her home country. Debra Akello received her nursing degree at UCLA and desired to return to Kenya and minister to the poor. She and an associate proceeded to found a non-profit organization called Helping Hands International Foundation. They began to recruit medical professionals who were willing to provide their services.
One of those professionals is Danita Taylor, a travel nurse who was on assignment in the area. Taylor is helping to recruit doctors and also wants to minister to the poor in Africa.
It occurred to me while reading this that a travel nurse would be uniquely qualified to embark on this type of endeavor. Travel nurses possess the traits required to embrace a project that will require flexibility, adaptability and a certain amount of risk.
When a travel nurse takes a new assignment there is always the element of uncertainty. Setting up camp in a new location, working in a new environment, establishing relationships with new co-workers and processing new policies and procedures demands a unique and determined personality. These characteristics will, no doubt, come in very handy as Danita Taylor and her associates move forward with their mission of mercy. In a way, this may be the ultimate travel nurse assignment: exotic location, excellent experience, and compensation that can not be measured in dollars.
