When you are a travel nurse on assignment, it is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance to avoid burnout. It is important to prioritize self-care, set clear boundaries, establish routines, effectively manage your time, stay connected with loved ones, explore your new surroundings while also scheduling dedicated personal time, and leverage technology to streamline your work and personal life. Let’s dive into how these things all will help you achieve a good work-life balance.
Prioritizing self-care is one of the easiest ways to ensure a healthy work-life balance. Some ways to do this are exercising daily, eating healthily, making sure you are on a set sleep schedule, ensuring you get enough sleep nightly, and incorporate relaxation or meditation techniques into your daily routine to manage stress.
Creating a routine for your day can be a great way to keep on task, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and ensure you get done what you need to. Rather you make a routine for working out, eating at specific times daily, or something to calm you down and help you sleep at night. Sticking to a workout routine will make your body and mind healthier, stronger, and give you more energy for your long shifts. Eating routines can also be easier when you plan to meal prep for the week. Eating at specific times can be hard during your shifts, so sticking to a eating routine before and after shifts is a great way to keep on track!
Setting boundaries in the workplace, and outside of the workplace, is also a key piece in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Rather this has to do with your shift, personal time, or picking up shifts, make sure to discuss this before you start your assignment. It is easy to get burnt-out if you take on too much work at once. Even if you love your job, it is critical to make sure you set this boundary and take time for yourself. Enjoy the new city you are in while you are on assignment!
It is important to utilize different techniques and tools to make sure you optimize your work hours, and ensure you have time to do things outside of work. When you aren’t at work, unless you are on call, make sure to solely focus on yourself and take time to do things you enjoy.
Most likely, on your assignment, you are in a new place you haven’t been before or just have visited a few times. Travel nursing is a great way to explore new cities, find new friends, or do activities you couldn’t normally do. Depending on what area you are in, you can go for hikes, learn how to surf, take guided tours, go biking, or anything you can possibly think of. Take advantage of your situation and learn something new! It is great to spend time outdoors and has been proven to help mental health.
Staying organized is a great way to make sure you are on task with your shifts. Utilizing technology is a great way to stay organized rather you use the calendar app or any other app to track your shifts. You can also connect with colleagues off shift or make long-lasting connections with them after your assignment is over.
Communicating with your agency is important to maintain this healthy balance. On the first day of your assignment, make sure to discuss your needs and preferences with the facility. Also, make sure to communicate these to your recruiter at Voca and we will do our best to help you!
If you are struggling to keep a work-life balance and end up too stressed out, you can always seek mental health resources to help with managing the feelings associated with a travel assignment. It can be stressful and emotional going to a new place without knowing many people, so always reach out if you need help.
There are some other challenges that you will face while on travel nursing assignments including irregular schedules, moving frequently, and work-induced stress. It can be challenging to adapt to new shifts – rather you usually work nights and switch to days, or vice-versa. This can disrupt your personal daily routine, so make sure you adapt to this change and re-incorporating your new routine. Additionally, it can be a bit straining to continuously be moving to new environments and being away from loved ones. Remember to stay in touch and try and make new friends on your assignments!
About Voca: The Spirit of Work
Voca is a relationship organization focused on uniting talented healthcare professionals across nursing and allied, as well as travel and local with exceptional companies. Headquartered in Blue Ash, OH, Voca works coast-to-coast supporting national, regional, and local healthcare companies. Voca is proud to be certified by The Joint Commission, which evaluates and accredits healthcare staffing agency organizations and programs in the United States. We are committed to creating and maintaining a workplace in which all employees have an opportunity to participate and contribute to our mutual successes and are valued for their skills, experience, and unique perspective. For more information, visit https://myvoca.com/