This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Camille Fahrnbauer, a 26-year-old travel nurse from Georgia currently working in New Zealand. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
Travel nursing in the US was debilitating. I needed multiple days to recover from the exhaustion of a single shift. So when my husband left me unexpectedly and my life flipped upside down, I took a nursing job in New Zealand.
I was shocked at how different the work culture was. We’re adequately staffed, I’m given multiple breaks, and I finally have the energy to care for my patients. My work-life balance is restored and I feel like me again.
Still, I won’t be staying.
For a fresh start, I signed a year-long nursing contract in New Zealand
I’d been travel nursing across the West Coast for three years when I started feeling a pull to nurse abroad. I knew I wouldn’t be 26 forever …