Just over a month ago, my dog Kekoa and I left California in my CareRevan and trekked across the United States. We traveled from Los Angeles to Seattle, then out to Milwaukee and Chicago before heading South to Ft. Lauderdale. My mission was to meet nurses, certified nursing assistants, and technicians in every city and town I traveled through – to sit down with them, to document their experiences as healthcare professionals, and to get a better understanding of how CareRev can be improved to better serve their professional needs.
Last week, the roadshow came to an end. As I settle back down at home, I can’t help but draw parallels between my experiences in nursing and the experiences of the healthcare professionals I’ve met these past few weeks on the road.
As a full-time trauma ICU nurse, I was routinely frustrated by the lack of flexibility in the profession. Hospital to hospital, facility to facility, it was always the same. I eventually became so fatigued and dissatisfied with my career that I began working for myself as an independent contractor with an ambulance company in San Diego.
That opportunity provided me with the ability to choose when I wanted to work and where. It delivered the flexibility I had been searching for and reignited my passion for nursing.
Every healthcare professional I met on my month-long journey has shared a similar need for flexibility in their own life. Some have obligations that prevent them from being able to take a full-time position or leave town to take a travel assignment and use CareRev to pick up shifts that work for them; they’re drawn to CareRev because they’re pursuing educational opportunities; they work full-time jobs and are using CareRev for extra income.
More healthcare professionals deserve – and need – this level of freedom.
It’s why we built CareRev – so that nurses like Zachary in Seattle can pick up the shifts that work for their schedules in between travel assignments. We built CareRev so nurses like Crystaloren in Chicago and Heather in Los Angeles can continue working while taking college courses. We built CareRev so nurses like Jerry in Ft. Lauderdale and Michael in Los Angeles can build their own businesses as nurse entrepreneurs.
The people I have met throughout this trip have shown me that what we are doing at CareRev is valuable and that flexibility is essential to improving the lives of healthcare professionals. The impact we have here at CareRev goes far beyond the healthcare professionals we support and the hospitals and healthcare facilities we work with. It reaches all of the lives they touch every day.
My experiences on this trip have confirmed that what we are doing is not only important to healthcare professionals but also necessary. Thank you to all of the healthcare professionals who made time to meet with me, to sit down and share stories with me, and to attend CareRev events in cities across the country over the past few weeks. You are truly the future of work in healthcare, and I look forward to continuing to build that bright future with you.
