L&D RN Rita Giese - The Atlas Life #82

Rita:               I've had recruiters before that wouldn't call you back for days or weeks or so and you could do messages for them and even show some urgency in the message and not going to call back. And that has never been my experience with Colleen.

Colleen:            I'm Colleen, I'm a recruiter for Atlas.

Rita:               I'm Rita. I am a nurse working for Atlas. I met Colleen last year at trap [inaudible 00:00:35] and just started to chat with her and just immediately found the connection, and we just connected on a really great level.

Colleen:            Absolutely.

Rita:               I've been to the same organization for nearly 30 years. And as I looked into traveling, just stuck my toe in the water, thought that it might be something that would interest me or be kind of fun. I've heard other people who had done it, so I started my first contract and halfway into it I was hooked. So I had been doing it for the last six years and still kept my main job, do per diem work at my home hospital. And it's the best of both worlds having the autonomy to choose where you'd like to go and when you'd like to go.

Rita:               I currently have a plan. I want to go to Alaska, but I want to do some fishing, so I have to negotiate that. But excited to go there and Atlas supports the opportunity to do that. It was like put you anywhere you want to be. Honestly, the not so great part about traveling, I would say when you've been a nurse as long as I have, and you have worked with doctors and nurses and established a rapport with them, I knew what their expectation is. It doesn't take long for me. It's a learned skill to do, but I can see that, that would be the most common drawback of working as a traveler.

Rita:               Colleen will return a text and attend to you. I try to be mindful about it sometimes you've just in odd situations where you just need to reach out and just ask a stupid question, and she never makes me feel like I'm being stupid asking the question and responds to me no matter what time it is.

Colleen:            Rita's amazing. She's an amazing nurse. Everywhere she goes, they want her to stay. And she has made my job very easy because the jobs that we have submitted to have called her within hours and offer her. So my life's been easy with her. She's an awesome person and a nurse on the side. But she's a better person than I... We're just get along so well.

Rita:               The best way I could describe it is just talking about the evolution of my journey as a traveler. Didn't know anything coming into it. Started with a company that I was happy with and then they were acquired by a larger company and then I felt like I became a number. So when I stumbled upon The Atlas and then got the connection, you don't realize that you don't have it until you do, if that makes sense. Because I feel completely supported. Even Sally, when Sally does compliance, the many texts of emails back and forth and they're right on it and they get personalized. Your flu shot is due from rich Smith. How more personal, can you get than that? Those little things add up and make that whole experience so much better. So I found it.