The Atlas Life #34 - Justin Bartlett, Traveling Emergency Room Nurse

Corey Anderson: Justin and I met, I believe, via Facebook, a nursing Facebook group, probably spring of 2017. I think he had posted a question about a job or a location or something like that, and we started chatting about it.

Corey Anderson: The first job we sent him to West Virginia. It was just a location that he was looking for. I think you'll see when you start talking to him, he's all about location and seeing new things. And then from there, he's been in Oregon with us, and going to be an Arizona.

Corey Anderson: He's everything you want in a traveler. He immediately grasped the concept of the industry. He travels, obviously to make a little money, but he travels for the adventure of it. He loves seeing new things in new places, so he's great.

Justin Bartlett: I'm Justin Bartlett. I've been with you guys for I think a little over a year. Currently, I am in Medford, Oregon, so Southern Oregon. I'm actually going to be starting in Phoenix, Arizona, well, Mesa, Arizona for my next contract starting beginning of December through March.

Justin Bartlett: I grew up in a military household. My dad was in the air force, and I lived all different places. I was born in Key West, Florida, lived in Japan. Lived in Hawaii for six years. It's terrible childhood. And then moved to Maryland, so traveling's kind of been in my blood. To find out that I can do that for my job was just like perfect thing.

Justin Bartlett: I have a motorcycle that I've gotten to fit, to kit out, so that it can run off road. So that's pretty fun. Taking it, especially out here in Oregon is pretty nice and, and pretty cool. So enjoying the weather outside in Oregon, and then lots of hiking. I've been doing so much hiking, especially out here. It's fantastic.

Justin Bartlett: First of all, it takes special people to be nurses in general, and it takes, I think, even more special people to be ER nurses, because it's a lot of thinking on the fly. You get a lot of autonomy as a nurse, so not all the time do you have to rely on doctors, you have to rely on your knowledge. But I love every minute of it. It's, it's such a great fulfilling career, for sure.

Justin Bartlett: Definitely the best part of traveling is meeting new people. I think that's probably one of the top things for a lot of people, is meeting new people. I've made so many good friends that I still keep in touch with and experienced in new things, how different hospitals, run is such a cool experience to see.

Justin Bartlett: As far as the worst part of travel nursing is definitely the anxiety of you never know what's coming next there. There's always potential of contracts being canceled. There's always potential of being called off. But that's why you just plan ahead and got to make sure you got everything squared away before you get into travel nursing because of situations like that. I always look forward to having my next contract, and then I always look forward to my next vacation.

Justin Bartlett: What I really want to do is I want to see my parents, who just recently moved to England. And I want to go through England, Scotland, and Ireland. But as far as having another contract, I've been trying hard to get to Eastern Tennessee in the Smokey Mountains, or Hawaii. Because I lived in Hawaii for six years. I'd really love to go back, especially for work.