The Atlas Life #44 - Kay Slane, RN Traveling House Supervisor

Kay Slane: My great grandmother was actually a midwife, who delivered a baby for Thomas Lincoln, and his name happened to be Abraham Lincoln. So...

Rich Smith: Wow.

Kay Slane: So yeah, I've got nurses way back in my family.

Kay Slane: Hey guys, how are we? My name is Kay. I have been a traveler for 15 years now, and I currently travel as a house supervisor. I'm currently at home working on the website and bringing some more great information to travel healthcare professionals. That's about me in a nutshell.

Steve: Well, this is a great opportunity. I'm Steve. I happen to work at Atlas. I've worked with Kay a long, long time ago. Actually, I think I was your first recruiter.

Kay Slane: Yes.

Steve: And I believe you even wrote me into your first book...

Kay Slane: I did.

Steve: About the travel industry, and I think some of the, you know, were hurtful. They were. I can't say the writings about me were great. I was pretty green. They weren't. I think you were a little concerned, I didn't know what I was doing, and you were very right, I had no idea-

Kay Slane: What I was doing. The story here is, that whenever I did my very first travel assignment, I actually wrote out a journal on my first assignment, and I would write, not every day, but every two-to-three days. One day, yeah, I wrote that now I've got a new recruiter now, and I'm like, oh good, well-

Steve: Seasoned pro.

Kay Slane: Yeah. So, they'd tell him that they've got this new recruiter, they put them on with the new travel nurse, and he's supposed to be this finance guy. And so I said, well,

Steve: Wizard. So smart.

Kay Slane: I know, I was like, well I hope he can do good for my finances, because, you know, if he's a financial wizard, I guess I'll take him, we'll see how this goes. I have a passion for teaching travel nurses how to do it the right way-

Steve: And teaching new recruiters, apparently. So, thank you.

Kay Slane: You're welcome. No, you did good. So, but yeah, I spend a lot of time now teaching new travelers how to do it the right way. And, I also spend time going around to different travel companies and teaching the recruiters what a nurse wants in a travel company, because a travel company cannot supply the nurses needs, or the health care providers needs, if they don't know what they need. What-

Steve: The diary, was that fun to look back and look at your first assignment? We hear one side of it, right? And then you go in the journal and you write it down. But, how powerful is that for a recruiter to really know what you're dealing with? So that journal, I think, would be very useful for a recruiter to read that.

Kay Slane: Right, and it's-

Steve: And see the, all this stuff, the stress you're dealing with, right?

Kay Slane: It's important that recruiters understand what we're actually going through in the field. You know, we're not just going to work, yada yada yada, and then all you see is the happy pictures of us hiking up in the mountains, and fishing, and sailing, and you know, going to all these wonderful places. The journal was actually what was going on at the time and the stresses that I was having, that I was dealing with, on my first assignment, which has been a backbone to me, teaching newbies what they need to know for that first assignment. So, that's how I came up with the "Highway Hypodermics," and putting everything together was that very first travel assignment.

Steve: Imagine, though, being a new traveler and getting to see the whole transition, like, what it's like your first couple of assignments, how stressful it is, and then to see yourself in the future, a couple of assignments down the road, and seeing that person and how much more confident they are, and how much better flow they're in.

Kay Slane: Because it takes a while for travelers to gain your confidence, and it's all a learning process. And the same thing for recruiters, is that it's all a learning process. I mean, look where you are after 15 years, after I trained you right.

Steve: Oh, she trained me right.

Kay Slane: Now you have your own company, and what a great company Atlas is.

Steve: For me, I was never planning on being a recruiter at the time. That was the last thing, I mean I hated phones, I hated, like, talking on the phones. And what it taught me was that there's a person on the other side, and you can build relationships, and you can make friends that are there forever. If you're a new recruiter, open your ears and ask questions. And if you're a new traveler, you know, make sure, vice versa, you open your ears, you ask people around, you get the resources you need. But, don't be afraid to talk to a recruiter and be honest with them, and share what you're feeling, 'cause we're human, and we both have the same interest, you know?

Kay Slane: So, I think the important thing that I learned from Steve is that whenever there's problems, that's not the end of the road. You know, there may be problems, but let's, OK, let's work together. We're all human. We make mistakes. As a newbie, if you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world. You pick up your boots, and go on. And life...

Steve: But, don't keep it all in.

Kay Slane: Don't keep it all in...

Steve: There's people out there

Kay Slane: They'll write it, write it all down

Steve: You know, there's people on the other line that really want to help you. So, don't keep it in, 'cause communication's the key for it to be successful from both sides.

Kay Slane: Right.

Steve: So.