The Atlas Life #54 - Teresa Allison, OR Travel Nurse

Teresa Allison: And I know that it's a business for you guys just like it's a business for me, but I never feel like I'm a number or a dollar to you.

Rich Smith: Good. That's perfect.

Teresa Allison: My name is Teresa Allison and I have been a nurse for 10 years. I am an operating room nurse. I had been traveling for a year. I went my first assignment to Ketchikan, Alaska and I arrived there February 26th of 2018.

Rich Smith: Clearly I am not Jake Brower. Jake is much more attractive than I am, but I'm going to fill in for Jake today since he's out of the office. I thought it'd be fun since this is by far my favorite piece of content that we produce. Let's start off first with how did you meet Jake for the first time or how did you first connect with Jake?

Teresa Allison: Well, it was a fluke, but I feel like it was meant to be. So I saw another nurse's review on a Facebook page and I messaged Jake in a private message. I said, "I'm thinking of traveling and I would like you to be my recruiter." That's how I met Jake.

Rich Smith: All right. He's only been recruiting for two years now, but he has lived a very interesting life. It seems like, and you had alluded to this a little bit, that this as much as the other things were his calling too, he was meant to do this job.

Teresa Allison: Yeah. I believe he was meant to do this job and just like I believe I was meant to be a nurse. I feel like it's a calling on my life. Nursing is very taking care of people and we all know that. But I feel that Jake takes care of his nurses.

Rich Smith: What we do for you is a very personal relationship because what you do at the hospital is a very personal relationship. To have that disconnect between a recruiter and a nurse when everything that you do everyday is so personal just doesn't fit.

Teresa Allison: I've kind of always been a little bit of a gypsy. My first trip across the country was in 1978 in a Jeep with a guy. You know? Then I moved to California in 1981 and I've moved around the country. I lived in Canada. So I've always had that gypsy spirit. Why I became a nurse. I used to be a surgical technician. I raised my family, got a divorce and said, "Okay, I have to figure out a way I'm going to support my family." I always wanted to be a nurse. Went to nursing school at 50 years old. Like I said before, I truly feel it's a calling on my life.

Teresa Allison: I live in a small community. Ketchikan is an island. It's about 30 some miles long. The island is Revilla Island and the town is about 8,000 people. The cruise ships stop there and the population goes up. So our busiest time there in that hospital is in the summer. I think it's just learning new procedures and feeling... I like to feel part of the team. Sometimes, unfortunately, some hospitals, some staff can't see that you're there to help them. They're resentful. I would say that that might be a difficult part, but I truly feel that I kind of stay neutral and be friendly and that would probably be the hardest part. The easy part is just taking care of your patients, building relationships, and doing the adventures that where you're at has to offer.

Teresa Allison: I can drive 10 miles up the road and be on my favorite beach, Coast Guard Beach and collect sea glass and see sea lions and whales. I mean, I went on a fishing trip last summer. I have videos of the whales just like right there by our boat. It was just a phenomenal thing. If I was younger, I think I would go live off the grid in Alaska.

Rich Smith: You could totally do that there.

Teresa Allison: I know.

Rich Smith: Absolutely.

Teresa Allison: Yes. In January of 2020, I'm actually going for four weeks on the Mercy Ship and doing a mission.

Rich Smith: Oh, cool.

Teresa Allison: Yeah. I think that there's a chance I will go back to Ketchikan for the summer because the money is good and I can save to be off work for it because till I travel to Africa, travel back and work there, it's probably going to be two months off work.

Rich Smith: Being a travel nurse affords you that.

Teresa Allison: Yeah. Afforded me to do that.

Rich Smith: Yeah, afforded you that luxury. You have the luxury. You have the ability to do that with that now.

Teresa Allison: Yes. Atlas is where you belong.

Rich Smith: Love it. Love it.

Teresa Allison: I truly believe that.