Travel RN, Kacki Schwartz - The Atlas Life #77

Kacki Schwartz:     Coming here and meeting staff here at Atlas and seeing the office and just seeing the culture has really confirmed for me that it's like a family here, and to be a part of that makes me feel really excited because those are the principles and values of a company that I want to be a good ambassador for. You know? It's something that's really important to me.

Joe Michaelsen:     Hi, I'm Joe Michaelsen. I'm a recruiter here at Atlas MedStaff.

Kacki Schwartz:     And my name is Kacki Schwartz. I'm a travel nurse with Atlas MedStaff. So Joe is actually the first recruiter I ever talked to on the phone. I did a lot of research through Case Lane and Highway Hypodermics. Doing the research that I did, I felt like Atlas would be a good fit for me and I reached out and Joe got back to me, and here we are almost a year later from the beginning of the process for me. I just had this feeling like I had to do it, like I knew it was part of my next step, and even though I was really afraid to take that first step because I didn't know what was going to happen and how things would go, I had so much support from so many people. I just felt like I knew I had to do it.

Kacki Schwartz:     The best part about traveling is constantly being challenged. I feel that I've been given the opportunity to face a lot of my fears to conquer belief systems that I have about myself. Doing this has taught me that I can do anything that I want to do in my life. The not so easy part about travel nursing for me has been learning how to let go of expectations about people that I meet, about situations that I might encounter in the hospital. Being willing to go with the flow and trust the process has never been something that has come naturally to me, so through this process, something that has been not so easy is becoming easier.

Kacki Schwartz:     When I left my most recent contract, I actually was saying goodbye, had developed a lot of really great relationships with the nurses and other staff members that I worked with, and a lot of them said, "Kacki, we didn't even know you were a traveler. We thought you were staff. We thought you were core staff." I went into it feeling I want to make sure that I am part of the unit and fill the need in the way that they need me to fill the need.

Joe Michaelsen:     Kind of adapting to their culture?

Kacki Schwartz:     That's a great way of putting it. Adapting to the unit's culture.

Joe Michaelsen:     Yeah. Just over the past 10 or 11 months, just getting to know Kacki has been awesome. She has I think the biggest heart of anybody I know. Some of the feedback we get from her supervisors and managers has been just unbelievable. You know, they've made it abundantly clear that they want her to stay on permanently. They love giving a great reference for it, but they are like, "Does she have to leave? Can't she stay here?" Her passion for life, too... She is obviously exploring breaking outside of her comfort zone and just going places and seeing new things and meeting new people, and just seeing her passion for life has been really, really refreshing.

Kacki Schwartz:     The best part about working with Joe is feeling like you're not just my recruiter, but also my friend. I feel I can come to you with anything. Anything that any assignment could possibly throw at me that would be challenging, you would be the first person in my corner advocating for me. Oh man, what's next? Well, an eight-week contract in Denver.

Joe Michaelsen:     Yep.

Kacki Schwartz:     And we'll go from there.

Joe Michaelsen:     Yep.

Kacki Schwartz:     I am open to any opportunities and possibilities, and that's kind of the fun of it.

Joe Michaelsen:     Yeah. I think Kacki has a high passion for some smaller critical-access hospitals. She has a really diversified skillset where she could really go into any hospital setting like that and just flourish in all their different units, so I think that's... Well, it'll be interesting. It'll be fun to see where you end up after Denver.

Kacki Schwartz:     Mm-hmm (affirmative). Somewhere beautiful.

Joe Michaelsen:     Maybe you're going to go to Denver and love it and stay there for a year? You never know.

Kacki Schwartz:     Maybe.

Joe Michaelsen:     You never know.

Kacki Schwartz:     Advice that I would have for a brand new travel nurse is be easy on yourself. Be kind. Let yourself trust the process and trust your recruiter. That is paramount to have a relationship with your recruiter that you feel that you can trust them, because it's a two-way street. Have fun. Don't waste the fun. This is a job, and we going to do a job, but it can be more than just that. It can be a way to develop yourself personally, conquer your fears about what things might have in store for you, but most of all just have fun. This should be a fun process.

Joe Michaelsen:     Mm-hmm (affirmative).