The Roaming RN

 I once heard,"Starting over, in theory, is simple. You put the past behind you and begin again. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Moving on means letting things go. Things that are easy, safe, familiar, things that matter."  -Anonymous      There are a lot of amazing things about traveling solo and having the career that I do, but sometimes it is not as marvelous as you see on social media, or hear about from a friend of a friend. The good stuff is that I get to go where I want, when I want, with whom I want (give or take a few days here and there). I get to FINALLY make enough money to start saving towards my goals. I have 4/7 days off a week meaning that I get to explore and try new things, or sleep for an entire day...depending on the week and the weather. I am constantly meeting new people, which has been complicated by COVID a bit but Im learning to navigate social distance interactions. I get to stay in cool places! For example, I am headed to Georgia ne...

     I woke up this morning after a strange night of dreaming. My mind spent the night replaying people I have treated during this pandemic. Most of the time I try to push them out of my head so I can continue to work without them haunting me. Most of the time it works, but on nights like last night, they come back to remind me just how lucky I am.       I remember a woman I treated, a retired school teacher, just 65 years old. I spent at least two hours in her room talking her down. She was so scared and so alone. She was on BIPAP, a machine that forces air in to your lungs when they wont open up fully on their own. It is uncomfortable and has lifelong damaging effects. She couldn't take it off long enough to even take a sip of water with out her oxygen levels plummeting. I held her hand, and rubbed her back while she lay prone, struggling for air. I dosed her with Ativan and Metoprolol to try to calm her and get her heart rate under control. I told h...

     My new house has a fluffy, round, oversized chair sitting in the living room which I have naturally made mine. As I said in my previous blog post, I am overly enthusiastic about certain textures.      This blog post comes from that exact location. Tacoma is beautiful. The houses in my area are a mixture of old restored Victorian, west coast bungalow, and older homes with a bit of character. People drive slower here, and take a little more care when behind the wheel. Except my drunken neighbor who came home at one in the morning and parked his car on the outside staircase. I kid you not. We all woke up the next day to his car parked on the staircase with one wheel hanging off over it and the others just barely holding on. Besides that event my first five days here have been mellow. Ive settled in, grocery shopped, bought a raincoat (who the hell moves to the PNW without a raincoat?!?!?), met and hung out with the mysterious Kenny, and had dinner with on...

     I begin this blog with every intention of actually updating it. That being said, I have no idea what my life looks like for the next year. Or even years, pleural.  I don't have a set work schedule, a set work location, or even a set state I will be in. I don't have a significant other, any children, or a property to maintain that would prevent me from going to certain places or doing certain things.  I am free. I am Aubrey, a 20-something year old travel nurse.                                                                                            A little about me... I am a homebody, but one that really loves the outdoors. I live alone mostly (and basically out of my car/on couches/i...