Photos: Getty Images/Cultura/Brigitte Sporrer
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Along with the pressures of providing top-quality medical care, mobile professionals often face the burden of maintaining
strong relationships with family members hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Such a distance can make participating
in family decisions—or tending to the needs of elder relatives—more challenging. And without the benefit of being present
for familial moments big and small, travelers may fear growing apart from their near and dear.
The solution could be right in your scrubs pocket. Your cell phone or computer can keep you and your family members more informed
about one another's lives than ever before. The right technology, and some pre-travel planning with your relatives and recruiter,
will let you concentrate on your work while enjoying the benefits of the traveling lifestyle. Let some of your fellow healthcare
travelers tell you how they've kept their relationships vibrant while providing expert care to their patients.
'My computer was my lifeline'
Have you ever wondered how your family ties might fare during your first cross-country travel assignment? Kathy Wimsatt, RN,
stretched hers all the way to Guam! Traveling with Trustaff, she and her husband felt like they'd also journeyed back in time
to an era before cell phones and e-mail inboxes constantly beeped for attention. "We did not have cell phone service there;
it was very expensive," Wimsatt says. "We just had a calling card. But we didn't have the constant calls that you have when
you use a cell phone, which was kind of nice after you got used to it, because you knew you would contact your kids a certain
day of the week." 
Photo: Getty Images/Tetra Images
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To stay close to loved ones and manage their finances, Wimsatt relied on the Internet. "I did a lot of e-mailing," she says.
"You can do your online banking and bill paying, and communicate with your family. I know a lot of travel nurses who don't
have a computer, but my computer was my lifeline to the States."
With family visits out of the question, and the expense of phone contact precluding daily calls for advice, Wimsatt feels
the separation made her children—both in their 20s—more independent. "When we were in Guam, they had to make a lot of their
own decisions," she notes. "I think they both grew up a lot. Sometimes they appreciate you more if you're away. They just
didn't have us to fall back on like they did before."
After three memorable months in Guam, Wimsatt took a contract in St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which restored cell
phone contact between her and family on the mainland. Moreover, her children have made plans to escape the winter chill by
visiting their parents in the tropics. "They never would have come to the Virgin Islands if their mother weren't down there
travel nursing!" she states.
Still, Wimsatt does have concerns about less-mobile relatives back home. "My mother's getting elderly, and my only concern
is if something happens with her, and I need to get back home really quickly," she explains. Fortunately, her travel time
in case of an emergency has shrunk from 24 hours on a plane to seven.
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