By Julie Benn, contributor
Registered nurse Ayanna Richardson, 24, already has four
years and five cities’ worth of experience under her belt—not bad for someone
who “woke up one day and decided to be a nurse.”
Richardson was on her way to medical school before her
epiphany occurred and she realized that eight years, or more, of school and
$500,000 in student loans just didn’t look as appealing as she once had thought.
With mom as a NICU nurse, she decided that particular
profession, and that particular department, was calling her towards the future,
so she heeded that call. An “A” student through high school and nursing school,
Richardson was out working as a nurse before she turned 21.
While she was in school, a traveler came in and talked
about the benefits of travel nursing. Once Richardson heard about traveling, she
was hooked. It became her focus and her plan once she had some experience as a
staff nurse. She got that experience at UC San Francisco.
With that experience came a situation in her young career
that she won’t soon forget.
While a lot of cases are difficult because the infants are
so sick, one such baby was so ill that she kept bursting out of stitches she had
in her abdomen. The parents were Hispanic and didn’t speak English, while
Richardson knew just a little Spanish. During the weeks and months that passed,
the mother taught her how to communicate in Spanish while Ayanna taught the
mother words in English. To maintain consistency, Richardson was one of their
primary nurses during the time the baby was in the hospital.
After six months of struggling, the baby eventually died.
At this time the family called in both Richardson and the primary day nurse.
“When we walked into the room, the mother yelled out,
‘Thank God you’re here,'” recalled Ayanna. “It felt so wonderful. I know that
seems odd to say because we couldn’t save the baby, but I got so close to the
family and we really formed a relationship.”
She said that she did question whether or not she could
deal with the heartbreak of losing young patients.
“When I think about how many babies live and do go home
with their families compared to those who don’t make it, the ones that live do
outnumber those who don’t in most cases. We don’t have babies dying every single
day. The babies are tough, some of them are real fighters and it’s amazing what
they can go through.”
Richardson has done most of her traveling on the eastern
side of the nation, in Philadelphia, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is
from the West Coast in San Francisco, but her relationship with her boyfriend
eventually led her to the east. They met when he lived in Lake Tahoe and she
lived in San Francisco. They actually initially got together after finding each
other on the Internet.
Richardson decided to travel with leading travel staffing
company American Mobile Healthcare and take on assignments on the eastern
seaboard. She has taken four assignments in one year and three months time.
“In regard to traveling, your recruiter is what makes the
difference,” she said. “Mine has been absolutely wonderful and helped me every
step of the way.” Because she stays in her own home, Ayanna is able to take the
housing subsidy AMH offers—another perk of being a traveler. That and the fact
that she doesn’t have to attend staff meetings have made her traveling life even
more appealing.
The schedule of 12-hour shifts over three days gives Ayanna
plenty of time to do the things she loves, including snowboarding with her
boyfriend.
Her schedule also allows her plenty of time to spend with
her four-month-old puppy—a Westie named Bailey. “I can’t complain,” said Ayanna.
“Life is good, I love what I’m doing.”
Needless to say, her mom, the NICU nurse, is very proud of
her. And, with Richardson’s sister soon graduating from nursing school herself,
it’s becoming a profession that’s all in the family.
© 2006. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.