Travel Nurse Stories: Salsa, Swing Dance, and Fireworks

Meet Sue Collins and Karen Finney, RNs

Travel Nurse Across America has proudly chosen Karen Finney and Sue Collins (aka “Thelma and Louise”) as our “Travelers of the Month” for April. Karen is from Culloden, WV, and received her AAS in nursing from Marshall University, home of the Thundering Herd, in 2003. Sue, from Ashland, KY, graduated in 1992 with an AAS.

“We are surprised and extremely honored to be chosen ‘Travelers of the Month for Travel Nurse Across America! We became friends while working together in a Level 2 trauma ED in Huntington, WV before embarking on our travel career just over a year ago. We discovered we each had been planning on travel nursing for years, but were just waiting for the right time.

It’s been the best decision we ever made to travel together, and we can’t imagine traveling alone. We are the same age (well, I am 6 months older and Karen never lets me forget it!), and we both have sons in the Army, as well as children and grandchildren we love and miss back home.

After researching many companies, Travel Nurse Across America offered us the best options. Our recruiter Pam has never let us down in finding assignments where we want to go. She checks on us regularly and finds solutions for the few bumps in the road we have encountered. Our housing has always been spectacular. In fact, it seems to get better with each contract. We’ve been wooed by other companies, but none have offered anything better than Travel Nurse Across America, so why would we switch companies?

We don’t think we will ever stop traveling. We have, in just one year, been places and met people we would never have had the chance to if we remained at home. Our first assignment was at a small hospital in Henderson, NC. Afterward, we cared for patients of nearly every culture while in the Washington, DC area. We learned to salsa and swing dance, tried new foods, and watched the 4th of July fireworks with thousands of others on the grass in front of the Washington Monument. Then we decided to “Go West Old Women!” and drove across the country to Phoenix for the winter, and now our current assignment is in Albuquerque, NM. We’re planning on spending the summer in Seattle. Along the way, we have made lifelong friends among our co-workers and fellow travel nurses and a few local residents. We could write a book to tell all the stories of our experiences!

All in all, we feel very lucky to have the opportunity that has been given to us and we would like to thank Travel Nurse Across America for their encouragement and support. We will continue to be the best nurses we can be and enjoy our tour of America as long as possible!”