On Assignment: Washington DC

I am loving life in DC! I am already more than halfway done with my contract here--I can't believe how quickly it has flown by! I am living in Alexandria and working at Washington Hospital Center in DC. The hospital is huge…think UMC…but bigger. I am working in a Burn/Surgical ICU. Thankfully, I am only technically contracted to work with the surgical patients. The exposure to burns has been a really good learning experience, and in the end I will be glad I had the exposure. But definitely not my thing. It's not bad or not anything that I can't handle, it’s just…well...gross. It really takes a special nurse to work with burn patients -- I apparently am not one of them. The surgical part of the unit has been great. They do things very differently than I am used to, but again, a great learning experience. The staff that I have been working with is phenomenal. They are thankful for the help and go out of their way to make it as eay for the travelers as they can. But the beauty of travel nursing: 13 weeks. I can even handle burns for 13 weeks. Travel nursing, by definition, is a means to an end…a license to travel. I have a great apartment, great friends, and more to do than I can find time to do it in. I love it! Here are a few high points so far…