Learn to Build Your Own CRNA Travel Practice


Learn to Build Your Own CRNA Travel Practice

Why Travel?

Travel sites with April Charpentier

Travel work offers CRNAs a tremendous opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. There are challenges for both-- the new graduate as well as the more experienced CRNA, are abundant.
I started traveling in 2008. At that time my W-2 job, suffering from staffing shortages, brought in several contracted CRNAs to cover shifts. These CRNAs were professional, confident and, most importantly, happy with their career and life style. They were instrumental in my decision begin a career as a traveler. Interestingly, I was offered the opportunity to return to that facility, ten years later. I witnessed firsthand how being a traveler CRNA advanced my anesthesia skills exponentially. I am forever grateful for the opportunities given to me and people I’ve met along the way.

However, career growth is not the only reason to work as a traveler. Individual pursuits, although not listed on a CV, are equally important in overall success. As a child I knew I wanted to travel. However, I also knew I did not want to travel as a tourist. I wanted to experience the local culture and lifestyle by being a part of it, not by observing it from afar. Working as a traveling CRNA I’ve been able to fulfill that desire, experiencing the "gems" of a variety of communities--from the talent shows in Sitka Alaska to the Fall harvest in New England. In addition, being self-employed has given me the opportunity to take exotic vacations with my husband to places such as Tahiti, Maui and Aruba. Needless to say, I highly recommend a career as a traveling CRNA and I hope to inspire others to join me.

Learn to Navigate the Credentialing Process

Credentialing sites collage

Credentialing is an arduous, and often times, frustrating process. If you are a Working CRNA you are familiar with the process first hand and possibly are thinking “I never want to do that again!” However, like exercise, the more you do it, the easier it gets. And as a traveler, you will credential more often than most. True, there are always those people who are naturally good at record keeping and will tell you “credentialing was not so bad”. Needless to say, I’m not one of those people! It has taken me years of hard work, to perfect the credentialing process. I have gone through multiple filing techniques, personal assistants, and “credentialing specialists”, to arrive at the process I currently use. This website will help you navigate through the full assignment process (including credentialing), from a provider’s perspective.

Clinical Sites

Collection of Hospital Facility sites and Anesthesiology logos

This site features several clinical sites all of which I have worked at and can personally attest to everything from type of case load, type of cases, daily hours, call, living accommodations, and ease of credentialing. Additional information includes staffing agencies I’ve worked for contact numbers if interested in a specific site.

This service is free, for both the clinical site, as well as, the CRNA desiring employment. This site facilitates directly connecting the CRNA to the anesthesia group of interest. Once contact is made, it is up to the two parties involved to complete the hiring process. DreamSafe Anesthesia Staffing, Inc. does not provide any service for credentialing, travel arrangement, salary negotiation etc. All contact information will be kept secure and released only when instructed to do so. It is my belief (and company mission) that by building a CRNA travel community, CRNAs will be able to have control over managing the supply and demand of staffing shortages.

Connect Directly with Working CRNAs

Collage of CRNAs at different facilities having fun

CRNAs provide some of the best networking support, compared to other fields of practice. One of the advantages of being between a Registered Nurse (RN) and a Medical Doctor (MD) in the staffing hierarchy is that it tightly connects CRNAs as a group. As a traveler, this phenomenon is multiplied.
I’ve met CRNAs in Texas who have worked with CRNAs I also know who have worked in Alaska. More often than not, I know someone, who knows someone, who’s worked somewhere, etc. CRNAs continually share pros/cons of various facilities, staffing agencies, and work locations. It is the nature of our profession to stay connected to each other. By creating this website, I hope to make the already well established CRNA network more accessible and beneficial to travelers. In keeping with the CRNA tradition, this network is free and private to CRNAs only. As in the 1989 movie quote in the, “Field of Dreams” -- “If you build it, they will come.”. It is my belief that if I provide the site to connect, CRNAs will use it.

How Do I Get Started?

Airplane image over mountains

Are you unhappy in your current employment? Maybe the ‘politics’ in your job have gotten to be too much. Are you considering moving, but don’t want to commit until you find employment? Or maybe, you are just looking for something different. Any of these questions, may lead you to considering CRNA travel. However, as with all things, careful planning increases the chances of success. The first step is identifying why you want to travel and what you expect from a travel experience. This can better help direct your search. As with credentialing, relying on staffing agencies job sites such as GasWork.com to direct your search can lead to problems down the road and is not recommended.