Minnesota Wrap Up

We quit our jobs, rented out our house, moved into a fifth wheel and drove 1,200 miles to Minnesota for an 8 week contract near my mother's house.  Exactly one week before the contract was to start, I got a call from my recruiter with bad news.  "Your contract has been cancelled due to low census."  Gee, thanks.  I just drove $500 of gas through my truck going to Minnesota, and you cancel me.  Not cool, but I guess that's the business.  Oh well, I'd worked per-diem nursing in MN ten years ago, and I'd do the same again.

We tried to stay in MN for a couple months, but the work environment was pretty difficult.  I'd sign up for four days of availability.  Then I'd have to call two hours before my shift to see if I was still needed.  I think I ended up getting cancelled about 50% of my shifts, which is pretty disheartening.  Thankfully MN is a high paying state, and we were living in my mothers front yard at a really cool rural location, not paying campground fees. 

We lasted 3.5 weeks before I got a contract in Washington, then we bailed.  Hope to be back again soon, on a three month contract.  Hard to know when that will happen.  The market there seems modest for ER travel nurses, but the per-diem work isn't so good.