By Julie Benn,
NurseZone
contributor
From the time she tripped and fell as a kid and spent time
in the school nurse’s office Krys LaFleur, R.N. knew she wanted to be a nurse.
Since then, she has pursued her dream and is now not only a
nurse, but Traveler Nurse of the Year, according to Healthcare Traveler
magazine. LaFleur, 28, is a travel-nurse and has been to a number of places
during her young career. She has had nine assignments with American Mobile
Healthcare that included Baltimore, New Hampshire, New York City and Las Vegas.
She is presently practicing her craft at a small hospital in beautiful Lake
Tahoe, California.
LaFleur’s nomination for Nurse of the Year came from her
recruiter at American Mobile Healthcare, Amber Kaufman. “From day one, Krys has
been a model traveler,” said Kaufman, adding, “Dedicated and loyal, she enjoys
being a mobile nurse and it shows.”
Kaufman added that LaFleur has been invited to stay on at
every hospital to which she has been assigned—a tribute to her excellent patient
care, flexibility, work ethic and great attitude.
For the past five-and-a-half years, LaFleur has worked as a
travel nurse and is not shy about telling others, “I’m going to be a nurse until
I retire!”
LaFleur works in Labor and Delivery and very much enjoys
her specialty. “O.B. staff people are like family; it’s a floor where people are
generally happy—life is emerging.” She added that, due to the 12-hour shifts,
she has time to get to know the families, from the mother- and father-to-be to
the in-laws.
“I like working night shifts. I always have, right from the
beginning,” said LaFleur, who tried working days, but didn’t like that shift.
She added that getting enough sleep during the day has not been a problem for
her.
Another thing she appreciates about the longer shifts is
that they allow her full, often consecutive days off to really get to know about
her surroundings. She said she isn’t shy about inviting herself to things that
other travelers or staff nurses are doing on days off. As her recruiter said,
“Krys is an advocate for the travel nursing lifestyle and takes advantage of
every moment she has while on assignment.”
Not only is LaFleur an advocate for travel nursing, but for
nursing as a career in general. “I tell everyone I know to go into nursing
school,” she said, explaining that the flexibility this career allows—not only
in schedules, but also in departments—is tremendous. And she is constantly
learning new things.
Sometimes, scrapped knees can lead to a good thing after
all.
Kudos Krys LaFluer!