By Kristin Rothwell, NurseZone feature writer
Four years ago Ann Bistany thought she had it all. She was a chef, a ski
instructor, a sailing instructor and a photographer.
But when she decided to become a registered nurse, Bistany had no idea that
it would lead her to her two greatest loves: her husband, Jason Czaban, and
travel nursing.
Bistany met Czaban, who is also a registered nurse, after graduating from
nursing school and relocating to Texas from Buffalo, New York.
"What’s funny is we grew up about a half an hour from each
other," said Bistany. "I grew up in Buffalo, New York, and he grew up
just over the border in Canada. So, here we were down in Texas, working in a
critical care unit as staffers."
After some time of dating and getting to know one another, Bistany and Czaban
decided to give travel nursing a try. They’re first assignment together was at
Nantucket Cottage Hospital in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Bistany, who loved working in Nantucket as a chef, found a new kind of joy
working as a nurse in the emergency department there, thanks to her nurse
staffing agency, American Mobile Healthcare.
"It was a great little ER because it could go from serving about 7,000
people to 60,000 people during the busy season," said Bistany, who recalled
that because none of the other nurses had any experience in pediatrics, she and
Czaban were always on call. "It’s crazy busy but you could see and do
everything."
At the end of their 18-week travel assignment, realizing it was such a
success, they decided to take another assignment, this time in Seattle,
Washington.
It was there that Czaban decided to pop the question.
"We were walking through a parking lot and were planning to go on a
vacation somewhere when we both sort of asked each other. It was very
untraditional."
They were married just a few months ago during an intimate ceremony on
Mahaulepu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii.
"It was so easy. It was beautiful. I was barefoot," said Bistany,
who admitted that wedding planning likely would have caused her too much
unwanted stress. "The only traditional thing we did was ask each other’s
parents for their blessing and, of course, wedding bands."
Now back in Seattle, they live in a new home, which provides views of the
Olympic Mountains and the "Sound," and is also just blocks from the
marina where they have a sailboat.
Though Czaban has taken a permanent position in the emergency department at
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Bistany continues to work as a traveling nurse in
the emergency department at nearby Harborview Medical Center.
"I like that I can live in [Seattle] and still be a traveler or pick up
and go somewhere, too," said Bistany.
She added, "Travel is not for everybody but it’s a really nice option.
It gives you the [chance] to go anywhere and work. There aren’t too many jobs
that let you do that."
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