Our Travel Nurses Are Amazing And I Am Proud To Work With Them

To the editor: I was surprised by resident Sallyanne Austin’s comment (while discussing the Hospital Expansion Project), “I’m worried about the noise. Nobody can party like a traveling nurse, and I think if you've got 47 of them over there, it's going to get really interesting."

I am just astounded that a resident of the island would make a comment like that without knowing any of the travel nurses that we have here at Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

I work at the hospital, and let me be extremely clear that in no way am I speaking for anyone at the hospital. I am speaking only as myself and a coworker of these travel nurses.

These nurses come in all ages, sizes and ethnicities. Many of them have families... where they’re from that they take care of. They might be the breadwinner for their family.

These men and women work 12 hours a day to take care of your families. They care about your families, out of all the professions in the world to choose from, they chose a profession to help people, to make people’s lives better. To make a difference.

I have seen these professionals hold the hands of people that are dying. I have seen these professionals be spit on, punched, belittled and called names. And each time they have remained professional.

You can be upset and concerned about the housing that’s going up near your house, you know, where you are lucky enough to own a house.

To make a blanket statement that nobody parties harder than a travel nurse is rude, and frankly embarrassing for you. I’m proud of the travel nurses that I work with. My coworkers are amazing.

My suggestion would be to get to know your new neighbors, I promise you’re going to like them.

Anne Stearns