Alumnae Feature: Travel Nurses Melanie O'Meara and Meghan Bennett
We recently asked Chi Omega Alumnae Melanie O’Meara and Meghan Bennett about their life post grad, what being a nurse during a pandemic was like, and their experiences as travel nurses! Melanie, originally from Iowa City, Iowa currently works at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago as one of the kidney transplant coordinators. Meghan, who is from Wheaton, Illinois, has been an ICU nurse for the past four and half years and recently just started in the Cardiac Cath Lab at Rush University Medical Center.
They recently finished up over a year of travel nursing, and we loved hearing about their experiences!
“I remember when our professors in nursing school told us about travel nursing, and thinking that it sounded like such a cool opportunity/experience. Meghan and I had always voiced interest in traveling so when Chicago pretty much shut down during the pandemic we thought it would be the perfect time to get out and explore. We always said we would be gone for a year but it ended up being a year and a half because we were having so much fun. Travel nursing is very fast paced and you have to be a quick learner and adaptable because sometimes you only get a few hours of orientation before you’re on your own. I met so many incredible nurses and doctors along the way. I feel very lucky that we ended up working at great hospitals with great staff.” - Melanie
“I remember first hearing about travel nursing during my senior year internship at Iowa when I was paired with a travel nurse in ICU. It sounded like such a unique experience that I knew it would be something I always wanted to do. Then fast forward to 2020, Mel and I had been living in Chicago and working at Northwestern for 3 years when the pandemic hit. Soo many hospitals across the country were short staffed and so we sort of had our pick of where we wanted to go. It was way too good of an opportunity to pass up and I was so happy that Mel agreed! We started talking to a recruiter and mapping out where we wanted to go, starting on the west coast. Then I bought a car and we started the 30+ hour drive out to Seattle. The experience was only supposed to last a year but we ended up extending it another 6 months because we loved it so much. The work wasn’t always easy like Mel mentioned, but getting to travel with your best friend made it worth it.” -Meghan
For the next year and a half, they worked in Seattle, San Diego, Denver, and Austin!
“Each place was unique and very different from growing up in the Midwest, and I loved all of them. If I had to choose a favorite it would probably be San Diego. We ended up extending our contract and got to be there for 6 months. We were lucky enough to live in the cutest beach house in South Mission Beach. Our favorite thing to do was go for long beach walks on our days off. Beach walks kept me sane during the crazy second wave of COVID that hit southern California while we were living and working there.” -Melanie
“I would also have to say San Diego was my favorite. We lived steps from the beach, and I don’t know if I will ever get to say that again in my life! We also stayed there the longest and got to know the people there the best. Seattle comes in at a close second. The food there was AMAZING. We also did the most hiking there (would recommend visiting in the summer months to do this) and got to hit all three national parks multiple times! Washington had the ocean, mountains, and the city which was super unique and we never ran out of things to do there.” -Meghan
On their experiences as nurses navigating a pandemic:
“It really is hard to describe what being a nurse during the pandemic was like. It was definitely the hardest, most frustrating thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Being an ICU nurse, I dealt with the sickest patients everywhere we went and most didn’t make it in the beginning. It really helped to have Melanie with me during the hardest days. I did get to work with some amazing nurses all over the country, it really felt like we were all in it together.” -Meghan
“Being a nurse during the pandemic was honestly extremely difficult. I was lucky enough to be working on a unit with transplant patients during the first wave that hit Chicago so I wasn’t taking care of COVID (+) patients. When we worked in San Diego, Southern California was getting hit really hard by the second wave. I would have to take double the amount of patients that was normally considered to be a “safe” ratio. I would have 2, sometimes 3 patients die in one shift. We unfortunately became very familiar with death. It was the most stressful work environment that I've ever worked in.” -Melanie
We enjoyed hearing about their time as collegiate members of Chi Omega, and loved to hear how close they still remain to their Chi O Sisters today.
“Chi O gave me a home away from home at college. It was a place where I could feel supported but also challenged to be the best I could be. It introduced me to women who I could laugh with, cry with, study all week with, and then let loose with on the weekends. One of my favorite memories is probably our senior year formal, a full circle moment that I’ll never forget. I also loved late nights studying in the chapter room or late night munchies in the kitchenette. Living in the house was really special because no matter what you wanted to do, there was always someone around to do it with you!
Growing up without sisters, being a part of a sisterhood really appealed to me when I was a freshman, and it is so special to have these women in my life for the past 8 years. They not only got me through college but the ups and downs of the post grad world. It sounds cheesy but it’s true! These girls are the girls I still live with, travel with, and spend all my free time with 8 years later! ” -Meghan
“Chi O gave me the most well rounded group of women to surround myself with. I remember when I was going through recruitment being in awe of how put together, yet approachable and fun all the Chi O’s were. Chi O really pushed us to be the best versions of ourselves. My favorite memories from Chi O are definitely all the fun social events. Our senior year formal was in the press box at Kinnick Stadium, and is something that I will never forget. Thinking about getting ready together in the house with music blasting still makes me smile.
I am so lucky I found my absolute best friends through Chi O, that I still talk everyday . I truly don’t know how I would have made it through the pandemic without the support system of my friends. I know I always have someone to celebrate, cry, eat, drink and laugh with!” -Melanie
They left us with a few words of advice :)
“Savior every single second!! We reminisce about college memories all the time. There won’t be another time in your lives that you get to live seconds away from all your best friends. Also in the cruel post grad world, $1 pizza slices don’t exist so go take advantage of dollar slice days at Airliner! I hope they still do that?” =Melanie
“Take lots of pictures and videos!! Capture every memory you can because one day you’ll be old and washed up like us, reminiscing about your college days and all the incredible memories shared together!” - Meghan
