High-stakes travel

It’s June, and Hailee Hartman ’19 is in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning a new job at her fifth hospital in 18 months. And while everything around her is unfamiliar, Hartman is prepared, calm and focused.

The stakes are much higher now, but her preparation and mindset echo the approach Hartman took during her standout soccer career at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

“I think I’m a good travel nurse because I can adapt to new situations,” Hartman said. “My soccer background provided me the necessary skills to be able to adapt quickly to changes. When I played, I compartmentalized the game; now I compartmentalize the shift. That’s how I get through it.”

Hartman’s preparation and mindset also helped her become the most prolific women’s soccer player in program history. From 2014 to 2017, Hartman helped Penn College to three postseason berths and a conference final appearance. Individually, Hartman collected three all-conference selections and ended her career as Penn College’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points.

“The biggest thing that separated Hailee from other players was her desire to be better, her preparation and her self-analyzing to improve every aspect of her game to become a more complete player,” said former Penn College head women’s soccer coach John McNichol. “That’s what made her a special player, and I know that’s how she approaches being a nurse.” 

Early in her senior year of high school at Lampeter-Strasburg, Hartman decided that she wanted to be a nurse. She wanted to attend a school that favored labs over lectures, and she had a desire to continue her soccer career. Hartman found both at Penn College and realized early that soccer was more than a game: It was a support system. 

“I realized how beneficial soccer was going to be for me in the middle of my freshman year,” Hartman recalled. “It forced me to balance school, a personal life and the sport, and provided a person (head coach) to offer support and encouragement – which is something other students may not have.”

Following her graduation from Penn College, Hartman returned home and began working at Lancaster General Hospital. She was “raised as a baby nurse” in oncology and hematology, first by chance, since it was one of the few open positions, then by choice, when she decided to stay in the unit because she found the work “rewarding and mentally stimulating.”

After about a year and a half at Lancaster General, Hartman noticed a trend in travel nursing. Travel nurses typically work for an agency that places them at facilities that are suffering from a staffing crisis. Most placements last two to three months. Nurses can choose their best fit – which can include location, discipline and sometimes even the salary range.  

“I noticed that travel nursing was trending in March 2020, right when the pandemic started,” Hartman explained. “Obviously it’s a quicker way to make a little more money, but there are other valuable reasons to start travel nursing. It really helps prevent burnout because you’re only in one place for a short amount of time. You get to change facilities and have to learn new systems and people every few months, and you’re able to take a few weeks off in between jobs.”

Hartman eased into travel nursing by taking a job at a facility in nearby York and commuting from her home in Lancaster. She later took a position at a facility near a family home in Maryland, then in Pittsburgh, where she had friends and family. Then she traveled farther. She worked for three months in Greensboro, North Carolina, in February and began work in Charleston at the end of June.

At each stop, Hartman puts her well-rounded Penn College experience to use by combining the hard skills she learned in the classroom and the essential skills she developed as a student-athlete. 

“I am very grateful that I had my academic and athletic experiences at Penn College,” Hartman said. “It provided me so many skills to be successful in my career.”