Sophia Khawly remembers exactly when she wanted to become a nurse practitioner (NP). A registered nurse (RN) by trade, Khawly was volunteering as a nurse and translator in Haiti when she saw NPs on a medical mission making a positive impact in the lives of patients.
“I got to see them diagnose and treat children with asthma and scabies and adults with high blood pressure and I was like, ‘That’s awesome—that’s what I want to do,’” Khawly said. “So then that’s why I decided to continue my education and become a nurse practitioner.”
Khawly made that dream a reality and has worked as a locum tenens family practice NP full-time since 2015, taking temporary assignments in rural and urban communities across the United States to provide critical healthcare services to people young and old.
“I always tell nurse practitioners that locum tenens is the ultimate life hack,” Khawly said. “When you’re in a permanent, full-time job, you’re working so much, you’re paid a salary but you’re working overtime without being paid. With locums, it’s great because I can just work as little or as much as I want. I’m guaranteed to have my holidays off—I can take vacations, I can take sabbaticals, and then if I am working more than 40 hours a week, I am paid overtime for that time.”
Khawly’s passion for her profession, continued interest in volunteering, and work serving as a resource for other NPs earned her the recognition of Barton Associates’ 2024 Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner of the Year. This inaugural award, presented annually during National Nurse Practitioner Week (Nov. 10–16), recognizes one NP who has shown extraordinary volunteerism and commitment to their profession and the well-being of their patients.
“It’s awesome—I’ve been doing locum tenens for nine years, and I can’t imagine going back to a full-time, permanent job ever,” Khawly said about being named Barton’s 2024 Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner of the Year. “It’s nice to be recognized by a really large organization in the locum tenens world. I’ve not only contributed by working as a locum tenens NP, but I’ve tried to mentor other NPs, and I also try to be active in the community by volunteering.”
Khawly’s Journey From LPN to Locum Tenens NP
Medicine has always been an interest for Khawly, who first became a licensed practical nurse (LPN) when she was in high school. She continued her education at Florida State University, where she earned her bachelor’s in nursing and became an RN.
After her formative experience seeing NPs on the job while she was volunteering with Hope for Haiti’s Children, a nonprofit organization her family started that provides medical assistance and educational opportunities for Haitian children, she returned to school and became a family practice NP.
Khawly’s first job as an NP was in a permanent position in Miami, but after about three years, she decided to make a change and become a locum tenens provider. Her first assignment was a local one in Florida, which she took to see if entering new practice environments on short-notice was the right path for her.
“As a traveler you have to be able to jump into your environment and adapt quickly,” she said. “I’m more of an introverted person so I wasn’t sure if I’d be comfortable meeting people all the time. My first assignment was at a local clinic and it ended up working out.”
Eager to get out of Florida, Khawly took her second locum tenens assignment at a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in rural Washington, where she learned more about what it means to be a traveling healthcare professional.
“I had an amazing experience,” she said. “I was able to see all types of people, from pediatrics to adults, because when I worked in Miami I mostly saw adults. I was able to increase my experience and that was great.”
Since then, Khawly’s worked locum tenens assignments across the United States, in places such as California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Virginia. One of the assignments that sticks out the most to Khawly was one she took in Virginia at a geriatric clinic, where she felt like she was able to make an immense impact in the lives of older patients.
“At that type of practice, the goal is to keep your patients healthy and to keep them out of the hospital,” she said. “I could set goals for my patients and see my progress and my patients’ progress.”
This clinic in particular had many more locations across the U.S. and Khawly’s been able to work at a few of them, which she said has been rewarding.
At geriatric clinics and in rural areas, Khawly said patient education is one of the biggest parts of her job.
“With the geriatric clinic, they give you more time with the patients—you can take your time and the patients come more frequently…you can see them more frequently and stay on top of their problems,” she said. “In rural communities … the patients are really grateful to have you because sometimes they’ve waited maybe a year for the appointment just because they have limited access to care.”
Becoming a Resource for Other Locum Tenens NPs
Not only does Khawly act as a critical medical resource for the people she cares for, she’s also expanded her impact beyond her patients by starting a TravelingNP.com, a blog on which she chronicles her experiences working as a traveling healthcare professional, answers questions from readers, and provides helpful financial and lifestyle advice for other locum tenens professionals.
“When I started doing locum tenens, there wasn’t that much information about doing locum tenens as an NP,” she said. “So that’s why I started my blog. … It’s an honor to be a trailblazer for that profession because there’s such limited information, but it’s such an amazing profession and career.”
Khawly said she’s always kept a journal, so the transition into becoming a blog writer was a no-brainer.
“It helps me think about my assignments, and sometimes I write about my frustrations and sometimes I write about the aspects I’m grateful for,” she said. “I do have a lot of feedback from readers, asking questions about getting started. … I like that network, and I like continuing to show how locum tenens has changed, because it has changed, over the last decade.”
Khawly’s worked with many locum tenens agencies throughout her career, but she says Barton Associates stands out because it has the most job opportunities in the areas she wants to work and it helps coordinate proactive medical licensing as well as travel and lodging.
“What I like about working with Barton Associates is since they are a large company, they tend to have the most job options,” she said.
Hope for Haiti’s Children
As the 2024 Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner of the Year, Khawly will receive a $2,500 award for herself, along with an additional $2,500 donation made in her name to a charity of her choice.
She has chosen Hope for Haiti’s Children as her charitable organization and currently serves on its Board of Directors. She said her parents, who were born in Haiti, started the charity in 2003.
“It’s been really rewarding because, unfortunately, Haiti has a lot of problems,” she said. “I haven’t been able to go in the last couple of years, just because of a lot of civil unrest. But although I haven’t been able to go physically, and we’re still able to help them from abroad.”
