The healthcare field offers many different careers, but one of the most fun and flexible is travel nursing. Travel nursing is a diverse nursing career that allows you to enjoy your profession, while also allowing you to travel exploring new cities, meeting new people, discovering new clinical experiences, all the while making a good income. Travel nursing gives you a career in which you give patient care in many clinical areas, but it’s an opportunity to travel to other areas of the country, or sometimes international travel. Travel nurses are RNs who accept temporary contracts at hospitals and other clinical facilities that have become short-staffed for the short term. An assignment can be anywhere from 8-13 weeks long, but some assignments may be longer and some shorter, based on your experience and employer’s needs. Many employers offer pay schedules that are higher than average, benefits, housing stipends, bonuses, and you may even develop a highly networked professional network at multiple locations. Travel nurses need to carefully research and plan where they want to travel, the proper licensing required to work in that state or location, have the necessary experience, understand how travel contracts work, and, in addition to that, how the healthcare system works as well.
Obtain the right education
The first step in becoming a travel nurse is to obtain your registered nurse (RN) license. This requires a degree from an accredited college, in nursing, ideally an RN-bachelor’s of nursing (BSN) or RN-associate degree in nursing (ADN). Each of these degrees will allow you to obtain an RN license – however, hospitals will always prefer a nursing student to have a BSN degree, and you will have the option of more travel job opportunities available to you if you have a BSN, including it allowing you to work at the top hospitals and facilities in the country. After you have graduated with your nursing degree, you will have to take the NCLEX-RN exam. The NCLEX-RN is the national licensure exam that ensures that the competency you have displayed is demonstrated at a standardized degree and you will be legally eligible to work as a nurse anywhere in the US you desire. You will not be legally able to work as an RN in any state unless you pass the NCLEX-RN exam.
Gain clinical experience
Most travel nurse staffing agencies, and the hospital systems that hire them, will require that your clinical experience be a minimum of one to two years, depending on the agency and placement. Travel nurses are expected to adjust to their environments quickly, with little orientation. It is important that you build that ability to become acclimated in these settings, as this will require some adaptation on your part. Clinical experience helps you build your confidence and competence, leading to better preparation for dealing with pressure and varying systems of care.
Get your nursing license in multiple states
A difference with travel nursing is licensure. Each state has its own Board of Nursing, and a current license is needed to legally practice nursing in that state. Luckily, many states are part of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). The NLC allows nurses to be able to practice with one license in all the NLC states. If your home state is part of the NLC, the process is easy and you can receive a multistate license. If your home state is not part of the NLC, you will need to apply for licensure by endorsement in each state you want to travel work in. The process and state to state can take time so it’s best to do your research on licensure, to start ahead of time and to keep your credentials up to date.
Choose the right travel nurse agency
Travel nurses work with staffing agencies that help them to find job assignments throughout the country. When choosing an agency, it is very important to make the right decision. Ideally, you want to work with an agency that has a good reputation, provides solid contract terms, has responsive recruiters, and ideally, a variety of job assignments that are in your specialty. You should compare benefits offered by several agencies such as pay rates, housing stipends, travel reimbursement, and health insurance. Even the housing our travel nurse clients stay in can be different colors. Some offer furnished housing, while others offer housing allowances that will allow travel nurses to stay wherever they would like and furnish their own housing. Of all the resources to help you as a travel nurse, a good recruiter can be your best friend in taking you through the steps of applying and helping you secure contracts that suit your professional desires as a travel nurse.
Prepare your resume and credentials
Just as in any job application, your resume is everything to the process. So if you are not already, keep your resume up to date with your newest job history, certifications, and accomplishments. I would encourage you to emphasize nursing specialties, technical skills, and not just adaptability, but your possibilities to flourish in different clinical spaces. Employers are always interested in knowing that you can work efficiently and productively within various clinical settings. As an added consideration to your resume, it is important to also keep organized copies of your nursing license(s), certifications (ACLS, BLS, PALS), immunizations, references, background check clearances, etc. Most facilities will ask for this documentation before you start a job.
Embrace flexibility and adventure
Flexibility is one of the biggest characteristics that defines successful travel nurses. Every couple of months, a travel nurse will begin a new travel assignment with a different team of people, in a different hospital with different machinery, and a different location. The best advice to be a successful travel nurse is to have flexibility and be open-minded, and trust that you’ll gain a wealth of experience in return, and also many adventures and professional growth. You will gain skills you just won’t learn in school. Your skills include cultural competence and resilience, as well as independence.