One of the best things about a nursing career is having the flexibility to work in different locations, with new patient populations, and explore different specialties. Many nurses who are looking for a new adventure or a higher salary choose to become travel nurses.
What is travel nursing?
Traveling nurses help hospitals by working in hospitals that are understaffed or overwhelmed. A report by NPR found over 1,000 hospitals in the United States that are critically understaffed. These hospitals depend on travel nurses to keep patients safe and their current staff from becoming overwhelmed and experiencing burnout.
Related: Travel Nursing: Opportunities and Experiences During the Pandemic to Now
Currently, only 2.3% of working nurses are traveling nurses. Between critical staffing shortages and the relatively low number of travelers, there are a lot of opportunities for registered nurses to join in with travelers.
There are many good reasons for nurses to want to become travel nurses. According to ZipRecruiter, travel nurses earn an average of $101,132 per year. This is a significant increase over the average registered nurse, who earns $86,070 per year.
In addition, travel nurses get to explore the globe, learn from many different organizations, and create their work schedules. Many traveling nurses take long stretches of time off between contracts to travel, take care of their families, and pursue other goals.
How to become a travel nurse
So, how do you become a travel nurse? First, you must complete your BSN. Almost all travel agencies require their nurses to have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Nurses who already have an associate degree and nursing license can often find online bachelor’s degree programs that can be completed in a year or less.
Get experience
When someone works as a travel nurse, they typically have a short orientation period to get familiar with supply rooms, unique protocols, and new charting systems. Because of this, travel agencies require their nurses to have at least a few years of experience before taking on a travel contract.
Critical care travel positions often require more experience and may require advanced skills in continuous renal replacement therapy or mechanical circulatory devices. In addition, some travel agencies require their nurses to have advanced certifications such as CCRN, ACLS, PALS, and Neonatal resuscitation.
Check your license
Nursing licenses are state-specific. This means that nurses working in different states may have to apply for a new license when they travel. Some states are part of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC).
States that belong to the NLC include:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania (Partial implementation)
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
If you live in an NLC state, you should be able to start working a new travel contract without applying for a new license.
Applying for jobs
Travel nurses do not apply for each individual job. Typically, nurses are employed by agencies that have contracts with different hospitals all across the country. The agency connects the travel nurse with the hospital and negotiates salary, working hours, and contract length.
Nurses can choose an agency with higher hourly wages, better benefits, or longer contracts. Many nurses become “local travelers”, who pick up contracts in their home state, but enjoy the high salary and flexibility of travel nursing.
Getting the most out of your contract
One of the things that nurses love the most about travel contracts is the opportunity to explore different hospitals around the globe. Most travel agencies help their nurses find places to live, coordinate transportation, and negotiate higher per diem rates.
Traveling can be stressful for nurses who do not adapt well. Agency representatives should help travel nurses figure out problems with transportation, scheduling, overtime, or unsafe nursing assignments. Travel nurses should work closely with their representatives to protect themselves from taking unsafe patient assignments or working outside their scope of knowledge.
Because contracts are typically only a few months long, travel nurses can often feel like they are constantly the “new employee”. Figuring out where different supplies are stored, who to call in case of an emergency, and how to find the break room can take a while.
Travel nurses who get along with others and are not afraid to ask questions handle the stress of working in a new facility much better than those who are standoffish or have trouble asking for help.
Share your ideas
While travel nurses may need help with locating supplies or logging into the medication dispenser, they often pick up great ideas from each place they visit. Travel nurses can help the entire nursing profession by spreading ideas and sharing the knowledge they gain with other hospitals and nursing units they travel to.
