Feeling stagnant in your current nursing role? Craving a change of scenery and a chance to broaden your professional horizons? Travel nursing offers a solution, allowing you to contribute your expertise in various locations while igniting your passion for healthcare.
venturing beyond the familiar walls of your current facility, contributing your skills to various healthcare institutions across the country, and enriching your professional journey with new experiences. This comprehensive guide serves as your roadmap to navigating the exciting world of travel nursing.
Table of Contents
What is Travel Nursing?
Travel nurses act as temporary staff for hospitals and other medical facilities. They usually sign up through travel nurse agencies and are contracted for a specific amount of time. This allows healthcare facilities to ensure continuity of care even if they are short on nurses. Through specialized skillsets, travel nurses fill in staffing gaps and allow healthcare organizations to maintain optimal patient care.
Do Travel Nurses Make More Money?
In general, travel nurses make more money than staff nurses. Since facilities that request travel nurses are already short-staffed, they are willing to pay more for temporary help to come to their rescue. Travel nurses also have to find temporary housing which can be difficult. Healthcare facilities pay extra money to help nurses find places to stay. Pay can vary a lot based on Skills, experience, and location.
The average pay for travel nursing in the United States is $105,021 or about $50/hr. Besides higher pay, some travel nurse contracts come with benefits such as housing stipends and travel allowances.
See also: How to Find Housing as a Travel Nurse.
Becoming a Travel Nurse
Higher pay and getting to travel around the world make more people attracted to travel nursing. But what are the requirements to become a travel nurse?
- Registered Nurse Licensure: This one probably comes as a no-brainer, but to be a travel nurse you have to hold a license or certification. Though it isn’t as common as travel RN positions, LPNs and CNAs can also travel.
- Experience Acquisition: Many healthcare facilities prefer candidates with at least one year of bedside nursing experience under their belts. This demonstrates your ability to adapt to the fast-paced environment of travel nursing.
- Specialty Certification: Though it isn’t necessary, obtaining certifications relevant to your nursing expertise can make you a more compelling candidate for travel assignments.
- Travel Nursing Agency Selection: Partnering with a reputable travel nursing agency is crucial. These agencies help you find the best contracts that meet your needs, help negotiate contracts, and conduct thorough research on future placements. Here’s a guide to picking the best one.
See also: Preparing For Your Travel Nurse Interview
Let’s Break Down The Myths of Travel Nursing
Myth 1: Travel nurses are constantly on the move, with assignments lasting only a few weeks.
Reality: Travel nurse assignments typically last for 13 weeks. Healthcare facilities offer extensions to nurses who fit in. While there is a such thing as short travel assignments, those are usually taken by local nurses, or nurses who want to travel as much as possible.
Myth 2: Travel nursing is the exclusive domain of young, single nurses.
Reality: Travel nursing is for everyone. There are so many different types of assignments that there is something for everyone. Since working from home has become a new norm for a lot of Americans. Nurses are starting to travel with their partners more and more.
Myth 3: Travel nurses have a hard time finding assignments.
Reality: The United States is facing a nursing shortage, and healthcare organizations are combatting this with travel nurses. When nurses partner with travel agencies like Cascade Health Services, their recruiters will start looking for more assignments before their current contract ends. This minimizes the time nurses wait to start working again.
Myth 4: Travel nurses lack respect from permanent staff members.
Reality: Staff members are usually happy to see you there. Remember, the point of travel nursing is to help understaffed healthcare providers maintain quality patient care. When you show up to their building the staff is likely excited to see help has arrived.
Why Do Travel Nurses Like Working With Cascade Health Services?
Nurses love working for Cascade Health Services for a lot of reasons. The main reason is because of their recruiters and benefits packages. Cascade’s expert team of recruiters takes the time to get to know each of their applicants so that they can find them the perfect assignment. Most importantly, they like to know if you’re the type of person who wants to travel as much as possible or if you’re someone who wants to take a short break between assignments. This helps keep nurses working when and where they want.
One of the biggest benefits of working with Cascade as a travel nurse is that we also offer PRN shifts. A lot of our nurses love that they have the opportunity to stay in areas while they wait for a new travel assignment. Since we offer PRN shifts in the areas we staff, travel nurses can stay in areas they fall in love with and work at a higher pay rate until a new contract is available.
In a nutshell, Cascade Health Services offers the best of both worlds: the excitement and financial rewards of travel nursing, combined with the flexibility and familiarity of PRN shifts. We understand that nurses value both adventure and stability, and our program is designed to cater to those needs.
