Considering Travel Nursing as a Career? Jump in! The Water’s Warm!

Most Nurses will spend their entire careers moving from one full time position to another, slowly moving up the ladder from a new graduate, to a staff nurse, to a charge nurse, to a manager. Some will further educations to become administrators or to teach, while still others will move away from the bedside into physicians offices or to insurance companies. A sad few will fall by the wayside, victims of burnout. But a few, will step outside their comfort zones and find new excitement and fulfillment in their careers by becoming Travel Nurses. This lucky few will discover a way to fulfill their desires to travel and to see the country, even the world, while practicing their profession in a new place several times a year. Travel Nursing takes you places, literally.

If you’re reading this, then you’ve probably at least considered a career as a travel nurse. Good for you! Just getting that far is difficult for many. They don’t like the idea of stepping outside of the full time position safety net, having to start all over somewhere new. But if the idea of making new friends, practicing Nursing in new locations and expanding your knowledge base by using your skills in a diverse mixture of settings, then Travel Nursing is for you.

Talk to other Travelers, find out what they like, what they don’t like. You can benefit from their experience not only in preparing yourself for your fist assignment, but in negotiating your first contract as well. Ask one how they choose a company, a recruiter, their payment package. You’ll get a lot of different answers, but all of them will provide you with valuable information. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken an assignment somewhere and found myself working side by side with a brand new traveler making 30% less than I was, just because she really didn’t understand her own salary package or what her skills were worth on the market place.

Take some time to get yourself prepared, do a little research, find a seasoned traveler to mentor you! Ultimately, Travel Nursing is personally and financially fulfilling in a way that the full time job you can spend a lifetime at in one place just can’t compete with. I’ve made hundreds of wonderful friends traveling, some I will be close to forever even though we live many hundreds of miles apart. I’ve improved my skills, and I’ve shared my knowledge with others. I’ve worked in large metropolitan hospitals and tiny rural access hospitals. I’m a better nurse for having hit the road, and a much more satisfied one as well.

So if you’re considering Travel Nursing, I applaud and encourage you to keep going.!