10 Ways to Prepare for a Career in Travel Nursing
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Credit: wsfurlan | E+ | Getty ImagesLife as a travel nurse can be tremendously rewarding, letting you see the country or the world. You can even live as a snowbird, working in warm climates during the winter and moderate ones during the summer.
There are potential downsides, however, like the stress of travel, always adapting to new workplaces, and maintaining relationships with loved ones. Read on to learn the tips and tricks of personal, career, and financial success as a travel nurse.
1. Explore Travel Nursing
Travel nurse blogs are a great way to learn about travel nursing, what to expect, what to watch out for, and the pros and cons.
American Traveler is a blog for travel nurses, written by one of the top travel nursing agencies. It’s full of advice for travel nurses, especially ones who are new to travel nursing. Topics include adapting to life on the road, geographic locations that need travel nurses, and how to get started as a travel nurse.
Jackson Nurse Professionals is another top travel nursing agency with practical advice for travel nurses. Recent topics include winter locations for travel nursing, maintaining relationships while on assignment, and popular podcasts for travel nurses.
The Traveling Nurse covers the world travels of a pediatric nurse and mixes travel observations with advice for travel nurses.
The Traveling NP blog is written by a nurse practitioner who discusses career issues such as relationships with recruiters, traveling during COVID-19, and networking. She shares personal stories, recommendations for best hotels and travel credit cards, and her experiences at different work sites.
The Fabuleux Nurse blog is a compelling personal story of a traveling nurse who has multiple sclerosis. She informs and inspires, describing her life as a traveling nurse, coping strategies for stress, and career and lifestyle tips.
2. Network With Current Travel Nurses
Talk with nurses who are currently traveling. If you don’t know any travel nurses to network with, ask your nurse friends if any of their friends are travel nurses. If so, ask for an introduction so that you can get the inside scoop. Invite them out to dinner or coffee, as a return favor for being informally interviewed. Another option is to reach out to travel nurses on social media.
You can also try coordinating your first assignment with a friend or travel nurse who has already worked on your unit. Having one familiar face could make a big difference as hospital staff will all be new to you.
3. Research Travel Nursing Agencies
After exploring travel nursing, and networking with others, do homework on travel agencies. Don’t make a commitment to one agency right away. Keep your options open until you find the right company and recruiter. Travel nursing agencies vary in rules, benefits, and assignment quality. Be honest and forthright with pushy recruiters who may want you to commit from the beginning. Tell them that you are looking out for your own interests and stand firm.
4. Don’t Burn Your Bridges
Think ahead. If you are planning a career as a travel nurse, don’t burn your bridges to your former places of employment. For example, you may wish to return to your old job if you decide to take a break or decide you don’t like this area of nursing.
5. Consider Becoming a Float Nurse at Your Current Job
Travel nursing requires that a nurse be comfortable in different hospitals while performing their job with skill and ease. One way to simulate a travel nurse experience is to become a float nurse at your present job.
- Do you hate to float because supplies are in an unfamiliar spot?
- Don’t know your coworkers?
- Are you upset that the patients’ rooms are not in a familiar layout?
- Are you used to a specific nurse to patient ratio?
- Or, would you view these issues as a challenge instead of being frustrated?
Remember when you are on assignment, you will be in an unfamiliar facility. Everything will probably be different, from the flow of parking to the computer system. If you don’t float in your own facility comfortably, you may want to reconsider travel nursing (or at least have a backup plan).
6. Have a Savings Account
Most travel nursing agencies offer a housing allowance or furnished housing. However, there will be expenses to pay upfront, even if they reimburse you. It is not a pleasant feeling to be in an unfamiliar place without cash as a safety net.
- What if you arrive at your prearranged housing only to discover it is inadequate?
- Do you have money set aside for a hotel room until your accommodations are replaced?
- How about the water, sewage, and electricity deposits? Will you need to cover them or does the company?
- Will you need to connect cable, internet, and TV?
Be sure to know what is included in your travel nurse contract and what is not. A savings account gives you a cushion until your first paycheck arrives.
7. Gain Specialty Experience in Needed Areas
As preparation for a travel nurse career, consider gaining nursing specialty experience in areas that travel nurses are most needed, or even a couple of different areas. The more versatile your skills are, the more options for assignments and locations you will have.
8. Earn Specialty Nurse Certification
You will increase your potential career worth by not only diversifying your areas of expertise, but by earning specialty nurse certification in those areas. It could set you apart when applying to popular travel hot spots and assignments.
9. Keep Your Basic Certifications Up to Date
Basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support are needed by all nurses to work in most facilities. Also, be sure to get basic certifications that are required for nurses working in a specialty. For example, in pediatrics you will need pediatric advanced life support certification.
10. Keep Your Medical Records Portfolio Up to Date
Different travel agencies have different ways of handling medical records that are required for the nurse’s assignment sites. Be sure to keep a portfolio of immunizations, flu shots, and tuberculosis skin tests handy at all times, if requested.
Related Resources
Reviewed by:
Brandy Gleason is a nursing professional with nearly 20 years of varied nursing experience. Gleason currently teaches as an assistant professor of nursing within a prelicensure nursing program and coaches graduate students. Her passion and area of research centers around coaching nurses and nursing students to build resilience and avoid burnout.
Gleason is a paid member of our Healthcare Review Partner Network. Learn more about our review partners.
Featured Image: wsfurlan / E+ / Getty Images
