Many nurses find that being a travel nurse helps them grow professionally. With every new assignment, they build an extensive professional network and gain experience in different healthcare environments.
Travel nursing also allows nurses to try different hospitals and environments before settling into permanent staff positions. This can help them decide if that type of facility is what they want to call home.
Flexibility
If you can easily embrace new environments and situations, then travel nurse jobs could perfectly fit your skills and personality. While some people find this type of employment incompatible with their needs and goals, others will thrive as a travel nurse and gain skills and experiences they would not have acquired otherwise. So, how to find travel nursing jobs, and what are the perks of being one?
You can find travel nursing jobs in several travel nurse agencies. They have an array of opportunities you can choose from. One of the most obvious benefits of this career choice is its flexibility. You can complete short-term assignments at healthcare facilities and even in foreign countries. The average assignment lasts 13 weeks, and you can leave at the end of your contract or stay for an additional negotiated period. This lets you discover if you like a particular location before moving there permanently.
In addition to the weekly pay, you’ll receive tax-free stipends and company bonuses that can help offset some of your living expenses. This can be a big benefit if you’re worried about the cost of living in a particular area.
As the baby boomer population ages, hospitals and other healthcare facilities will continue to need temporary nursing assistance. As a result, travel nurse jobs are a growing career option for registered nurses. If you’re considering making the switch, a supplemental staffing agency can connect you with top-notch travel nurse jobs that offer all the above benefits.
Variety
Travel nurses get to work in a wide variety of healthcare facilities. The different hospitals and settings offer unique opportunities to expand your nursing skill set from rural facilities to large urban trauma centers. You may be trained on new electronic medical record systems or be exposed to unfamiliar patient populations. These experiences will give you a more well-rounded perspective on facility administration and management, which will help you as you pursue permanent positions in the future.
The ability to dabble in several different positions also allows you to learn what type of nursing career best suits you. Many staffing companies provide nontaxable housing stipends to ease the financial burden of moving every couple of months. Additionally, they can help you find the best travel nurse assignments to maximize your paycheck and benefits package.
One drawback of the job is leaving friends and family for weeks or months. For some nurses, this can be hard and even depressing. But others can embrace the adventure and use it to develop themselves personally. They can try new things, see the sights, and even make their temporary homes feel like home.
If you’re feeling burned out from your current permanent position or are looking for a way to boost your resume, consider travel nurse jobs. The flexibility and opportunities to explore the country or even the world will be an amazing experience.
Travel Opportunities
If you’re adventurous and want to see different parts of the country, travel nursing can give you a chance to figure out where you would like to settle down eventually. Without any strings attached, you’ll have the opportunity to live in different areas until you find where you genuinely feel at home.
Travel nurses work for staffing agencies recruiting RNs to fill temporary nursing positions nationwide at hospitals and healthcare facilities. This helps with ongoing staffing shortages often arising from nurses transferring or leaving their jobs for various reasons.
The traveling nurse lifestyle allows nurses from all backgrounds and experience levels to connect with people from different places and learn about new cultures. From colleagues at the facility where they work to friends they make outside of work, travel nurses are exposed to various experiences that can help them grow as individuals and build lifelong connections.
Travel nurses are also compensated well for their work. They receive sign-on, referral, and completion bonuses in addition to their hourly wages. Additionally, some travel nurse companies offer housing and relocation benefits.
Pay
A travel nurse’s salary can vary depending on the location, but it’s typically higher than a permanent staff nursing position. This is because there’s a great demand for qualified nurses. There are also a lot of opportunities to earn raises based on time spent at the facility.
Many become nurses because they are passionate about helping those in need, especially at their most vulnerable. As a travel nurse, you get to amplify the impact of your work by traveling to areas experiencing severe nursing shortages. This makes you an invaluable asset to the team at each facility that you work at and helps ensure patients receive the care they deserve.
The best part about working in different facilities is learning a lot from each experience. You learn new skills like navigating new healthcare systems, working in different cultures, and forming relationships quickly. These transferable skills can help you in any career path or social situation.
