Travel Nursing - The Best Of Both Worlds
Because of severe shortages of nurses across the country, travel nursing has become “big business” If you’re one of the nurses not familiar with travel nursing you owe it to yourself, and your bank account to investigate further.
What is Travel nursing?
A travel nurse is a RN nurse who works on a contract basis for different hospitals and healthcare facilities to fill staffing needs. Each assignment or contract lasts on average 13 weeks or 3 months. Each assignment could be at a different hospital in a different town or city or state. The nurses also have the opportunity to ask to renew their contract if they happen to particularly like a hospital or a state. They are often employed by a nursing registry or nursing agency.
What are the requirements to be a travel nurse?
An active RN license is the most basic requirement to be a travel nurse. In terms of experience, agencies and hospitals may require a minimum of 1-2 years of nursing experience. However, if you want to be competitive, you may obtain a BSN - Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, as a lot of hospitals do prefer nurses with a BSN.
Family Keeping You At Home?
Many nurses with children have the idea that travel nursing is off limits. Not necessarily true. There are advantages of travel nursing that can benefit you as well as your children. For example, as a travel nurse many recruiting companies will provide you with free housing. This provides you with a place for your family without all the hassles of finding it on your own and moving your household items.
Another benefit to the children is the fact they have the chance to see other parts of the country and a variety of lifestyles. It’s almost like vacationing while you’re working. You and your family get to see the places you’ve always dreamed of visiting... yet you’re still earning a regular salary.
You can also choose travel nursing and work in areas close to home. You’ll be working in familiar areas, keeping the family in one location and earning more. That’s right most travel nursing pay scales are anywhere from ten to fifteen percent higher than the pay of a regular staff nurse.
Pick And Choose
Another advantage of travel nursing is you’ll get to choose the area you work in as well as the type of nursing. If you’re feeling a bit stagnant in your career, travel nursing is a great way to pursue other specialty areas of nursing without being locked in as a staff nurse. You’ll get to try whatever you choose without being stuck if you find you don’t care for that particular nursing specialty.
Most travel nursing companies assign you a recruiter. Your recruiter will work to find out exactly what you’re looking for and find it for you. This includes salary, type of nursing, and geographical location.
You can write your own ticket to wherever and however you choose to work.
Increase Your Skills
Travel nursing offers you the opportunity to increase your knowledge base. By choosing to work in a variety of settings and nursing areas, you’ll build a long list of experiences that will make you in high demand. Travel nursing skills give you unlimited opportunities and put you in great demand.
The Attractive Salary of A Travel Nurse
It is no secret that travel nursing earns more than a traditional nursing job. But exactly how much are they earning ? On average, the salary of a travel nurse is around $36.72 per hour. Depending on your specialty and experience, this price could go up even more up to $45.36.
Even more so, your salary could depend on which state you are working in, as states like California offer an annual of upto $106,950 while in states like Florida you could earn around $66,210. Although the pay is typically higher than a fixed nurse, you have to keep in mind that different assignments, states, specialties etc could all factor in on a salary and it is not a fixed income. You get to travel as a nurse and earn a higher salary. How amazing is that?
A travel nurse job could be a dream job for you if you are compassionate about providing medical care, as well as being adventurous. Having the opportunity to work in a variety of hospitals and travel to different places could be quite a treasure trove of knowledge. Moreover, you won't have to deal with the usual hospital drama that comes along with being a fixed nurse in a hospital. If you do not like a certain facility or want to move away, all you have to do is wait for your contract to expire and then you can choose another location. Investigate today for your future.
