For the most part the life of a travel nurse seems to be for nurse that are in the dawn of their careers before they relationships, families, and other responsibilities that force them to find permanent employment. The other time that many nurses become interested in an occupation as a travel nurse is towards the end of their careers, after their children move out of the house, leaving their parents free to pursue nomadic whims.
It happens, especially to the younger nurses, that they are working at a travel nurse assignment and find that they fall in love with the city they are in, they adore their co-workers, or they find the job so rewarding they want to keep it.
When a nurse finds an assignment that they don’t want to give up is consider the contract they signed with their nursing agency. If they signed a contract that has a time line it is going to be difficult to get out of the contract and accept a permanent working position. Nurses that have long term, binding contracts with an agency will probably find that they have to work as a travel nurse long enough to fulfill their contract. Once they have worked out the terms of their contract they can go back to the hospital or medical facility that they enjoyed so much and seek a permanent position.
Sometimes travel nurses will find out that the temporary position they are currently filling is just that, temporary. For… Read the rest
To anyone who has spent weeks and even months combing the classified section of their local newspapers looking for jobs, or the person working out of a temp agency who can only find employment that lasts for a couple of days or a few weeks it seems incomprehensible that a travel nurse is able to finish working on one assignment, pack their bags, and move seamlessly onto a new assignment in a different state. A good travel nurse doesn’t have to return to their home town if they time their assignments right. It might sound incomprehensible but that is what happens.
If you stop to consider the situation travel nurses aren’t really employed by the hospitals and medical facilities where they are working. Travel nurses are technically employed by the nursing agency. The agency gives each travel nurse a travel allowance. They find and in some cases fund the travel nurse’s housing. They make sure that the travel nurse is legally able to work in each state. Most importantly the travel nurse’s agency is the place where the paychecks come from.
The nurse’s agency is where the travel nurse gets their latest work assignment. Each agency has their own policy for matching travel nurses with work assignments. Some agency’s match new assignments with nurses who qualify for the position and are available to take it. Other agency’s post a job board on their agencies website. When it is time for a travel nurse to find a new assignment they simply… Read the rest
On some levels working as a professional travel nurse looks like the ideal job. It provides nurses with an opportunity to live and work in different parts of the country. They can interact with new people. Travel nurses pull in an excellent salary. They make friends all over the country. They can move south in the winter, and north in the summer. If they feel like taking a few months off, they don’t have to worry about explaining things to their bosses, they just give themselves a few months to improve their mental health before they accept a new assignment. Travel nurses claim that their jobs gives them an opportunity to re-establish their patient focused medicine. Nurses have excellent medical and dental benefits. Who wouldn’t want to be a travel nurse?
The reality is that not every person who comes out of a nursing program is not suitable for a career as a travel nurse.
When you are considering a life as a travel nurse you have to ask yourself if you really like to travel. The life of a travel nurse is serious, hard core traveling. Travel nurses are constantly on the move, going from one state to another, taking assignment after assignment. All the moving around eventually takes a toll on the body and soul.
Bear in mind that travel nurses are working, this is not an extended family vacation, they aren’t back packing across Europe. While they are on an assignment travel nurses are on a… Read the rest
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