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Careers in Nursing | Travel Nurse

Career Guide, Job Opportunities, News, Educational Resources

Travel Nurse

Career Overview

Travel nurses are those who take temporary nursing assignments, usually lasting 8 to 26 weeks (average is 13 weeks), in locations of the nurse’s choice, in facilities across the United States and internationally. Travel nurses often work in hospital settings in staff nurse positions, but may also be found on cruise ships, in rural settings, or other roles that require the skill of an RN. A travel nurse works with an agency that makes arrangements for the position, provides accommodations at the location, and pays for travel expenses. The work activities depend on the location and the type of assignment. A nurse could go from a tertiary intensive care unit, caring for a postoperative coronary bypass patient, to a small 30-bed hospital where nurses care for a child with pneumonia next to an elderly patient with a stroke. Travel nurses are those who thrive on diversity and enjoy the opportunity to travel and experience new places and cultures.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

RN preparation is required; experience as a nurse is often preferred but not required.

CORE COMPETENCIES/SKILLS NEEDED

  • Strong clinical skills; a critical care background is highly recommended, but not required
  • Flexibility and adaptability
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to get along with people to help integration within a unit and foster positive working relationships
  • Adaptable to change

RELATED WEBSITE AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION

Relevant Articles

Explore Travel Nurse Jobs

Travel Nurse Resources

Fast Facts for the Travel Nurse image

Fast Facts for the Travel Nurse

$35.00

This book provides a broad base of information intended to guide professional nurses in pursuing a travel nursing career. Written by a seasoned practitioner, the book includes tips on how to enter the field of travel nursing, negotiate assignment contracts, increase pay, improve benefits and enhance travel assignments. The guide is designed to provide quick access to needed information, and shows nurses how to acquire representation from a staffing company, how to arrive well-prepared at an assignment location, and how to interview with prospective facilities. In a one light, easy-to-read volume, Fast Facts for the Travel Nurse provides everything practitioners need to enjoy a lucrative and interesting travel nursing career. Key Features: Written by a seasoned travel nurse Provides whole-career guidance Offers information on state boards of nursing and travel staffing companies Includes a complete standard math test study guide Written in a personal, easy-to-read style

101+ Careers in Gerontology (Printed Edition) image

101+ Careers in Gerontology (Printed Edition)

$33.00

101+ Careers is rich with useful information. I highly recommend the book for any student, emerging, or re-careering professional exploring their options for a career in gerontology and the resources they may need to go about pursuing it. Jarmin Yeh, Institute for Health and Aging and Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco American Society on Aging Blog Describes a wealth of diverse career opportunities in gerontology and how to prepare for them How do you know if a career in gerontology is right for you? What opportunities exist in the field? Completely updated to reflect significant changes to policy and management of resources, the second edition of 101 Careers in Gerontology provides a wealth of helpful and timely guidance in this rapidly growing field. Written for all levels of job seekers ranging from community college students to credential-seeking professionals, the book outlines a multitude of op...