Travel Nurse: Four Reasons to Consider Travel Nursing

I found this picture of a lady lounging around in a hammock and decided to put it in a post because that is one of mis pasatiempos favoritos (to recall one of the only phrases I remember from Spanish I in high school). The main reason I decided to become a travel nurse was the opportunity to see new places and experience new things. But there are certainly other reasons to consider travel nursing.

Reason No. 2
Travel nursing has given me an opportunity to see how different facilities work in different parts of the United States. Most of the facilities I have worked in have been hospitals. I have noticed that many of the hospitals I have worked in are primarily about the "bottom line." How many patients can we put in how many beds to turn a profit? I would go to work like every other nurse, do my job and go home. Not much fun. However, I have worked in one hospital that was clearly more concerned about patient care and employee well being than turning a profit. At least that is how it seemed to me. Employees had access to onsite recreation facilities and patients had large, well furnished rooms and "gourmet" meals. If and when I decide to take another assignment in St. Louis that is the facility I would want to work in again.

Reason No. 3
Higher pay. I know that it is kinda' taboo to discuss pay at work, but everywhere I have worked it doesn't take long for me to find out how much everyone is making. Usually lunchtime conversation. It has been my experience that I make on average $10.00 to $20.00 more than regular nurses because I am a travel nurse.

Reason No. 4
If the job stinks, I usually only have to endure it for 3 months. And, if it is too bad, I just need to request that my agency find someone to replace me. I have not had to do this yet, but I have been told that it usually doesn't take very long.
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Travel Nurse: Travel Nursing Career - A Dream Come True?

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Housing Stipend: Buy an RV and Retire Early

One of my nursing assignments was at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. While there I met a travel nurse from New Jersey who's biggest goal was to retire by the time she was 40. She determined to begin by ridding herself of student loan and credit card debt and to pay off her vehicle. No easy task; especially considering her vehicle was a $90,000 RV.

One night after getting off work we rode out to a well lit staff parking lot where she showed me her RV. The hospital allowed her to park in their staff parking lot and use all their hook-ups for free. She told me her travel nursing agency had offered to either pay for her to live in an upscale apartment or receive a generous housing stipend of $1,000 per month. She chose the stipend and used it to purchase the RV.

Her RV was beautiful and, more importantly, nearly paid off. She liked being able to travel to her different assignments without having to pack up her things to move. No boxes, moving vans or damaged furniture.

Most of the travel nursing agencies I have used will pay a housing stipend like the one my friend received.

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Registered Nurse Jobs

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Winter Travel Assignments Appeal to RN, Ski Bum

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Travel Nursing Jobs in California


Shortly after I graduated from nursing school my husband and I got married. After a three day stay at a southern plantation style bed and breakfast in south Georgia, we flew to California where we were to spend the next week in Lake Tahoe. It was then that I discovered my husband is "Geographically Challenged." He booked us a flight into Los Angeles thinking it was somewhat close to Lake Tahoe. It's not. We ended up driving all day from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Sacramento then to Lake Tahoe. The trip was draining, but beautiful.

After arriving in Los Angeles we rented a car and traveled up Pacific Coast Highway toward San Francisco. The highway runs alongside the ocean (as the name would imply) for hundreds of miles; sometimes high up on cliffs overlooking the ocean and sometimes almost right at sea level. We were particularly impressed by the contrast in topography from southern California to Lake Tahoe. From sandy beaches and desert (Los Angeles) to high cliffs and hills (San Francisco) to thick forest and mountains (Lake Tahoe).

We now have a chance to revisit California as I am considering taking an assignment there as a traveling nurse. I have checked with one of my travel nursing agencies and they have made all of the areas (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and Lake Tahoe) very enticing. They have offered me a $1,500 bonus to relocate to any of the areas in California and to pay the cost of relocation. They have also offered to pay for our rent while we live there and to match any other agency's hourly rate. It could be a much a $55 dollars per hour. We will likely be making our decision on where to live in the next few weeks. I will let you know what we decide.
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Travel Nursing Goes Rural


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Travel Nursing - Flexible And Diverse Opportunities

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How To Get An Exciting Career In International Travel Nursing

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Travel Nurse Employment: Tax Advantages of Per Diem Deductions

The way you report your per diem earnings as a travel nurse could save you thousands of dollars in taxes. Whether you are looking to maximize deductions, reduce taxes, or increase your returns, if you are a travel nurse you should take the time to learn as much as possible about per diem tax rules.  Most travel nursing agencies can explain how these rules work.
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Finding the Right Travel Nursing Placement Agency

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Tips On How To Start A Career In International Travel Nursing

If you are a nurse who enjoys traveling, you may want to consider a travel nursing position. Many travel nurse placement agencies offer positions that range anywhere from four to thirteen weeks depending on the case. This type of position offers the opportunity to expand your horizons while obtaining more experience in your chosen field.

In terms of compensation, the traveling nurses tends to make anywhere between 10-15% more than the staff nurse with incentives and bonuses added to the package. For many nurses, being a travel nurse opens the opportunity to see parts of the country they would not ordinarily see in the course of normal employment. If you aren't able to travel because of children or financial obligations, you can still experience the thrill of being a travel nurse by accepting assignments closer to home. Of course, when you are able to do so, you can ask for assignments in other cities or states. That is one of the benefits of being a travel nurse with a placement agency: it leaves you in control of which assignments you accept. Unlike a staff position, you are not required to report to work every day as per a set schedule unless you are on an assignment. When you are in between assignments, the choice is yours to accept or decline, and often times with a travel nurse, bonuses are paid to those who complete assignments.

Are the assignments always in hospitals or nursing homes? That depends on the assignment, but the potential is also there for private duty. Some nurses prefer private duty cases, and in many cases, the pay is higher than it is in a facility-based assignment. Let the placement agency know if you prefer a particular kind of environment because they will try to accommodate you whenever possible. The key role is to meet the needs of both the patient or facility and the nurse. The more comfortable the nurse is with the position to which she has been assigned, the easier it will be for her to perform her job.

Travel nursing opens up many opportunities in the field, and for the nurse who is good at what she does, and not adverse to relocation, opportunities in other states as a staff nurse may be a thought to consider. This is a good way to feel the waters and see if you like different scenery before making the permanent decision to move to an unfamiliar place. This type of position is not for everyone, but if you like to travel and try different things, this is the kind of position you will love. Not only will you see other parts of the country, you will experience a completely different world of individuality in the new people you will meet.
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Start Spreading the News! Nursing Jobs in New York

If someone would have told me ten years ago that I could get paid to move to New York City, have my rent paid for me, make almost double my hourly rate plus a several thousand dollar bonus for commiting to live there for three months I would have said they were crazy. But that is exactly the situation I now find myself in as I consider my next assignment as a traveling nurse in New York City. Wow! New York City!

Before I take any new assignment as a traveling nurse, I always write down the pros and cons of the new assignment. This one was easy. Yankee Stadium, The Empire State Building, Central Park (I hear A-Rod walks around with no shirt on), Lady Liberty, shopping, restaurants. The list is endless.
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