Travel Nurse Aim Responds to Nursing Student Query

I Love Riding Horses

I recently received an e-mail from a first year nursing student asking about becoming a travel nurse.  I thought other nursing students might have the same question so I asked her if I could post her e-mail for everyone to see.  She agreed.  The following is her e-mail and my answer:

Nursing Students E-mail

"Hi Amy,

I'm Japhia, currently a Year 1 nursing student. I'm really interested in knowing what a travelling nurse does! I'm going obtain a degree in 3 years' time, but what I would like to know is that did you have prior experience in the hospital before you become a travel nurse? Is it advisable to become a travel nurse straight out of school? Thank you for leaving your contact for people like me to ask you stuff :)

Best Wishes

Japhia"

Travel Nurse Aim's Response

"Japhia,
Most travel nursing agencies require you to have several years of nursing experience before they will give you a traveling assignment.  They spend a lot of time developing relationships with their host hospitals and want to make sure the nurses they are placing can do the job they are assigned to. In most cases, travel nursing agencies prefer that you have some type of certification in an area of specialty.  I did not start travel nursing right out of school so I do not know whether excellent grades or something else might substitute for the desired certification.

I would suggest contacting a travel nursing agency and asking them whether they will take you right out of school.  If they won't, I would suggest contacting a hospital in the area where you would like to work once you graduate to see if they will pay for a portion of your schooling if you commit to work at their hospital for a certain number of years once you graduate.  This will give you a chance to become certified in an area of specialty and have at least a portion of your schooling paid for.  I make this suggestion based on my own experience. I graduated from nursing school owing nothing and then was paid a good starting hourly wage just for commiting to work for a hospital for three years.

Thanks for reading,

Travel Nurse Aim"

Travel Nursing Checklist



Even a seasoned travel nurse like me can forget to update the certifications and licenses needed for my next travel nursing assignment. The last thing you want to do is show up at a new assignment and find out your new state requires you to take an exam to get a nursing license rather than by endorsement. The following is a checklist of the documents I bring with me to each new assignment:

(1) A nursing license valid in the state you are going to be working in. Without this you will be the most overqualified janitor at your hospital until you get your license.
(2) Any Certifications you may have in the field you want to work in. Certifications may not be required to work in your field at your current hospital, but many travel nurse agencies prefer that you get certified in your field before starting an assignment. I think this is so the travel nurse agency can show they properly vet their nurses.
(3) Your Basic Care Life Support card.
(4) Your Immunizations.
(5) Driver's License (or ID Card) and Social Security Card.
(6) References. It is a good idea to get a written reference from a supervisor at each of your past hospitals. I tend to collect them. If one of my supervisors is particularly pleased with my work I will ask them to put it in writing. That way I can take it with me and use it for my next assignment.

Travel Nurse Payscales



Camp Rockmont, NC

The following is an exerpt from an interview I did with Payscales.com some time ago about what it means to be a Travel Nurse.  Take a look.

What is the average traveling nurse salary?
Depending on your location you can earn an hourly wage of $30 to $40. Typically, California pays more, but the cost of living is higher. Sometimes the benefits are a major part of a traveling nurse salary. For example, you can negotiate with your agency to pay for your relocation, utilities and a sign-on and renewal bonus.

Traveling Nurse Job Description:

The duties of a travel nurse are very similar to those of a non-traveling nurse. I am currently on an Orthopedic and Neurology floor where I attend 5 to 7 patients per 12 hour shift. When I first arrive at work, I am given a report of the status of the patients I am going to attend from the nurse on the shift before mine. The report generally includes the name, age, current medical problems and medical history. After the report I visit each of the patients to introduce myself and assess their conditions.
During a typical shift, I am required to administer medicine (oral, via injection, etc.), document medical information, receive and discharge patients, coordinate patient care with other departments such as physical therapy, respiratory therapy, speech therapy and others. Sometimes a patient will “Code” which means they go into respiratory and cardiac arrest.

For instance, last week a patient on my floor stopped breathing after a tracheotomy was removed from his throat. The patient stopped breathing and did not have a pulse. I started CPR on the patient and had to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation using a plastic device that has a valve to allow air into the patient’s lungs, but prevents the patient from exhaling back into the nurse’s mouth. After thirty minutes of CPR, the patient’s pulse returned and the patient recovered.

In addition to the traditional nurse duties, I also have to deal with several traveling nurse employment agencies I work with. That can require filling out paperwork, moving from assignment to assignment, negotiating contract provisions, etc.

What were your steps in choosing a traveling nurse career?
The schooling required to become a travel nurse is the same required for a non-traveling nurse. However, most agencies require you to have worked as a nurse for a certain amount of time before taking a travel assignment. When I first started as a nurse 12 years ago, the time required was one year. It is probably less than that now, given the need for nurses around the United States.

The way I found my first agency was word of mouth from another travel nurse I worked with. I have also searched Google and clicked on Google ads for travel nurse agencies. I find it best to contact a number of agencies before making a decision. Not all agencies have contracts to provide travel nurses to all facilities. It is best to pick a facility and then see which agency supplies that facility. Also, three of the agencies I use send me updates of jobs and locations via e-mail and some call me.

What are the drawbacks and benefits of a traveling nurse career?
Some of the benefits of working as a traveling nurse include being able to visit different parts of the country every 6 weeks and going on little mini-vacations. I also have my agencies pay for my relocations, utilities, housing and bonuses. Depending on the length of my assignment, my agencies will pay up to $3,000 to take an assignment.

One of the biggest disadvantages is having to deal with two different employers (my agency and the assignment facility). The provisions in my agency contract often conflict with the rules of the assignment facility. I recently ran into a problem when the facility I am now working in required me to attend a larger number of patients than the number outlined in my contract.

Also, when a non-travel nurse finds out I am a travel nurse they automatically know that I am being paid more to do the same job they are doing. This can result in resentment, but often creates an interest in the non-travel nurse to check into travel nursing.

What advice would you have for those interested in a traveling nurse career?
The job outlook of a travel nurse is GREAT. There are now numerous travel nurse agencies recruiting travel nurses. The competition among agencies has driven travel nurse salaries and benefits up. I would advise anyone who wants to be a travel nurse to start out by taking a shorter assignment; maybe 6 weeks or so. Also, make sure you have everything in writing that you discuss with your agency representative. Remember: if it isn’t in writing, it never happened.

Name: Amy Robbins
Job Title: Traveling Nurse
Where: Tallahassee, Florida
Employer: Multiple Agencies
Years of Experience: 12
Education: Darton College in Albany, Georgia
Salary: A traveling nurse salary depends on where the assignment is located. (High hourly wage of $40, low of $30)

Travel Nurse Aim Gets Her Teeth Pulled

It isn't easy for a nurse to be a patient. At least not this nurse.  Just ask my husband who has tried to take care of me the past few days after having my four Wisdom teeth pulled. Of course, he hasn't exactly helped his cause.  He told me I now look like a chipmunk. I do, but he doesn't have to say it.  He told me my "Wisdom" teeth weren't working anyway so why not have them taken out.  That may have been funny at one time, but not right now. 

Me Several Days After the Surgery

In response to his "jokes," I have retaliated by getting him up at all hours of the night the past few nights. He gets my medicine, mixes and warms salt water for swishing, wraps ice packs in handkerchiefs (the ice packs are just too cold on my face), and runs various other odd jobs for me.

Brian Regan Comedy
While I was being prepped for surgery my husband reminded me of the Brian Regan comedy routine "Say Eight" where Brian goes to the ER with some kind of stomach pain or something.  When the nurse asks him to rank his pain from 1 to 10 the first thing that came to his mind was what he had heard about giving birth being the most painful thing anyone could experience.  He figured that the number 10 must be reserved for giving birth.  He then remembers that a broken femur was also at the top of the list for pain so he figured a broken femur must be a 9.  He also thought that if he didn't give the nurse a high enough number she would give him some Tylenol and tell him to get out of the ER.  He figured he would go with the number 8.

He said the drugs they gave him for saying "8" made him feel so good he walked out of the ER yelling "Say Eight" to everyone.

I told the nurse I was an 8. 

I hope the pain ends soon.