If you are considering becoming a travel nurse but do not know if it is the right decision. Here in this blog, we will answer the question “What do travel nurses do? and how it is different from a regular nursing job.
What is a travel nurse?
Travel nurses are registered nurses who travel to various locations to perform their duties where they are needed. They work on per diem or contract assignments.
When there is a shortage of nurses, health facilities rely on travel nurses to ensure the continuity of patient care. During COVID-19, the demand for travel nurses increased because of a shortage of ICU nurses.
What do travel nurses do?
The duties of travel nurses are the same as the permanent working staff in the healthcare facilities. The only difference is that they work for a brief period and at different healthcare facilities in the US.
What do travel nurses do? The duties, roles, and responsibilities of travel nurses are:
- Travel nurses monitor their patients, take their vitals, and administer their medications and treatments.
- They help in cleaning and dressing the wound and make sure that it has no signs of infection.
- They collaborate with other healthcare professionals to plan and implement patient care.
- They educate the patients, and their family members and provide emotional support.
- They make sure that their documentation is accurate and meets the requirements of the state, hospital, and federal guidelines.
- One of the unique skills is that they can adjust to the hospital environment quickly. They can adapt to new hospital settings, their policies, and how to work there.
How does travel nursing work?
Travel nurses work as per diem or contract jobs. Contract jobs are usually for 13 weeks. Nurses stay at the facility and work there till the contract ends. Whereas on per diem, they work per day. It can be one day or a few weeks depending on their demand. They work with agencies that make sure both the parties, the healthcare facility and nurses are clear on expectations.
Pros and Cons of Travel Nursing
Travel nursing is an exciting job. Nurses can travel to new locations and make money at the same time. But travel nursing comes with its benefits and challenges.
Pros:
- Here are the advantages of being a travel nurse.
- Higher pay and job flexibility
- Freedom of choosing a job according to your needs
- Travel opportunities and visiting new places
- Professional and personal growth
- Housing and benefits
- Job security and high job demand
Cons:
Travel nursing has its benefits and advantages, but it has its challenges too.
- Lack of job stability
- Difficulty in adapting to new environments
- Licensing requirements
- Limited benefits
- Housing challenges
- Impact on personal life
- Assignments that are not desirable to the needs
- Homesickness and loneliness
What’s travel nursing like?
Travel nursing is a rewarding career path. Traveling to various locations and working at different healthcare facilities allows them to advance their skills and experiences. Nursing jobs are in high demand which provides job stability. If you are a nurse who wants to travel and does not want to work at the same place for a long time, then traveling nursing is the perfect choice for you.
How to become a travel nurse?
To become a travel nurse, you must get your BSN or ADN degree, apply for a license, and work for at least 2 years in a healthcare facility to gain experience. You can apply for compact state nursing licensure or NLC. With this license, you can work in multiple states without applying for multiple licenses. This will save you both time and money.
To get more information, read our blog.
What is a compact state nursing license?
What is a travel nurse’s salary?
The salary of travel nurses depends on several factors such as location, experience level, area of specialty, etc. To learn detailed information about travel nurses and their salaries, read our blog.
Healthcare payment trend series
Why are travel nurses important?
Natural disasters or human-caused disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, etc can hit the world. Travel nurses come in handy to ensure patient care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of staff, and the number of patients was increasing. To ensure that each patient gets care, travel nurses were in high demand. Not only disaster, but there can be other reasons too. For example, if multiple nurses need to leave at the same time due to personal reasons, this can also cause a shortage of nurses. To meet this demand, healthcare facilities ask agencies to help them cope with the problem.
Conclusion
Travel nursing provides a dynamic and exciting career path for nurses that can help them grow personally and professionally. We discussed What do travel nurses do? and its pros and cons. So, it is easy for you to choose travel nursing as your career. It has its advantages such as higher pay, flexibility, and discovering novel places. Travel nursing also has its challenges such as homesickness and difficulty in adapting to new environments. No matter what you choose, SkillGigs is here for you to provide you with unlimited opportunities and help you land your dream job as a travel nurse.
