Travel nursing is an amazing career choice for RN that’s why more and more nurses are trying it since they can see an opportunity in advancing their career through getting experience in travel nursing jobs. However, getting prepared is important before hitting the road since there are adjustments you need to get used to once you become a travel nurse. Working away from home is not easy but can give you the opportunity you are looking for, here are some travel nursing job checklist you should consider:
Getting Familiar with Travel Nursing Jobs
Knowing more about travel nursing jobs before getting one will help you know what to expect and be able to prepare yourself physically, emotionally, and financially. Working as a travel nurse means you will be away from your family and you might be getting homesick, this is one of the first adjustments a travel nurse has to deal with. Each assignment lasts for 8 to 23 weeks so expect to be away for that long plus you can be assigned to the next which means you will not be able to go home for several weeks. The good thing about travel nursing jobs is you can bring along your family with you and you can take a break if you wish to go home and spend some time with them after each assignment.
Know the Requirements and Qualifications
What skills do you need to be a travel nurse? Before becoming a travel nurse some requirements and qualifications are needed.
- One should be a licensed registered nurse and have passed the NCLEX exam for nurses.
- One should have a state license so she can be ready to be assigned to any area since some states require a state license. Your travel nurse agency can help you get one.
- One should have at least 1 or 2 years of experience as a nurse since travel nurses have to be on board immediately. Experience is important. Most medical facilities are hiring nurses with only one year of experience as long as the travel nurse agency can assure that they are indeed ready to work immediately
- Apart from experience and educational attainment, character and skills also count a lot. Travel nurses should be flexible enough to blend in on every place of assignment.
- Critical thinking is needed among nurses since they have to often decide on what’s best to be done in situations that require immediate action during their shift.
Find a Good Travel Nurse Agency
Most nurses prefer to work with travel nurse agencies since they can get job opportunities plus they have a support system at work. As a nurse, do your research and do some background checks on the travel nurse agency near your area so you can choose among them who gives the best offers as well as who takes care of their nurses. Get feedback from your fellow nurses or ask for recommendations if they are working for one or if they can recommend one for you.
Check on the Pay
How much does a travel nurse really make? Before you become a travel nurse you should know the answer to this question. It is certain that travel nurses get higher pay compared with regular nurses but take note that pay depends on several factors: location, specialty, and experience.
Check on Benefits
Apart from the pay, travel nurses are given benefits. Check with the travel agency on what are the benefits they give to their travel nurses. So you can measure if choosing them can be the best choice. Go for a travel nurse agency that takes care of their nurses like a family.
So How to become a successful travel nurse? That depends on how you handle your job as a travel nurse and if you are still wondering if working as a travel nurse is right for you? Talk to your travel nurse agency and they can help you decide on that. Make sure to go over the travel nursing job checklist so you can do some checking and research before you become one. Grab the opportunity to advance your career as well as still have free time to plan other matters by being a travel nurse.