Travel Nursing Jobs: 10 Tips to a Travel Nurse Career

A nursing job which is becoming more and more popular among nurses these days is as a travel nurse. The travel nursing industry began more than 20 years ago. There were a few agencies which began to offer hospitals a short-term solution for their staffing shortage and seasonal fluctuations of the population. Especially in places like Arizona, California, Florida and Texas the demand was high. Nowadays the demand of travel nurses is still high, because of the staffing problems which still exist in the United States.

As a travel nurse you can choose to travel all over the country or if you rather stay near your hometown you can also choose to have an assignment in your local area. Another choice which you will have as a travel nurse is the period of time you want to stay in a certain area. Some nurses prefer to travel every few months, while others rather stay in one area so they can experience all the seasons of the area. Choosing to be a travel nurse is an excellent nursing job to meet new people and experience different ways of life while enhancing your career. It will also provide you the opportunity to increase your earnings and allows the flexibility to select a new employment situation every few months.

How to become a travel nurse
To become a travel nurse you first have to attend a nursing school where you will have to get at least a Registered Nurse degree. This degree can be received by a traditional four-year BSN degree, a two-year ADN program, or a diploma which takes three-years and which is usually a hospital based program. After you passed the NCLEX-RN exam, you must work for at least a year in your specialty of choice to become a travel nurse.

How to get a job as a travel nurse
To get a travel nursing job, you begin by selecting a travel nursing company, who acts as your personal job recruiter. The company will help you out with the specifics of your assignment, like the relocation or registering with local authorities. They will also help you to determine where in the United States you want to work, the type of facility that interest you, and which travel assignments are available. Usually the travel assignments lasts 13 weeks, but if you want to stay longer on a certain place, then you can renew at the same hospital and otherwise you will just travel to a new location. As a travel nurse you can work for as many assignments as you like.

Travel nursing benefits
Travel Nursing  is particularly more common in the United States where a nurse gets to work at different medical facilities for a specified range of time. Usually, a traveling nurseworks in one medical facility for four (4) weeks, 13 weeks or up to 52 weeks.

Traveling nurses are usually provided with an apartment near the medical facility where they would be working including furniture and other amenities, competitive salaries of up to $40 per hour, bonuses, a comprehensive medical, dental and life insurance, retirement plans and other health benefits.

The travel company also reimburses the expenses that the traveling nurseswould incur while traveling, tax-free.

Travel companies usually offer signing and completion bonuses of up to $6,000 and may provide continuing education for the travel nurse.

Other companies also offer bonuses for a traveling nurse who refers another nurse to work for that specific travel nursing company. The bonus will be given after the nurse referred has completed his or her first assignment.

A traveling nurse could also receive points that can be redeemed or exchanged for cash, discounted products and services, or trips after completing the assignment.

Among the leading travel nursing  companies in the United States are the American Travel Nurse Liaison, Cross Country TravCorps, American Mobile Healthcare, Preferred Healthcare Staffing, Medical Express, O'Grady Peyton International, Nurses Rx and NurseChoice.