An experienced nurse, on her first travel assignment, emailed me to ask if there were any legal remedies that would allow her to break her contract without being assessed any fees from her travel company. She went on to explain that on her assignment, the workload was too heavy and that anytime she needed help or had a question, no one seemed to be around. She added that she was afraid that they might put her into a situation that she was unable to manage. Was this from a nurse with only a year of experience? Less than five years experience? Try over two decades worth of nursing knowledge. If a nurse with this much experience can get rattled on her first assignment, imagine how you might feel with just a few years worth under your belt.  

While most facilities that utilize travel nurses are not new to the game, there are some that are not as experienced in dealing with temporary staff. Add to that the fact that most facilities have the expectation that a travel nurse will be able to function independently, with little or no orientation at all, and you can see how you might find yourself out on your own.

The reason that facilities use travelers is because they are short for staff. With the expectation they have of receiving an experienced nurse, they are not going to devote much staff time to training someone that should be able to “hit the ground running”.

That is not to say that they should not be available to answer questions or give assistance when needed. But, a traveler should expect to have to occasionally seek out answers on their own. If no one is available to tell you what color tube to use for a CBC, then call the lab to find out. If no one is available to tell you on what schedule to place a TID medication, call the pharmacy to ask. Self sufficiency is a must-have characteristic of a travel nurse.

Most of the questions you have on an assignment should be of the nature, “When do you draw your AM labs?” or “At what time does this facility schedule daily Coumadin doses?” and NOT, “How do I change a PICC line dressing?” or “Can you start an IV for me?”. The later of these are things you learn to do before embarking on travel.

Use your first year to gain all the experience you can, and even then, consider gaining another six to twelve months of experience. Despite the number of contracts dipping this year because of the recession, travel nursing will still be there when you are ready to take that first travel nursing assignment.

Making friends and connections with your peers is very important to your success while on assignment and so is the connection with your Nurse Manager. Just because they may be in a position of higher ranking does not mean they are unapproachable and think of you less. They are human like you and me and I can bet you 9 times out of 10, they would want to have a relationship that is on the level and based on respect towards one another. So how can you accomplish this at your next traveling nurse destination? Here is a great article posted by a Nurse Manager herself… My Nurse Manager is unapproachable…

Here’s another story about the fears of dealing with a Nurse Manager. Don’t worry, it ends well! Telling your nurse manager about a mistake

Besides learning how to make nice with your Nurse Manager, the site StressedOutNurses.com has numerous articles on all things nursing. Check it out!

Hello everyone. I wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about a new section starting here on TravelNursingBlogs.com, “Ask a Travel Nurse”. This section will primarily be driven by you, the reader. Whether you are just starting your first assignment, or have been traveling for years, everyone eventually runs into a situation or problem where they could use a little advice.

While I certainly have not encountered every situation out there, I have had some rather interesting predicaments in my fourteen years of travel. I have worked in large teaching facilities licensed for over 1000 beds and small rural hospitals that have had a nightly census under 50 (in the entire hospital). I have arrived on assignment to find trashed housing, had contracts cancelled or terminated, worked in facilities facing strikes, and even had the CEO of a major travel company fly me to their home office to discuss ways the company could improve traveler services. Believe me, I’m not bragging; I just trying to illustrate that I’ve had to deal with quite a few unique situations in my years of travel.

Last year I turned my years of experience and love of writing into a how-to book on travel nursing entitled, “Travel Nurse’s Bible (A Guide to Everything on Travel Nursing)”. This year, I am continuing to help those interested in travel with my writings posted on this blog as well as monthly columns in Healthcare Traveler Magazine.

So once again, what would you like to read on this blog? Send me your questions, comments, or even suggestions for topics you would like to see covered here. And more importantly, have fun in your travels!

 David Morrison R.N.
david@travelnursesbible.com

When you’re on the road, you can’t really worry about improving your house to increase equity. You don’t worry about job promotions or raises. You live from assignment to assignment. It’s that simple.

So if I can leave you with one last piece of advice for your travel nursing career, it would be this: learn to enjoy the journey.

• When you’re traveling to and from assignments, enjoy the drive. Don’t just try to get from A to B as quickly as possible. If you’re driving through Wisconsin, stop at a farm to pick apples. If you’re driving through California, detour to a state park on the beach and take a private walk along the coast of the Pacific. If you’re driving through Arkansas, stop at the welcome center and enjoy a free cup of coffee, a roaring fire, and all the information you could ever want about The Natural State. Driving from assignment to assignment can either be a boring task or a relaxing vacation.
• When you’re on assignment, take the time to soak in the culture of wherever you are. Each state, each city, each town is different. Eat at local diners, hike the state parks, and visit an art gallery featuring local artists. Very few people get the opportunity to spend three months at a time in various cities across the country. Learn about the history of each place. Meet as many people as possible.
• Finally, enjoy your rare time at home. It’s so easy to fall into the world of to-do lists when you finally make it back home. Between unpacking, repacking, car tune-ups, and the long lists of people to visit, time at home can quickly become nothing more than a stressful stop on the way to your next destination. Don’t let it be that way.

With all of its challenges and trials, traveling has still been the most rewarding and fun experience of my life. I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. Enjoy it.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

We are sad to say that this was the final article in Courtney’s Guest Series. We hope to have her back some time, but in the meantime visit her blog Adventures in Travel Nursing to read more of here great insight into the travel nursing life.

I just ran across a site that if properly used could become a huge tool for travel nurses everywhere. NurseRatings.org. I don’t know if the creator of  this site, which has the tag line “Nurses helping Nurses,” meant it to be for travel nursing or just a great tool for nurses everywhere, but whatever the intent, the potential use for travel nurses is huge. Imagine being able to learn first hand from travel nurses just like you what they thought of a hospital during their time there during a travel nursing assignment. And don’t forget the valuable feedback from the perm nurses that work there too.

No matter what your goals for being a travel nurse it is important to know a lot about the hospital you are going to work at. You will want to evaluate on culture, technology and clinical skills, management style, etc. And NurseRatings.org lets you rate on the:

• Doctor to Nurse Relationship
• Nurse to Nurse Relationship
• Pay
• Location
• Nurse Management
• Professional Development

Plus it has a comments section where nurses can add anything else they would like. Rating does not require a log in or even using your real name, which is one of the strengths and weaknesses of review sites. On the one hand the anonymity can let people speak up who may not normally, but can also lead to abuse. But overall I think it is a good system that is easy to use.

But the best part may be how easy it is for you as a travel nurse to go in and rate hospitals you have worked at. The site is very user friendly. It is grouped by state with a simple to use map, as long as you are familiar with US geography, which if you are a travel nurse I assume you are. This is a great option if you want to browse a state you are considering taking a travel nursing job in, but if you are looking for a specific hospital to read about or rate, there is a easy to use search tool.

The biggest drawback of the site so far is that there does not appear to be many ratings available and currently no real incentive to do so, other than the good old fashioned nature of people who like to share their opinion. If there were some sort of social networking aspect to it or rewards system to spur reviews I think it would grow faster, but it is still very new so you just have to give it time and be a willing user yourself. Ratings sites like these are only worthwhile if people use them so I suggest you start using it today, it is a really good way to educate yourself and other travel nurses about the hospitals they may be taking their next travel nursing job.

I fell into the loneliness trap big time when we first started traveling. My husband’s twelve hour shifts nearly drove me crazy. I would count down the time for him to come home. When he walked through the door, I would pounce on him, desperate for meaningful conversation.

While I believe loneliness will always be a struggle on the road, there are certainly some ways to make it easier.

• Get connected with the community. Yes, there will be some locations where you can’t really get involved. But if it’s possible, make friends in your apartment building. Attend social events at the hospital. Get to know your husband’s coworkers. Nurses may be hard workers, but trust me, they know how to have fun. We’ve made great friends on the road, and having people to hang out with will make the experience much more enjoyable.
• Stay connected with home. Take advantage of technology. Cell phones, email, and social networking sites have made it possible to keep in touch like never before. A well-timed phone call can do wonders on a case of homesickness.
• Join a class. Whether it’s yoga or a Bible study, meeting with people regularly will help tremendously. Walking into a class where people know your name will make your temporary assignment feel a lot more like home.
• Shop at local stores. Local business owners are interested in their customers and tend to provide much more personal service than generic chains. On our current assignment, we walk to the same local trading post every day. The owner knows us by name and is always helpful. Not only is it a good way to make new connections, but locals tend to give great information about the best restaurants and entertainment in town.
• Make time to go home regularly. You don’t always have to go home in between assignments (i.e. without a paycheck) to go home. Hospital managers are usually understanding about how important it is for travel nurses to go see friends and family. If your spouse works three twelve hour shifts a week, see if he/she can work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of one week and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the next. That allows you a full eight days off of work to see family without losing a single hour of paycheck time.

Once again, it takes creativity to fend off loneliness when you move from place to place constantly. But taking the time to get to know the people in your community can make each assignment much more enjoyable—and you might make some of the best friends of your life.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

I eventually settled into a routine. I would cook breakfast, clean the house, exercise, play at the pool, talk on the phone, read, and search for ways to fill the hours until Brandon got home at midnight.

It was fun in its own way, but I couldn’t handle it for long. Friends and family encouraged me to explore and sight-see on my own; but really, exploring and sightseeing is just more vacationing, and I needed a break from vacation.

So how do you fight off the boredom while on the road with your travel nurse? Here are a few tips that have helped me get past the boredom and actually start enjoying my new “career.”

• See it as your job too. There are a lot of ways that you can help your partner. Make it your job to research the assignments, look for apartments, plan your driving routes, and schedule sightseeing. Volunteer to keep up with your partner’s paperwork and deadlines.
• Develop a working relationship with your partner’s recruiter, so that you can handle some of the phone calls. Doing some of the grunt work will not only keep you occupied, it will give your partner some of that vacation time you’ve been enjoying.
• Continue pursuing your own dreams. It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing this as your partner’s time to advance his/her career, but it can be a great time for you to work on your goals as well. Take a class at the community college, or sign up for a distance learning program. Keep learning and building a skill set that will help you in your own career.
• Use this time to do the things you’ve never had time to do before. We all have books we’ve always wanted to read or sports we’ve always wanted to try. If you’ve always wanted to get a black belt in karate, then this is the time to go for it.

Traveling with your partner can either be mind-numbingly boring, or the greatest adventure of your life. I’ve seen spouses burn out after one thirteen week assignment, simply because they were bored. Don’t fall into the same trap—this time can be incredibly rewarding. It just takes a little creativity.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

• Who pays me? The hospital or the travel nursing agency?
• Who will pay for my move to my travel nursing assignment?
• Do you offer Per Diem?
• Who will pay for things such as my utilities, while I am on assignment? 
• If the travel nursing company offers a stipend to pay utilities, when is it paid and is it taxed?
• What will benefits will be deducted from my paycheck?
• Do I get meal allowances during my travel nursing job?
• How much does each type of insurance (maximum out-of-pocket expense, date of eligibility, premiums, and deductibles) cost?
• How much does it cost for me the nurse? For my family?
• How often will I get paid? Do you offer direct deposit?
• If I live at my own home, or out of town with friends or relatives, or rent an apartment on my own while on assignment can I get a travel nursing stipend?
• Will you still get paid for your travel nursing assignment if the census becomes real low and I get called off?
• If I’m required to be on call, what is the on-call pay?
• What will I get paid? Base pay rate per hour? Overtime pay rate? Holiday pay?
• Does the travel nursing company have any holidays that are paid?
• Will you be a Charge RN? If so, how often? Is there Charge Pay? What is it?
• Do I have to pay any deposits such as my apartment or having a pet?
• Do we get any money back for having our own insurance such as health or dental? How much would it be if so?
• Does your company offer any money back for me continuing my education or getting licensed? Is there a limit on how much you would reimburse?
• Does your company allow its travel nurses to be a part of profit sharing?

Next installment look for questions to ask a travel nursing company about their travel nursing benefits.

So when my husband informed me that he wanted to quit his stable job with amazing benefits to become a travel nurse, I’ll admit I thought he was going off the deep end. But if he’s crazy, then I’m crazy too, because I promptly put in my two week notice and started shopping for designer luggage.

We’ve now been traveling for ten months, and it has been quite an adventure. We’ve learned a lot, grown much closer, and made some great memories together. But it hasn’t always been easy. Traveling has been more challenging than we ever imagined. Our life on the road has many ups, downs, twists, and turns; but at least it has never been boring.

There are many great resources out there for travel nurses. But as I quickly found, the spouses of travel nurses often feel left out of the picture. I can’t quote any impressive statistics, but it seems to me that most travel nurses leave their spouses behind. After one assignment, I can understand why. The families of travel nurses have their own set of struggles and challenges, and often lack the feeling of community that the nurses share on the road.

I hope that by sharing my experiences and some things I’ve learned along the way, I can help you other spouses cope with the traveling life, and maybe even learn to love it.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

Travel Nursing Questions List 3: About the travel nursing company

• How long has the travel nursing company been around?
• How big is your company?
• What do you feel your company has to offer that is above and beyond any other?
• What sets you apart?
• Are there nurses who can give references?
• Is someone always available to take my call?
• Can I see a blank contract?
• What makes your company better than all the other travel nursing companies out there?
• Is my travel nursing job guaranteed by written contract?
• How much will I be paid on my travel nursing assignment?
• Can you explain your mileage reimbursement policy for travel nursing assignments?
• Does the travel nursing company provide help with licensing and my other credentialing needs?
• Is there someone at the travel nursing company to talk to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
• Who do I talk to if my recruiter isn’t around?
• Will I only have one recruiter my entire time with the travel nursing company?
• If I want to go perm find out if there is a clause in your contract to prevent you from being hired as a perm employee?
• What are the details of the clause if there is one?
• When did your company first start up?
• What, if anything do you see is an area in which your company could work on?

If you ask these questions of the travel nursing company you are considering up front you may be able to avoid some surprises during the travel nursing assignment. Do you have any standard questions you ask that I did not mention?

Travel Nursing Questions List 2: On Assignment

• How many hours of my travel nursing assignment are guaranteed?
• Are my hours at the hospital guaranteed?
• Have other travel nurses worked at the hospital before?
• Who do I talk to when I have problems with my travel nursing assignment?
• What about floating?
• Am I required to float to other units?
• What units? (If you don’t want to float be sure to tell them and have it included in the travel nursing contract).
• What type of unit will I be working in during my travel nursing job? What are its staffing levels?
• What nursing shifts will I work?
• Will I be asked to float to other shifts?
• Will I be required to be on-call? If so, what is the on-call pay?
• What about extensions?
• Is there a maximum amount of extensions allowed?
• What happens when I’m sick?
• Can I make up shifts?
• Can I extend my travel nursing contract if I get sick?

Again, I am sure I didn’t get them all so help us build the ultimate list of travel nursing questions by listing any questions you have found useful during your travel nursing career.

While there are definite steps you should take when this happens to you, like contacting your company and recruiter right away, this series of The Ultimate List of Travel Nursing Questions should help you learn more about the company you are working with up front. Which will help you avoid a bad travel nursing assignment before it begins. Check it out. What other questions have you found helpful to ask.

Travel Nursing Questions List 1: Housing

• Is housing furnished? (bed, night stand, couches, tables, etc.)
• Are utilities paid? Up to how much do they pay? Which Utilities are not paid for?
• What kind of housing do you offer? Is it private or shared?
• Is it an apartment or house?
• Can I have Pets?
• How close is your housing to the hospital?
• Does the travel nursing assignment allow me to bring my spouse or significant other, children, pets) Are there charges if I do?
• When doing housing through your company can I have a part in choosing our own apartment so we can maybe negotiate with the apartment complex for even better deals?
• Is there a housing package for things such as the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom? (ie: pots/pans, utensils, towels, sheets?)
• Does the housing you offer come with washer and dryers? If so where is it located? (eg: my room or within the complex?) If in the complex, do I have to pay to use it?
• What about phone service, Internet (wireless), cable?  Are they included or do I pay for those?
• How much sooner than my assignment start and end date am I allowed to move in and out?
• Am I able to see where my room would be located in an apartment layout? Such as close to streets, parks and which floors?
• Does the housing I am offered come with A/C and/or heat or would I have to find a way to take care of those needs myself?
• Am I able to know the actual square feet of my apartment before and also see an exact layout of where the rooms are located to make sure the sq. ft. is right for me?
• Do you offer an extended stay option instead?

I’m sure there are questions I am missing. What other questions have you found helpful to ask.

If you take your laptop, netbook or desktop PC with you on the road during your travel nursing assignment you are going to love Hulu. Depending on how much TV you watch you could probably just get by with Hulu if you wanted and forget about cable altogether. You do have to deal with limited commercials, but they are only 30 seconds long so definitely worth checking out on your next travel nursing job.

When we are looking for items and or information we usually reach out to other travelers. There are other practical benefits to contacting other travelers.

Passing on items and simply learning where the good deals are found can help you get started in the right direction. My husband and I have bought sold and passed on everything from snorkeling equipment, computer equipment and even leased out our vehicle.

We have built a Free Classified Ad section on our website www.travel-nurse-coach.com

It is brand new and the more people who use it, the better chance you have of finding what you need. Please let healthcare workers know about the Free Classified Ad Community.

The one problem that we found is when we were traveling we only got to meet a limited amount of travelers.

We have a section marked (activity partner wanted) where you can post and let people know when and where you are traveling. This is” a work in progress “so we welcome any suggestions.

Oh, by the way it is not necessary to give out your email or contact information unless you wish to do so. You can simply have them hit the reply button.

Please pass this forward to other travelers possibly your “nurse mafia!”

Carol e-mailed and asked “Do healthcare workers rent out there home base apartment, or house to other travelers?” Stay tuned for our answer next week.

• All certifications,
• All licensures,
• Locations of previous work history
• Complete start and stop dates 
• Job type (travel assignment, perm, PRN, contract)
• Any degrees you may hold
• Locations of any school/college you attended
• Dates you attended those schools

Your travel nursing company should have a lot of experience and knowledge about what hospital hiring managers want to see on a travelers resume so check with them and make sure you are providing all the information they need to build a competitive resume for you. But some other things you may want to add are a summary of qualifications and any volunteer work or non-profit organizations you belong to.

Also don’t worry about going too far back in your work history. It may be one of the older positions that is the selling point on your nursing skills. Also the travel nursing company you are working with may have a preset policy about how far back they go in your nursing job history.

Overall the biggest ingredient to a good resume is attention to detail and thoroughness. If you have those two aspects handled you will have a winning resume.

On Dec 31 2003 all that changed when Janet and I traveled to Lahaina to see her doctor. She had discovered a small lump in her breast and we were going to the office to find out the results of a biopsy.

Life with no worries changed quickly when Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer. After sampling many Mai Tai’s that night (New Years Eve) the reality slowly set in that the next several months we would have a new focus.

By Valentines Day six weeks later Janet had had the lump removed and was in the middle of chemo treatment. She had made the decision to stay working on Maui and go through chemo and radiation.

The week of Valentines Day I went to a Toastmaster meeting. Toastmaster’s is a club where you can learn communication skills. I never realized how illness could affect everyone involved until I was invited to give a one-minute speech on a topic that another club member picks for you. I should have seen this coming but the question was, “What are you doing with your sweetheart on Valintines Day?”

After many um’s and ahs( a real no-no in Toastmaster’s) I held my head down for what seemed an eternity. Finally I lifted my head and said my wife is battling cancer and I have not even thought about Valentines Day. I then disappeared realizing that we always need to expect the unexpected. When adversity enters our life things change and how it affects us can surface at any time or place.

The support and care Janet received from other Travel Nurses was amazing and very appreciated. Doctors, her nurse supervisor and of course co workers all helped. All their help and Janet’s attitude while being treated, allows her to boast five years cancer free this Valentines Day 2009.

On our website www.travel-nurse-coach.com we have a motto. Wish for the best plan for the worse.

There is no doubt still a nursing shortage, there wasn’t a sudden influx of a million nurses to the workforce. No, what has happened is pretty simple. When the economy started to decline and layoffs began, the nurse spouses of the laid-off worker did the only natural thing they could and picked up extra shifts, reducing the number of unfilled shifts normally filled by travel nurses. Couple this with the fact that due to the economy people are delaying treatments and more of those who are getting treatment are not as able to pay as they have been in the past. This lack of revenue for the hospitals means that on top of all this they are delaying much needed expansion to deal with the undelayable increase in patients which will be seen as more and more of the baby boomers retire (one of the major contributors to the nursing shortage, which remember still exists). This delay in turn means a slow down in the number of new positions at a hospital, positions that have typically been filled with travelers at the beginning until perm staff can be recruited and trained.

OK, that was the bad news. Now the good news.

First, this is only temporary, the economy will turn around.

Second, there are still a ton of travel nursing positions available, but as a travel nurse you will need to be more open to what locations you are willing to take an assignment in. The coasts were some of the hardest hit by the economic downturn so there are going to be less jobs there right now, the more you move to the middle of the country the less impact the economy has had and that is where you will find the majority of the travel nursing jobs for the time being.

Third, a majority of the nurses working extra shifts (you may be one of them at the moment) will tire and suffer burn out from being overworked and not having enough help. When they are no longer so willing to work the extra shifts then those jobs will open back up. Possibly with even more open jobs as those nurses themselves decide to take travel assignments.

Fourth, this delaying of treatment is just that, delaying, eventually they will need to deal with it and visit the hospitals again.

What does this mean for you? What can you do right now?

A great article at PanTravelers offers some more insight into the economy and lays out some things you can do as a travel nurse to survive during this economic crunch. Some quick highlights of it include:

• Seriously consider extending your contract.
• Be professional because there is a lot more competition for the travel nursing jobs right now.
• Be more flexible. This is no time to be picky, whether it is pay, location or benefits. 
• Take this as a chance to grow professionally as a nurse, add a license, maintain and add certifications.
• Be choosy about the travel nursing agency and check on their financial standing
• Stay aggressive and in control of  your travel nursing job search., look at multiple travel nursing companys.
• Talk to other travelers , you will get wind of open jobs and the status of travel nursing companies that way.
• Be financially sound yourself with at least a 13 week an emergency fund.

These were just a few quick overviews of the article; it is definitely worth reading. Do you have any other advice you would offer?

• Interview for the travel nursing job as soon as you can. You don’t want to lose the position to a nurse who was able to interview faster.
• Remember that just because you are in high demand as a nurse that doesn’t mean you can afford to sound unprofessional or casual during the travel nursing interview process.
• Follow up with your travel nurse recruiter after the interview. They will want to know how it went and if you’re still interested in the travel nursing job.
• When you are doing the interview set all distractions aside and focus on the interviewer.
• Remember that being a flexible, team player is one of the most sought after traits in a travel nurse.
• Be sure to ask questions (I would plan them in advance) and keep in mind that you are interviewing the facility as much as they are interviewing you. You want to make sure it is a good fit for your nursing career goals.
• Be prepared for your travel nurse interview. Take the time to research the name of the hospital and research it online so there are no surprises in the interview.
• Smile when you talk it will change the tone of your voice during the interview. Hiring managers need to know that you will be able to fit in with the rest of the unit.
• Have your goal in mind, which is to present yourself as a competent, reliable and skilled nurse, before the travel nursing interview takes place.
• Make sure you practice the interview first. Knowing what you are going to say ahead of time will make your answers sound smoother, eliminate the umms and awkward pauses and make you look like a better communicator. Just be sure to stay spontaneous and not sound robotic.
• Be prepared for the travel nursing interview by finding a quiet place to do it with minimal distractions.
• Have a bottle of water on hand so your throat doesn’t dry out from so much talking and have a pen and paper on hand to write notes or any new questions you come up with.
• Also have all the materials about the hospital close by and write down the name of the person doing the travel nursing interview.
• Nothing is worse than calling someone the wrong name during an interview.
• Make sure you know what the next step is in the travel nurse placement process, and if you want the job make sure to state that fact and follow up with your recruiter immediately after the travel nursing interview to let her know how it went.

What other tips do you have for fellow travel nurses?

It makes perfect sense that you might begin to feel like there is no fairytale ending to your job search. There is a lot for you to do to insure that you find what you are looking for, and this process can prove to be quite testy! As with any job, you will get out what you put in — your potential is directly related to your involvement in the placement process. So, take the time to do your research and make sure you are clear with yourself and your recruiters what you want to take from each and every assignment.

Preparation
First, always be prepared to demonstrate your qualifications at any time. Nursing placement agencies will need copies of your current Nursing, Operating-Room Technician, or Allied Health Professional licenses. As with any resume, you should keep it current and show all clinical experiences in order for the agency to place you accordingly to your skill set. Without this proof it is possible for you to end up in a less desirable position and worse yet, forming a disdain against the hospital, co-workers and the agency who hired you.

Awareness
Your agency recruiter is no mind reader. Tell your career consultant exactly what you are looking for in your next assignment. Do you want to work in a major metropolitan or would you rather be placed in a more rural setting? Would you like to work for a teaching or non-teaching hospital? Are there any particular states or cities you’d like work in? All these questions will help your recruiter find the perfect placement for your next assignment.

Manage your time
Typically travel nursing assignments last anywhere from 8 to 13 weeks, but can also vary to many degrees. When deciding to pursue your next traveling assignment make sure to note the length of time you’ve dedicated to it. It is best to schedule this ahead so that your recruiter can either work on finding your next position or keep you there longer.

Be real
By now you know that travel nursing can do wonders for your pocketbook. A traveling position usually pays about 20% more than that of a permanent position. With that extra pay comes extra grief, sometimes. Some assignments may pay more than others, but there’s always a reason. It may be a poor location or horrible work hours. Make sure you know what to expect; from the hours you’re going to work to the size of the hospital and so on. Sure the other job may pay more, but not without its own price.

Know the 411
Finally and this should go without saying. Read and know what your contract states. Before you agree to do anything, before you sign your name… Read, read, read what it says in your contract. If you see anything you don’t agree with or there’s something you don’t understand, ask questions until you have your answers. The more you know and the more your recruiter knows, the better chance for you to land that “perfect job.”

If you want your career to go places, you need to take control. The more prepared you are to take on a travel nursing assignment the better chances you’ll want to continue. If your agency knows what it is you like and dislike, the better the chance you’ll want to stay with them. It’s your life and your time, make the most of it by being ready.

As a travel nurse, you won’t have that everyday familiarity; however, you do start to establish it more and more as time passes. When ending and starting a new assignment you won’t be able to meet as many people at that job, but overall you meet more people all across the U.S. since you are always going to new places and transitioning. You also won’t get wrapped up in the hospital politics like you would in a permanent place.

Every nursing job offers medical insurance, PTO and 401K, but to receive there benefits you must work for that hospital for a certain time period. As a travel nurse, the more established companies offer medical insurance and 401K from day one. That’s just the beginning of benefits.

The best benefit of traveling nursing is being able to travel across the U.S. meeting new people and learning about different cultures. Once you are in your new home, you can go out site seeing and check out all the hot spots in that area.

The main reason people become a travel nurse is traveling. You get paid to do the traveling you have always wanted to do and didn’t have the money to do sooner. Traveling is cheap and easy, when the more established companies reimburse you for your travel and licensure expenses, and help you get your certification.