Travel nursing is a type of nursing that has gained a dramatic increase in popularity due to nurses wanting to not only sharpen their skills but also visit new places. This career path has a lot of interesting opportunities. However, it is critical to know its advantages and disadvantages.

 

In the preceding sections, the negative and positive aspects of travel nursing have been emphasized to help you determine if this unconventional path meets your career expectations or not. In addition, it discusses how AI-powered tools such as StaffDNA can make your life easier by helping you find the highest-paying positions that fit your needs and lifestyle. So, are you ready to combine your love for nursing and desire to travel to new places? Let’s get started!

The Pros Of Travel Nursing

One benefit that one can gain by working as a travel nurse is that there is a lot of freedom and flexibility. For anyone considering this job, these are benefits to take into consideration.

High Earning Potential

Nurses who travel get paid more than stationary nurses and can earn some of the highest salaries in the industry. A travel nurse’s salary varies based on specialty, geography, and demand. Some of the most common and sought-after roles in travel nursing include:

 

• NICU nurses
• Pediatric nurses
• Labor and Delivery nurses
• CRNAs (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists)
• Nurse anesthetists

 

Travel nurses usually render services with very low cost or no cost at all to housing and food, and these stipends increase their net pay significantly. This also provides an exceptional balance between work and personal life.

Opportunities for Career Growth

Nurses gain valuable experience in various settings, including CVICU, PICU, and PACU specialty units, which is one of the many important benefits of travel nursing. This diverse experience helps aspiring advanced practice nurses and nurse leaders to obtain specialty certifications, like:

 

• CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse)
• NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program)
• CHSE (Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator)

 

In this manner, travel nurses can demonstrate the need for them in their area of expertise based on the vast amount of experience they possess from different countries.

Flexibility and Adventure

Travel nurses, unlike permanent nurses, have greater freedom of choice when it comes to their work schedules, allowing them to travel both within and outside the United States.

Many nurses use travel assignments to work in their dream locations or somewhere near family. Other nurses concentrate in high-paying specialty areas such as:

 

• RN travel jobs in major metropolitan areas
• Travel RN jobs in rural or underserved regions
• Positions within top-ranked hospitals

Networking and Professional Development

Travel nurses have a unique opportunity to network throughout the entire healthcare system. A nurse’s engagement with different hospitals across the country aids in building an expansive network that can offer future employment, suitable rotations, and even a nurturing guide for valuable lessons.

Networking also enables research on alternate career options like nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or educator in nursing.

Housing and Benefits Packages

Most travel nursing agencies are full-service providers. These include but are not limited to:

 

• Free or subsidized housing
• Travel reimbursements
• Medical insurance and retirement plans

 

Agencies like StaffDNA and others like it have made the process of employment hunting easier by providing healthcare professionals with exciting travel employment with great pay and excellent perks. Regardless of whether you are a new graduate or a veteran, there are plenty of options to choose from in travel nursing.

The Cons Of Travel Nursing

Just like the obvious perks, there are some downsides of opting for travel nursing as a career, and a few of them have been listed below:

Frequent Relocation and Instability

The travel nurse role has its benefits, like any other specialization in nursing, but moving every three months or less can be very overwhelming. This constant need to adapt to a new facility with new policies and new staff can be grueling for many nurses.

Licensing and Credentialing Challenges

Travel nurses also need to remember that they must possess an active RN license in all regions of the country where they plan on practicing. Several states currently use the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), but others require a standard application. In some cases, nurses may also need additional certifications, like BLS or ACLS, or even an EKG tech certification.

Job Security and Stability

Unlike traditional nurses employed by a hospital, travel nurses work under short-term contracts. As a result, their job security, or lack thereof, cannot be compared to that of a permanent employee of a hospital. When budget cuts are made to hospitals, the first positions to be eliminated tend to be those of travel nurses.

Adapting to New Work Environments

Every hospital is unique in terms of policy and practices, and that is why travel nurses need to be good learners. Earning new workflows, automated care information systems, and multidisciplinary collaboration can be tough.

Limited Benefits Compared to Staff Positions

While permanent employees enjoy more benefits than travel nurses, the latter group tends to earn higher pay. For instance, unlike full-time employees, travel nurses are required to obtain their own:

 

• Retirement Plans
• Health Insurance
• Paid Time Off

Is Travel Nursing Right For You?

If you are hesitant about whether to opt for a career as a travel nurse or not, here are a few questions to ask yourself on a one-on-one basis first:

 

• Will you be comfortable moving frequently?

 

• Do you enjoy taking new challenges under your sleeve and adapting to different hospital settings?

 

• Are you financially prepared for potential gaps between assignments?

 

• Do you have the necessary certifications (NRP certification, CCRN certification, or CHSE) to qualify for higher-paying jobs?

 

If your answer was ‘yes’ to the majority of these questions, then there, you have it! Travel nursing might be a great career move for you!

How StaffDNA Helps Travel Nurses?

StaffDNA has made it easier to get travel nursing jobs by developing a mobile app that helps nurses instantly connect to jobs offering the highest pay.

 

So, whether you are looking for travel RN jobs, remote nurse jobs, or any other suitable vacancy for yourself, StaffDNA will help provide instant access to thousands of positions throughout the country.

 

Some of the advantages that you can make the most of while using the App include:

 

• Real-time job matching based on preferences
• Transparent salary and contract details
• No recruiters – direct access to jobs
• Fast and easy application process

 

Needless for the job position that you are looking for, this App is certainly going to help make the entire process hassle-free and smooth for you in no time.

Final Thoughts

Travel nurses can find an outstanding professional opportunity to earn higher pay while obtaining flexible scheduling and experiencing exciting adventures. The only major obstacles that travel nurses must address are the demanding need to relocate and strict licensing procedures. Once past them, they are free to practice to their heart’s content and their job’s demand!

 

StaffDNA serves as a platform that assists in finding high-paying nurse jobs located near you if you wish to proceed with travel nursing.

Proceeding to take the leap of faith? Embark on your travel nursing path now to experience some great career prospects.