What is Travel Nursing
Travel nursing was created to counter the shortages of nurses across the United States by having qualified registered nurses travel to work in temporary short term positions. Many travel nursing agencies offer incentives to the nurses they hire such as furnished housing, assistance with relocating, higher salaries than they would normally receive and other bonuses like health care insurance, continuing education reimbursement or a 401(k) plan.
For many nurses working for a travel nursing agency offers not only higher wages but also the opportunity to experience different locations and the chance to grow professionally.
Usually an agency will required that a nurse have at least one year of experience in their specialty before being hired, but many agencies will advise that the nurse have two or more years experience before becoming a travel nurse. The reason being is because many travel nurses receive a very short one or two day orientation of the hospital they are assigned to or may not receive an orientation at all, however the travel nurse is expected to be very knowledgeable in their particular field.
Typically travel nursing contracts are short term arrangements that range from 4 to 13 weeks. Many times a travel nurse is offered an extension or even permanent placement in their assigned hospital at the end of the original contract. Travel nursing agencies have also been known to send their nurses to hospitals outside the United States with contracts that last about 1 to 2 years.
Travel nursing salaries tend to vary based on the location, needs of the hospital’s nursing unit and the interpreted needs of the staffing manager. There are also instances where the travel nurse’s salary is based largely on the nurse’s ability to negotiate.
Nurses that are hired by travel nursing agencies are also sometimes entitled to per diem pay or tax advantage pay which is a tax benefit that allows the nurse incidentals such as meals or living expenses tax free. Many travel nursing agencies offer both tax free meals and living expenses to their nurses as a part of their contract.
With being a travel nurse comes the additional cost of acquiring a license for the location the nurse is assigned to and actual travel cost which may be reimbursed by the travel nursing agency in whole or only partially.
Successful travel nurses have a flexible outlook on their situation and are able to adapt quickly. Nurses who do not plan financially and do not educate themselves about the both the risks and benefits of travel nursing can end up in debt or audited by the IRS.
The Professional Association of Nurse Travelers is a non-profit organization that helps travel nurses avoid the pitfalls of the travel nursing industry. The association’s mission is to ensure the fair, safe and humane work environments for health care travelers