Travel Nursing

[nurse1903]

I'm considering travel nursing.

I am working with a recruiter at this time trying to find a good match!

There is a pediatric unit that is hiring RN's with little to no experience. I have a few years of med/surg experience with adults.

Can any travelers who have worked in an unfamiliar unit give me some insight into what to expect? Is an orientation program offered for these situations? Is it a good idea to go into a new unit while traveling? I can imagine it would be incredibly stressful.. but maybe I'm wrong. Thank you!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Travel nurses are very expensive - we only use them if we know that there is going to be a vacancy for a period of time in a specialty area.

In my organization (& those I have worked with in the past), a very thorough review of skills/competency is carried out prior to engaging any travel nurse. They have to be able to hit the ground running without any additional clinical training/orientation. We only provide 1 day of orientation to facility & unit-specific processes. They must be absolutely qualified to work in the clinical area for which we have engaged them. We also double-check clinical competency with a PBDS assessment prior to their first shift - and do not retain any travel nurses who do not meet those expectations.