Best specialty for traveling

suzanne4, RN · Sep 17, 2004

I am planning on starting nursing school in Fall '05 and will become a traveling nurse. Just wondering if any specialty in nursing has a higher demand for traveling.
Also, is it absolutely true that a minimum of one year experience is required before traveling? I will graduate May '08. Do you think the experience level might be lessened by then due to shortages???
Thanks!
mmallen

It doesn't matter where you think that the most needs will be but what you like to do, or you are going to be miserable.

I recommend at least two years before you travel. Nursing school only gives you the basics, your learning curve doesn't even begin until you finish school. That is when the real learning begins. As a traveler, you are expected to be able to justb jump right in, with little or no orientation. And remember that if a problem occurs, it will be your nursing license at risk. Are you willing to chance that?

MermiesGreatGig · Sep 17, 2004

Thanks for your concerns suzanne4. You brought up some things to consider.

I'd still like actual answers to my questions from others, though. I was hoping to get opinions on the most in demand specialties for traveling, and then I'd start doing research to see which ones sound best for me. My decision will be based on my love to travel, not which specialty I enjoy the most. Right now, I love my job (HR), but I'm miserable because I'm not traveling. So, my happiness is not dictated by my career, but by the other aspects of my life

live4today, RN · Sep 17, 2004

................I was hoping to get opinions on the most in demand specialties for traveling, and then I'd start doing research to see
which ones sound best for me.........................

As an "occasional" travel nurse myself, I've always been asked if I have ICU experience, or L&D experience. Those two seem to be in great demand since I first started traveling as a nurse. They both pay well, and you have less patients. You aren't running around like a chicken with its head cut off like the nurses who work the floors, either. :)

Myself...I travel as a med/surg nurse no matter what my added experience may be. :nurse:

ratchit · Sep 18, 2004

Suzanne gave you great advice and I second every word of it.

You have to like what you are doing to be good at it- maybe not so true in other fields but to be a good nurse you can't hate what you're doing. So you have to go in to a specialty that interests you and that suits you.

That doesn't mean you can't change later- I've worked in several specialties over the years. But if you try to specialize in something just because it's marketable, you won't like your job or the traveling.

I don't expect the minimum experience requirements to be lowered due to shortages. Many hospitals are now *increasing* their own minimum requirements for travelers. So a company might tell you a year is required, but the hospital they have a contract with might require 2 or even 5 years of experience in that specialty.

Hospitals pay a lot of money for travelers and do not orient or train you when you get there- they take a day or two to show you that hospital's way of doing things and then you are on your own. You will need to be a solid clinician with solid experience to handle this. One year is the bare minimum- some do well with just a year's experience. Many nurses get that year and travel, only to fail. Which can be disasterous for the nurse, the patient, or both.

Do what you enjoy- I don't see traveling going away any time soon. Get some experience under your belt so that you'll be a safe travel nurse. Then you'll be ready to spread your wings. :)

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2004

I am planning on starting nursing school in Fall '05 and will become a traveling nurse. Just wondering if any specialty in nursing has a higher demand for traveling.
Also, is it absolutely true that a minimum of one year experience is required before traveling? I will graduate May '08. Do you think the experience level might be lessened by then due to shortages???

All specialities are in demand, but YOU need to do what appeals to YOU. That being said, ICU, Tele skills, ACLS, charge experience, good IV skills and certification in your specialty are preferred.

While there are companys that will take people with less than one year experience, just because they take you does not mean that it is safe to travel nor does it mean that you will actually get jobs with their clients.. You can be signed up with a travel group, and have tons of profiles sent out and yet never receive a job offer, as most facilities will not accept a traveler with less experience (for very good reasons). If you do an offer, frequently it will be with a facility that is desperate, that no experienced traveler will work, for many good reasons. AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO WORK IT EITHER OR FIND OUT THOSE REASONS!!!!!!!!!

Most experienced travelers will say you need more than 1 year experience to be a successful traveler. The shortage has nothing to do with it, it has to do with staff and patient safety.

nightingale, RN · Sep 18, 2004

Well said by all. The only thing I will add to this emphasis is a statement ----> sometimes the best thing you can do for your patient safety is to refuse an assignment.

Once, I had to switch my patient load, at shift change, to the opened mouthed staff at a facility (how dare I as an "Agency Nurse" is what one said) because they were going to assign me a MRSA pt. and a Neutropenic pt. The Charge Nurse later asked me "Why did you have the Neutropenic pt. wear a mask when they went down for xray".....

A new Nurse may not know why (to the above) ... but a Charge Nurse should and sometimes does not know what they are doing. A Traveler / Agency Nurse must take the leed and do the right thing for the pt.

There are many facilities I will NOT work at because of their reputation.

MermiesGreatGig · Sep 19, 2004

Thanks to each and every one of you busy nurses for your insights! I'm so scared, but yet exhilerated about this change I'm getting ready to make. I've been in the business world for my 13 years of working. I've often thought about nursing during those years, but never could leave the security of my career to do it. Now, with all my bills paid (even the house), I know it's feasible to go back to school!

I'm so psyched with the school schedule I'm going to have. I have a BS in Public Relations, so I don't have to worry about the Gen Ed requirements of the ADN. I've worked it out so that I can take both A&P courses prior to my first nursing course in Fall '05. I also plan to take Medical Microbiology in Summer '06. In other words, I won't have to take any other classes during regular semesters except the Nursing classes. That will give me plenty of time to focus on my studies!!!!!

Without knowing much about the different nursing specialties, I am already leaning toward ICU. My father was in a terrible car wreck in '95 and spent 3 weeks in ICU before he passed away. It was then that the nursing bug really hit me. I watched those nurses care for him as if he were their own father. It was so touching that way they would look at him, clean his face, hold his hand,... That's when I realized how much I wanted more meaning in my life.

The traveling bug hit my husband and me a few years ago. Since realizing I can join a great, meaningful career with our love of travel, I can hardly sleep at night! Thanks again, and I hope to meet each of you on the road someday!

JoshsRN · Sep 20, 2004

:):) In response to your question I think that ICU would be your best bet for getting travel opportunities. My wife and I are both nurses. I'm in PICU and she is in adult ICU. We have found its more difficult finding PICU travel assignments than it is ICU. For every PICU position there is ten ICU.

If you want to start travel nursing within a year of getting your license maybe you could try out-patient surgery or something a little less intense. I couldn't imagine being dropped into an intensive care unit with even a full year of experience. Even with two years of experience we were both hard pressed finding positions in the area of the country we wanted to work.

Also you may want to start working in a hospital as a certified nurses aid while you go to nursing school. Try taking a position in an area you plan to work as an RN. That could only help.

Veronica · Mar 22, 2005

As an "occasional" travel nurse myself, I've always been asked if I have ICU experience, or L&D experience. Those two seem to be in great demand since I first started traveling as a nurse. They both pay well, and you have less patients. You aren't running around like a chicken with its head cut off like the nurses who work the floors, either. :)
Myself...I travel as a med/surg nurse no matter what my added experience may be.

Hi I would like to start travelling in the fall and I am also a Med/Surg nurse. Could you please tell me what the pay is like as a nurse in this area? I am looking towards Florida because I would like to buy a house there and live. I think traveling nursing there would help my cause. Thanks in advance.

2ndCareerRN · Mar 22, 2005

A good guide it to go to one of the travel company sites and download their skill checklist for the different specialities.

You may be surprised at what you are expected to be competent in. Often you have to be more than competent, you always hit the floor running. If you don't know what you are doing, you won't last. That is why almost all companies require a minimum of one year in your speciality before looking at you. I think a 2 year minimum is more realistic.

That being said. ICU, OB, OR, ER, and MS are always good bets to be needed.

bob

RRN · Mar 22, 2005

I am planning on starting nursing school in Fall '05 and will become a traveling nurse. Just wondering if any specialty in nursing has a higher demand for traveling.
Also, is it absolutely true that a minimum of one year experience is required before traveling? I will graduate May '08. Do you think the experience level might be lessened by then due to shortages???
Thanks!
mmallen

Please don't overlook some of the other lesser known specialities..

I have been a travel nurse for almost 3 years. I do strictly chronic hemodialysis, although I might have to give in and do acutes. The hemodialysis population is expected to double by the year 2010. Not that far away.

Check out this site. http://www.annanurse.org there is a section near the bottom of the first page with a nice brochure explaining Nephrology Nursing.

Also, if you are looking to advance Nephrologists are now starting to use NP's alot...

Also, I am beginning to see alot of positions in the Cath Lab and Endo labs.

If anything the experience level might be increased due to the shortage. With fewer nurses working a unit the one's there should be top notch, not needing or requiring much in the way of orientation or hand holding.. You need to be very very very secure in your knowledge and abilities. With fewer staff you just have fewer people to rely on for help.