Newly Licensed RN Wondering about Traveling

Most companies and hospitals require at least a year in your specility. If a company doesn't require this I would be worried because they may put you in a position you might not be able to handle.


Remember you should check out the company you work for as closely as they check you out... I worked for a local agency once who didn't even bother to get any of my paper work but wanted me to go to work for them...I declined.. I figured that they probably hadn't checked out the job either..



ESRD

I was only an RN for one year when I took my first traveling nurse assignment in Med/Surg. I loved the experience, and never had any problems.

I agree that you should get one year of experience under your belt before you undertake traveling nursing. You'll be so glad you did, especially in lieu of today's nursing issues.

One year experience is a definite must. I am married, my husband travels with me and gets temp jobs at Wal-Mart or whatever is nearby. It works out pretty well, kind of nice to focus on my career for a while.

The hospital i work at utilizes traveling nurses on a consistant basis. They say u need to have at least 1 yrs experience before an agency will sign you on. The nurses say they love traveling....housing and travel expenses all paid for!!

be weary as a new grad, there are a few companys that get your hopes up, but then when it comes time ( after you've filled out 10 pages of stuff), they tell you that you need 1 yr exp. it happened to me. They basically keep your name on a list. The recruiter keeps names of who he "has contacted"
basically i've found that you can't travel unless you have 1 yr exp.
xo Jen

Sounds like a dream! I have always said I wanted a career that would let me travel. I never knew nursing could be that career until recently. The place I am going to work at will have a 2 year contract. BUt after that, My family will be travelin'!!

Definately one year current clinical experience and be ready to float to other units. I work telemetry, but the current contract calls for the traveler to "float first." It doesn't happen all the time, but I've floated to med-surg, ortho, and a sister unit of the tele unit with more of a medical focus. My next contract coming up doesn't require any floating at all. The core staff floats. Change is the only sure thing in travel nursing. I travel with my stay-at-home-Wife and our seven year old German Shephard, Friska. We've spent the last five months in Tucson. Good luck to you.