Should I travel?

Most travel companies require that you already have one year nursing experience before placing you into an assignment.

Have you read through all of the travel nurse threads? You can get some information from them. There is also a travel nurse website you can look at to get valuable information and answers to your questions.

Each company is different and will offer different things.

You can drive to most locations. Most will reimburse you for travel expenses on your first paycheck. Some offer health insurance your very first day and others on the first of the month after you start the assignment. You also need to be licensed for each state you plan to work in. Most companies will reimburse you for the license. I have never heard of a company offering "cash".

Research any company you plan to travel with. Get everything in writing.

As above, you will need a year of current experience in your chosen area before most companies will let you travel. Believe me, that is for your own good. When you travel, you are given a very short orientation. My first travel assignment consisted of the first 4 hours of a 12 hour shift as my orientation. SOOO, you need to be able to be up and running very quickly.

As far as "dumping me off in some strange city when I'm new to the city and don't know anyone", it is up to you to do the research. You choose what city you want to go to, the agency will tell you what jobs are available, and they will house you in the closest "safe" area they can. You may fly or drive to your assignment. I have always driven, because I want to have my car, but I have heard of some agencies who provide a rental car. Most agencies will find a nice apartment and furnish it with basic furnishings, but you will generally need to provide kitchen utinsils, bedding, etc. Some provide TV and cable, some do not. You can specify certain things in your contract. I have known people who require covered parking, big screen TV, cable etc. It depends on your company and what they are willing to provide.

Read through all the posts on the travel forum and you will get a better idea of what is available. Good luck, but you will be better off to get some experience under your belt first.

Spent last winter in Tucson. Drove there from Michigan. Took the stipend the company paid and took a couple of days finding my own apartment. Furnished the apartment shopping at discount furniture stores and garage sales. Brought my own housewares and TV and such. In the end had a pretty cool pad with an excellent view of the mountains. Sure, it was scarey, but I did it anyway. Good luck to you.

Did you save money by getting an unfurnished apartment and buying the bare essentials yourself? We should start a website on which travel nurses can trade furniture. That would be cool!

I would recommend more than a year's experience; some agencies require less. You have to ask yourself, "Why do I want to travel?" What is your specialty? Read some of the older posts and FAQ's, then come back here. We can work from there.

With travel jobs becoming more scarce due to the economy, a lot of agencies are requiring two years current experience. The two agencies I work with do.