Thinking about traveling

[romainew23]

Hi everyone, I'm 37 and I've worked as a medical surgical nurse for the past 4 years. I'm at a crossroad of what I should do with my career as a nurse. I was thinking about becoming a travel nurse but honestly I'm a little scared of the change. I wanted to get some critical care experience before I became a travel nurse so I can be more markateble. My question is should I just jump into travel nursing or should I get some critical care experience first? Lastly, is there a market for med surg travel nurse? Thank you!

[NedRN]

Yes, there is a demand for medsurg, I believe there are still more medsurg nurses than any other specialty. However, it is pretty bread and butter (entry level) and you are competing with more nurses than other specialties.

If you want to travel in medsurg, having some critical care experience will enhance your resume and possibly make you slightly more competitive (more below), but it won't allow you to work in critical care travel without having two years experience. So on that point, don't wait!

Telemetry experience is however very important and will make a big difference in competitiveness. Medsurg is not my specialty and I may be behind the times, but my presumption is that many medsurg nurses have little to no telemetry experience, which will put them at a disadvantage for travel. Managers like not only travelers with extra depth to their staff mix, but it gives them extra flexibility to manage staffing (AKA floating). Certification such as AACN (you should be eligible), or documented rhythm recognition training will be helpful, again for a competitive advantage.

Having your AACN, or gaining some experience in critical care before travel, may make it possible for you to get more critical care experience as you travel. For example, you may be able to float to variously named intermediate care units such as step down, CCU, and IMCU. That may ultimately gain you enough experience to feel comfortable to take a primary assignment in such units. Usually that would be at a facility where you have already floated, proven yourself, and are offered an extension to that unit. Ability to work intermediate care generally pays a few dollars more - not a lot as things go, but even a dollar an hour is $2,000 a year.

The same principle could then apply to working yourself up to ICU (or PACU perhaps) and better pay. Both are a bit higher of a jump clinically, but after juggling different acuities in intermediate care (you might have a ventilated patient, one you have to ambulate for the first time after surgery, and another one on a drip), you might actually find ICU less demanding after you get the pathophysiology.

However, I wouldn't push your boundaries if you don't have a real interest in critical care beyond compensation. If you really are interested, you will gain experience and competency far faster as a staff nurse with supportive management. As a travel nurse, you are there first to be productive and hit the ground running.

[Gr4ceffa, CNA]

romainew23,

Hi! Traveling nurses are amazing! Of course, the change can be nerve wrecking, but the pro's of becoming a traveling nurse are: depending where you live, you could get your living environment paid for or partially paid for, you get most expenses covered, such as plane tickets, or you usually get reimbursed. I'm sure there are threads all over AN.com about traveling (med/surg) nurses. Good luck!

[romainew23]

Thank you so much for the information. Very informative. I really appreciate the advice..

[romainew23]

Thank you for your awesome advice. I really appreciate it and you've given me a lot to think about.. thanks again.