Advice on Travel Nursing

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Specializes in ICU.

I recently got a taveling nurse job. The location is Sacramento CA. This is my first time taking up a travel job. My reasons are to make some extra money, see new environment, and learn new things. Please any advice that will help me have a successful experience will be appreciated. Keep in mind that this is a professional forum, so please lets keep our responses professional and classy.

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Hello, Congrats on your first travel assignment. I did travel nursing for five years until I decided to settle in one place for a while and I really enjoyed it. Since you asked, here is some advice for you. First of all, be aware that you are just at the travel location to fill a hole in their staffing matrix. While most of the nurses I got to work with were kind and welcoming, some staff nurses may treat you harshly or be resentful of you simply because they are jealous. Don't take it personally, it's their problem, not yours. After all you earn the "big bucks" and get to leave in 8-13 weeks while they are stuck in their permanent positions and probably unhappy.

Most hospitals that hire travelers hire them in groups, and have them attend a group orientation. This is a great opportunity to meet other travelers and make some new friends to hang out with outside of work. This is especially important if you are traveling by yourself and want an activity partner.

One thing I always did was to look up the location I was traveling to, and make a list of all the interesting tourist sites within about a 2 hour driving radius. Then, on my days off I would refer to that list and go exploring.

One last thing, every location has it's own quirks as to how they provide nursing care. What is acceptable practice at one location, is taboo somewhere else. You should avoid saying things like "at xyz hospital they did it this way and it was better." Many times I came across hospital policies that struck me as completely bizarre, or unnecessarily time-consuming, but as long as there was no patient safety issues I did what they wanted me to.

I hope you have a wonderful time on your first contract.

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Specializes in OB.

There is a whole subforum under "Specialties" for travel nursing questions. You'll probably get more and better responses if your repost this there or ask the moderators to move it there for you.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Thread moved to Travel Nursing forum.

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