Are 48 hr ICU Crisis Response Jobs Worth it?

[NCline9, BSN, RN]

Hello,

I applied for my first travel jobs that are offering ~$5000 a week for 13 weeks in the COVID ICU. It’ll be night shift and 48 hour weeks. I’ve heard most of these crisis response jobs will have you tripled in the ICU frequently. Considering this would be a fairly challenging assignment, is it worth it?

Btw, I’m a nurse with 3 years experience, 2+ years in the ICU. 

[NedRN]

Is it worth it to you? As far as patient ratio goes, you will find out before accepting an assignment and can then make a more informed decision. Might be hard, but I'd advise you to ignore money on your first assignment and go for one well within your clinical skills. Then you will have a heads up if you should go for a harder one with new to you everything: EMR, pt population, flow, culture, and support. Far better to succeed on your first assignment in every possible way. Already enough failures on first assignments for travelers not chasing money (greater than 10%). Your staff comfort zone is not even close to a travel assignment.