Is 18 months long enough to try travel nursing?

nottanightingale · Dec 4, 2008

a friend of mine has been a nurse since June 2007. She wanted to start travel nursing this fall which put her at 16 months experience. While she did get an assignment, it took a little longer due to her 16 months of practice. So it is possible to travel with less than 2 years experience, but may take a little longer to get an assignment.

highlandlass1592, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2008

Hello,
I'm about to complete my first year of my nursing career in January 09. I currently work on a step down telemetry floor which feels like a med-surg floor alot of the time, but I really like it. I'll be graduating next May with a MPH. By then I'll have about 18 months of nursing experience. I'm thinking about trying travel nursing over next summer. So just for a general idea of what people think, is 18 months a adequate length of time before starting travel nursing? What companies are the most helpful towards semi-new nurses? I'm thinking of doing travel nursing in NC or AL.
Thanks. :-)

Hmmm..I started traveling with a little over a years experience and got an assignment. There are some issues though. Some facilities will not hire you without 2 years experience, it's a facility thing not an agency thing. And right now, some areas are experiencing huge agency/contract cancellations due to budget restraints. Another issue to consider is what type of area you want to work in. You mention your unit is telemetry step-down but not how your experiences are. Best you can do is try to get as many experiences as possible to broaden your marketability. More you can list on your skills sheet with the agency, better your chance of finding a facility that you can work at. I belong to a couple of travel nurse websites and I know in many areas of the country it's pretty tight. Assignments may be out there but they may not be where people specifically want to go.

Used to live in NC and did a lot of in-state traveling. Loved it. Lots of different types of hospitals, lots of smaller hospitals where you really need to hit the floor running. Remember, you dont' get a lot of orientation when you're a traveler, you're expected to be able to function with minimal time. So it's a good idea to get as much experience as you can before you hit the road, will increase your comfort level as well.

Hopefully by the time you are ready to travel, the economy will have improved and contracts will be plentiful again. Wouldn't hurt to start cruising some travel sites now and just soak in and learn what the industry is like. PM me if you have specific questions, I'll try to help if I can. Good luck.

daisydoll · Dec 5, 2008

I agree that it is harder to get an assignment with less than 2 yrs experience. I had 14 mos when I started and ended up taking a job in an area where I didn't particularly want to go, just to get travel experience. Most places want you to have at least one prior travel job before you work for them. My next job will be exactly where I wanted to go, warm and sunny Florida!

I think that it may benefit you to sign up with a local per diem agency so you can have some experience working at other places. You can get a taste of what traveling will be like while staying close to home. I'm sure that could improve your chances as well. Good luck and start calling around to recruiters to get a sense of which company you want to go with!