Ortho travel?

[betakurt]

Hi, I currently work on an ortho/neuro floor in my first nursing job. Our patients are generally lumber, knee, and hip surgeries or CVAs/TIAs. I want to start travelling in a few months and would like to stick with what I know best. The workflow is similar to med/surg I assume, but the vast majority of my patients generally only fall into those few diagnoses I mentioned.

I haven't seen either ortho or neuro listed on too many travel agency sites, and I was wondering if there are ever many opportunites for ortho or neuro travelling?

Thanks.

[NedRN]

I'd say no, that travel in that narrow a specialty is rare. Used to be that ortho was a larger specialty that used travelers, but no more. In general, med surg is dying as inpatient acuity goes up, and hospital stays are lower. As a traveler, you are competing with a lot of experienced med surg travelers for assignments, who have more rounded clinical experience including often telemetry. If you are up for the challenge of new clinical experiences (and hospitals prove willing), and the challenge of traveling and hitting the ground running, give it a try.

[betakurt]

Thanks... My floor is a telemetry floor as well. Do you think that working on a specialized floor like I am will effect my ability to find travel jobs?

[RNewbie]

You will probably not find assignments that are specifically ortho/neuro. When I left my full time job to work contract and per diem my experience was 1 yr on a surgical unit. There were no contracts specifically for surgical units. I ended up working on all kinds of med/surg/tele units. I felt like a new grad with most of the medical pts bc I was not as familiar with the conditions/ common treatments. I stuck with it. I now work on ortho, neuro, renal, oncology, tele, and occasionally postpartum units through agency. I was also able to land a contract with the VA doing outpatient case management and clinic triage. I would suggest going into it with an open mind and learn as you go.

[betakurt]

A fellow night shifter I presume? Haha... That's really what I wanted to hear. I'd like to become well-rounded like that, and there is no better way to learn IMO.

[sweetgurly25]

I had never done neuro before and my first night I was floated to neuro floor. big learning experience.