litlstar555

I would have t dsagree lighly with the other two posters. I had the same level of experience when I started traveling and was successful in it. I think it has a lot to do with your personality/confidence level though. To be a traveler, you have to be confident in your nursing skills. In most cases, you will only get 1 night of orientation if that. I have heard of some nurses only getting 4 hours of orientation. Just make sure you ask a lot of questions during your interview process. If the hospital has a lot of travelers, making your requests known about schedule might be honored.

If you like a particular area, you can stay there as long as you are picking a somewhat large city with several hospitals in it. You cannot stay at the same hospital forever as a traveler though. I know that HCA (a parent company of hospitals) will not allow travelers to extend at their facilities for more than a year, but will allow you to switch in between their facilities in the same city. Local traveling is possible. If you do stay in one place, however, and take the housing stipend, it is taxable after a year in the same place. If you decide to "sign on" at a particular hospital as staff, and you want to leave (my situation now), you can go back to traveling after a year or two. Your comittment to your company is only the contract that you currently have. I went back to the same recruiter and company a year after signing on as staff. I have had no problems/ issues with this. Hope this helps!!