Psych Travel Nursing

[Krzysztof]

Hello! I have a quick question for those of you most familiar with various travel agencies. Will a specialty in psych be terribly limiting for a future travel nurse? I will obtain my RN license this year (how's that for confidence?), and have two very strong interests with separate rationales: psych and travel.

It would be wonderful to combine the two. However, if this will not be ideal, I realize I might need to plan my first experience-focused gigs with that in mind.

P.S. I have done a lot of research on various travel sites, so I'm not bugging you to do the work for me. (I don't want to sound like one of those "please do my homework" posters!) I just realize that without an active relationship and account, I'm not always able to view all of the offerings.

All information, insight, and opinion appreciated!

[NedRN]

You researched everywhere but Allnurses where the answer lies! Your specific question about psych gets asked every month or two. Yes, you can indeed work full-time. You really should have two full years of experience to travel with confidence but you may be able to get by with less, especially if you worked in a related field before school. You didn't ask that, but as many agencies and recruiters say one year is plenty (wrong usually), I just thought I'd throw that in. One other thought, message me your email address and I'll send you a skills checklist for psych. This may help you prioritize your staff experience after school for more likely subspecialties that use more travelers.

No harm in calling a recruiter right now for even more specific information about available psych assignments to get a good idea of the distribution of different work venues. The really large agencies such as Cross Country and American Mobile are always good bets for smaller specialties such as psych. I'd also suggest Supplemental (also now a very large agency). They started as psych only so have a special interest. The same goes for Worldwide which was started by ex-Supplemental employees.

[HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

There's a Psychiatric Travel Nurse Facebook group. It's a closed group but the admin may let you join if you let her know you're considering psych as your specialty with travel in your future. Lots of good peeps on there plus several recruiters who specialize in psych. Also you could join The Travel Nurse Network; Gypsy Nurse. Its an open group anyone can join. Lots of decent info.