Should I leave my job for travel nursing?

[Kaelyn]

I have been entertaining the idea of travel nursing for quite sometime but I am nervous about leaving my current job because I am told I "have it so good" and would be "crazy to leave". Do I really?...And is it enough to stay?

- I am a second degree holder, with my BSN, RN.

- I work at a 990+ bed, level 1 trauma, University/teaching hospital.

- Nurses are unionized, no complaints, our union and bargaining team are extremely supportive.

- I have been a nurse since 2012, this position is my first job out of school. I work on a medical/pulmonary/remote telemetry floor doing day/night rotating 12 hour shifts. (About 3/12 shifts are nights).

- I get paid $28-$31 per hour depending on the shift with 2 raises per year.

- I get approx. 14 hours of PTO per month.

- I do a lot of unit business time where I don't work with patients and get to flex my time (come in early, leave early) where I do chart reviews and audits, prepare hospital wide presentations and work closing with my educator, clinical nurse specialist and managers to take on additional unit educational responsibilities. (Ex: Creating new fall prevention interventions/documentation and doing the unit wide education and overseeing the roll outs).

- I am a member on our Unit Based Committee where we roll out new clinical initiatives (4 hour meetings once a month).

- I am the chair person for our Workload committee where we discuss and come up with solutions regarding RN workload. (1 hour meetings per month).

- I have to pay to park blocks away from my job, fight to get parking spots and walk in rain (snow!) or shine/day or night with a 30 minute drive in.

- My retirement is matched 200% by my employer.

- My benefits rock, my coworkers and management are fantastic!

- I am a new hire preceptor, student preceptor and charge nurse.

...I think that's it.

As far as my lifestyle goes; I am in my mid-20s and absolutely restless. Although bearable; the city and state I live in (born and raised) are not supportive of a young lifestyle. I have very little family where I currently live (just my parents, siblings/cousins have all left) no significant other, no pets, very little friends or no lease to break/house to sell. I love traveling and always wished I could travel for my job. I would love to start in Chicago and work my way across the USA, making new friends and experiencing different states until I land in California (where my brother is!). I am essentially in the prime spot to up and leave...but is it worth it? Everyone I speak to says no, that my current set up is too good and that travel pay/benefits/etc wouldn't compare. I would love and appreciate some outside opinions from nurses. Thank you for reading!

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

JUST DO IT!

I was in a similar position like yourself and just made the leap. I am happy I did. Pay and assignment location have paid off well for me. True, I dont have the benefits of sick time, but the freedom of going to different hospitals and experiencing how nursing is done differently everywhere else is something I like. People told me I was crazy to leave the pension at my staff position but considering I was not going to vest for another 8 years at a hospital I would likely leave before that anyway, it was a good risk.

Travel nursing is more for the adventure than banking cash. But in my case it has worked out both ways for now. The only reason I would leave travel is to change specialties, and even after a couple of years in the new specialty I might even return to travel.

[NedRN]

It is extremely difficult to compare travel nursing compensation with staff compensation. However, the best reason to do a job is because it fits your temperament or desired lifestyle. Pay should not be the primary reason to pick a career. Frankly, it sounds right for you to travel and you will certainly be able to make a good living. You can take your own sweet time between assignments and go where you wish. Who cares about benefits or retirement when you are young? That said, I was broke when I started travel nursing, and am financially secure after 20 years of great times traveling.

[Trjl]

Sounds like outside of parking, you have a great job with great benefits and pay. If you need security and certainty, by all means stay there. I guess a question to ask yourself would be, do you want to still be living in this city and working at this hospital in 10 years? If not, then strike while the iron is hot and you are motivated to do it. You are young and looks like you ultimately plan to live closer to family in Calif. anyway. Might as well travel not only have fun but get more well rounded as a nurse. You sound like a real go-getter, and just be aware, that you will not have the same status at your travel hospitals as you do now. (if that is important to you)You can still be the best travel nurse ever, but to the hospital admin, you are still just agency. I would suggesting you do a lot of reading on travel nursing. Whether through allnurses.com or places like Travelnursing.com. The ads for Travel nursing look too good to be true, and they usually are. That is not to say it is bad, just that all the benefits and extras aren't quite as they seem. For instance, many Travel companies will continue your health insurance only if you have signed another contract with another hospital at least 30 days after your present one ends. Sounds okay, but then they tell you that it will cost you $100/wk to keep it going. Again, not the worst thing in the world, but you find out these things a little at a time, and not usually up front. So if you are more informed going in, the better you will feel about your decision to do it.

Best of luck. I have a feeling that you will do great.