The travelling nurse

KuteNurse, LPN · Feb 28, 2006

i am a nursing student and i'm in the last semester of school. right now i am doing my precepting at the local hospital, it has been fun and interesting. one of the things that is required of me is to post a question that i have and get some feed back on it. one of the things that i am curious about is the travelling nurse. i know a person that does this every third or so weekend and she makes a lot of money for this. i guess i don't understand why these places are so willing to pay upwards of $100/hr when there are nurses there or is the shortage that great?

hello!

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[color=#ffa500]i am just starting to get into the traveling nurse thing. i have yet to start my first job. i don't know of any nurses who get paid 100/hour. i have heard up to 40/hour. maybe once housing, travel expenses, etc are added in it equals that amount. not sure. maybe others know more. there is such a shortness of nurses around the country, this is a good way to bring in help where help can't be found. as for why these nurses get paid so much...a number of reasons...a nurse practitioner that i work with said it is hard work. you are thrown into the job sometimes with little or no training to start off, these positions may be open because no one wants the job. i am sure there are several reasons the pay is so good. take advantage of it, what a nice way to travel across the country!

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michelle95 · Feb 28, 2006

It's worse when you are at a hospital that uses a computer system. The travellers I see get a total of 1 day orientation....that includes floor, computer system, hospital...all of it.

I decided based on that...I don't think I would be a traveller. You work like a dog for that money. I'm not sure the instability and unknown are worth the money in my book. But, hey that's me. :rotfl:

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2006

I travelled for a year a while back and loved it. I got to visit some places I would not otherwise have gone. My orientation was scant, 3 days for Trauma, neuro, med/surg ICU, I had 4 days for an open heart unit. It was challenging and I felt I had the experience to do that. I did work up to this by doing agency staffing in critical care units once a week throughout my city on top of my full time ICU position.

jhushon · Feb 28, 2006

I have been a traveling nurse for 8 years now. I started off to do just a year then go back home and finish my 9 credits for FNP. I was so broke trying to work and pay for grad school at the same time the money just looked so good. Once I was out there, I was learning so much and seeing some incredible places, I just never went back. I have never seen any job at 100/hr. I'm not sure what the hospital is charged for my services however.

The main reasons I have seen that a hospital will pay for me:

1. No orientation, other than maybe 2-3 days with a mentor and with the education people to make sure the paperwork is in order for JACHO.

2. This means that on day 3/4 I'll be taking a full assignment without any more support than "Where do you keep your..." or "How can I get this done?"

3. I find that a lot of places simply have seasonal needs. We walk in, do the job and leave. The facilities do not have to pay extra for unemployment insurance b/c we are temp employees. If these places hired extra nurses as employees, they would have to pay if they could no longer use you. (I mean in unemployment benefits)

4. As a traveler, a lot of the places I have worked are unappealing simply because of the politics. I am not required to go to staff meetings, I am simply out of the loop. I just need to know if any changes have been made that will affect my practice. Nothing more. I don't care about your dress code committee, (I always wear the standard ceil blue scrubs which seems to be country wide for ER)

I love traveling and I don't think I would have stayed in this profession this long if I did not travel. I had nearly quit nursing twice before I started to travel, and as mundane or whatever it sounds like, I believe this is my calling.

ladytraviler · Feb 28, 2006

I also am a traveler. I love my job and have seen so much. I am not just talking about the country. When I started traveling, I had just seen the medical management of a laboring patient. I have now experienced the total natural labor. I have participated in the delivery of a breech, NSVD of twins, and delivery of a prolapsed cord. I will admit that a lot of what I have done takes getting used to, but is well worth it. I have more confidence in my skills and in my self than I did as a staff nurse. I do not hesitate to stand up for my patients, call staff nurses on the rude behavior toward me, nor will I be a door mat for doctors.

I firmly believe that by getting out of my comfort zone, I was forced to change. I think that I am a stronger person for it, not just a stronger nurse.

The money is good. The orientation a lot of times sucks big time. As stated, only 1 to 3 days with a mentor then a full load. You have to be a quick study. I can't tell you the friends I have made, nor the cultures I have experienced. I say experienced cause you live the culture for 13 weeks. If you make the effort, it can be a life long experience. I love to travel and get the best of both worlds.

Good luck to you and maybe some day the itch to see another way of nursing may just bite you.

mickeydickeydog · Feb 28, 2006

Thanks for your replies. I too found it hard to believe the pay for this person I had mentioned. That is why I threw the question out to a wider audience. Thanks again

soliant12 · Feb 28, 2006

I could see the hospitals cost at close to $100/hr but the most I ever made was $52/hr but I provided my own housing (I had an RV) and medical insurance. But, on the other hand I received almost $1600/ week in tax free stipends so it really was worth a lot more due to the lessened tax burden. On the other hand there is a reason I made that kind of money I worked hard and the hospital was extremely short staffed and not the best to hospital in the area to work at. You are not going to make $40/hr sitting on a beach in Hawaii

KuteNurse, LPN · Mar 1, 2006

I could see the hospitals cost at close to $100/hr but the most I ever made was $52/hr but I provided my own housing (I had an RV) and medical insurance. But, on the other hand I received almost $1600/ week in tax free stipends so it really was worth a lot more due to the lessened tax burden. On the other hand there is a reason I made that kind of money I worked hard and the hospital was extremely short staffed and not the best to hospital in the area to work at. You are not going to make $40/hr sitting on a beach in Hawaii

WOOT! lol

I wouldn't care if I wasn't making much money and sitting on the beach in Hawaii!!!!! lol

shangve · Mar 4, 2006

I think travel nurse is very diligent, so they can earn big money

student4ever · Mar 4, 2006

The advantage for the hospital with hiring travel nurses is to fill a big time staffing need quickly. THese nurses come in with experience, and do not need a full orientation like new hospital employees go through. We hired about 10 travellers here recently as a result of having 5 RNs on maternity leave all at the same time, and several new hires who would be on orientation during that whole time, which ties up the remaining nurses. We really needed some new people to just work with us on keeping our ER running smoothly throughout this tough time staffing wise. Several of the travelers were pitiful - they filled the spaces and got most of their work done and did an okay job but were hard to work with (not at all what we were expecting d/t their previous experience) and they finished their contracts and left. But the one we hired - she is the best ER nurse I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She is totally my role model for when I'm through with school and an RN myself. She is so fun to work with, and as a result, we have extended her contract 3 times now, and hope to keep her as long as we can, and maybe even convince her to stay as regular staff if she'll do it. But anyways, my point is that travelers are great to fill in staff in a pinch, and most have lots of experience in all kinds of hospitals, and can quickly pick up on what they need to know quite quickly and run with it. and their job satisfaction is generally pretty good, because they are not involved with the politics of the facilities they work at, so they come, do their job, get paid, and are happy as little clams! As soon as I've got some experience under my belt and work a little agency to get used to the way it works to jump into new jobs quickly, I'm signing up for travel nursing. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me! One of our travelers put it into great perspective for me (in regards to how hard/easy it is to jump from facility to facility). She says, "nursing is nursing, no matter where you go. There may be different policies and the docs all have their own preferred way of treatment no matter where you go. But the heart of it is that people get sick or injured, and they need nursing care, and the basics of nursing are the same no matter where you go."

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Mar 4, 2006

I think travel nurse is very diligent, so they can earn big money

They aren't any better or worse than the staff nurses.