Travel Nursing Advice

[nursingmeatball]

I am interested in finding out more information on Travel Nursing. Honestly, the idea appeals to me very much, however, it seems like a possibly unstable way of maintaining employment/benefits/etc. I'd like to hear from some experienced travel nurses on the pros and cons, as well as any advice on good agencies and/or what you think I should look for in a prospective agency and employment contracts. Thanks!

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Check out the Travel Nursing forum, you'll probably find a lot of answers to your questions already posted.

[mskate]

Yes, it is unstable and the market recently hasn't been the greatest - especially if you don't have more than 2 or 3 years experience in your specialty and frankly, a lot of hospitals are trying to only get travelers who have already completed successful travel assignments.

The Pro's:

- control your own schedule, take months off at a time, never work holidays if you plan your contracts appropriately.

- travel the country.

- have lots of freedom.

- free rent, furniture and utilities.

- be able to expand your professional experience by going to lots of new facilities (some big name hospitals) and learning different ways to do things.

- bonuses with some assignments, sometimes several thousand dollars.

- you may choose to take the housing stipend instead of their free housing and if you work the system right (live in a cheap motel, find a cheap room to rent off of craigslist) you can make significantly more money.

The Con's:

- You may work in less than ideal situations with staff that are not very nice or helpful to you.

- The hospital may terminate your contract at anytime for just about any reason, that means you can be forced out of your housing and be S.O.L. immediately.

- The pay isn't nearly as good as people like to make it sound like unless you take the living stipends, but finding your own housing is a PAIN and they company does not provide the housing stipend up front - everything will be out of pocket up front and they do not allow money for furniture rentals, deposits, etc... outside your allotted money, which is put into your paychecks.

- It can be unstable, you may not be able to find a job immediately after your last one finished which may leave you homeless on the wrong side of the country.

- People do tend to GAIN debt traveling because travel reimbursement is rarely enough to actually cover your expenses, then buying things like trash cans, shower curtains, etc... at your assignments.

- Travel companies are out to make money on you - so they may try to manipulate the contract to YOUR disadvantage. You have to be a firm negotiator with them to make sure you get as much as you can out of the contract.

- It can get lonely.

[anonymousRN2010]

delphiforums.com is a great site and alot of resourceful information that i used during my travel years....click on health and wellness, then travel nurses & therapists once you go to site.

good luck and from the calls/emails i have been receiving, the industry seems to be picking back up...however, you may not be able to be as "picky/choosy" as it use to be back when things were really up;)