Travel nursing

HI..I have been a traveling nurse in the OR for 5years and I love it..The pay depends on each assignment and each company. There are so many companies out there and the key is to research each one and find out which one offers what you want.Some offer free private housing and some dont.Some offer free insurance the day you start some offer it 30days after your start date.Some make you pay for your insurance.A company you should go with should offer free private housing,paid utilities,travel pay(milage)The other thing is to connect with your recuriter!!! You want to have a good rapor with your recruiter,one that listens to you and looks for what you want and not what they want.There are several sites that offer alot of information.www.travelnurses.com and www.aldephi.com(this is a forum that has alot of info on companies and travel assignments) if your leary about going out of state for your first assginment..there are alot of travel assignments in VA.I did an assignment at Sentara Norfolk General and I liked it..busy but fun.There is alot of paperwork and that can be frustrating so if you do decide to travel be flexible and know that you have to do alot to make things happen..getting a license for the state your going to ..the company should help you with that..getting physicals and blood work.etc..and having all your titers up to date,ppd and some references..In my opinion you should be in your speciality for at least 2years before you travel.You will have about 1week of orientation before your on your own..so you need to know your job.I can tell you I dont regret doing it and my original goal was to travel for 2 years and here I am going on 6years..Some say they get a cut in pay but love the travel and adventure and some say they come out even.There are completion bonus and free housing so in my opinion if I dont have to pay rent I am coming out ahead..it is all in how you manage your money and I suck at it..haha...but am getting better..you learn as you go along and with the web sites out there and talking to other travelers you can learn ahead of the game..I started out green and now I wish I had more travelers to talk to ..Good luck and visit those sites I told you about and email me anytime if you want more [email protected]..:)

I am so glad this is posted. I too want to become a traveler in the near future. I need to pass my RN boards first and take it from there. it sounds like a great opportunity to see the country and make new friends all over. a lot of people go through life without ever leaving their backyard, not me-I want to take advantage of what life has to offer and explore-there is so much out there-more than enyone can see or do in a lifetime. I'm excited that these companies do the travel nursing..you can e-mail me also to talk more about it...