Travel Nurse Career Essay Example

To different people, the term success has a variety of meanings. Some people regard success as being rich or having happiness. Others may define success as achieving all of your goals in life. According to Amanda Perini success in travel nursing means to be satisfied with your pay and to be exited to save people’s lives on a day to day basis. In travel nursing success is much more than just signing contracts. It is a career that mixes both stress and patience. Travel nursing is a career of caregiving, with multiple salary benefits, although certain certifications are required, education is the number one thing you will need in this profession. Travel nurses are hired to occupy vacant positions around the world, usually on a short term basis. In order to become a successful travel nurse be ready to work in any type of environment or healthcare setting including hospitals, residential care settings, and even private settings but those settings are usually for nurses who are specialists in the field. Travel nurses can spend days, weeks, months, and even years working in one community by filling shortages at hospitals and other facilities. Many professionals stay on whatever they are assigned to, most contracts come out of the United States, so if you are not into international travel there is no problem.

To become a traveling nurse it takes usually one of three different education paths. The first path includes earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing, the second path nurses take is to get an associates degree in nursing. It is also possible to earn a diploma from an approved nursing program. Obtaining an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree in nursing is required to become a traveling nurse. “Those interested in the specialty of travel nursing should first pursue a nursing degree through a two or four-year university (RegisteredNursing). After completing a nursing program a successful completion of the National Council Licensure Examination is required to obtain a license. Trying to get a job at a travel nursing agency might prove to be difficult if you have not had any hands on experience yet, most agencies require at least one year  of hands on experience in a chosen nursing field. Travel nurses usually take up most of the same responsibilities that registered nurses do just in different settings and scenarios that you may not be used to. “Registered nurses provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their families” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Duties of traveling and registered nurses’ are established on the setting of where they work and even the patients they take care of. 

Depending on who you are, the benefits of becoming a traveling nurse can become strong disadvantages. It is important to know these before throwing yourself into a challenging workforce. For example one of the biggest benefits of the job is that it allows you to travel across the country, but let’s say u don’t enjoy change, this could be the first sign that travel nursing might not be the right career for you. One of the most commonly talked about benefits is how much money you make as a travel nurse. This is tricky because there are no guarantees of extra money, but different variables can determine whether or not you will be getting more money. These variables include where you work and who you work with. Housing is a huge concern for most traveling nurses. “There are a few options available, and it depends on the travel nurse agency or company regarding how accommodations are set up. Some companies provide housing like an apartment or duplex. Some companies offer a housing stipend, or a fixed amount of money each month to apply towards housing” (RegisteredNursing). Different agencies offer different benefits, for example some agencies might offer a higher hourly pay instead of housing benefits. This is why it is important to research agencies before you sign a contract. Salary for nursing is a big deal because the job is very demanding, so people hope to be compensated. “The median annual wage for registered nurses was seventy five thousands dollars in May of twenty-twenty. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The lowest ten percent of nurses earned less than fifty-three thousand dollars and the top ten percent earn over one-hundred thousand dollars, so the availability for career growth is there. 

Nursing in general is a very demanding job, but travel nursing takes things to a whole different level. The demands of travel nursing is what can stray people away from taking this career path. “Nurses who work in hospitals and nursing care facilities usually work in shifts to provide round-the-clock coverage. They may work nights, weekends, and holidays. They may be on call, which means that they are on duty and must be available to work on short notice (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Nurses and travel nurses will almost never take work back to their home, what they will have to is rush to the hospital from their home because they are on call. With everything going on currently in the world current demands of nurses have skyrocketed. “With two years of hospital experience at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood FL, Perini’s first travel nurse assignment placed her at the front lines in New York in March twenty-twenty. Smack dab in the heart of the coronavirus crisis, she describes the experience as extremely challenging, however she loved it” (FIUOnline). Specifically the demands of a travel nurse rely on the type of nurse they are and the contract that they have signed. Most commonly the complaints that come from travel nurses are usually about them being unhappy of the contract that they have signed.

How relevant is travel nursing and how long will it be around? The relevancy of nursing should not decline because people are constantly getting hurt and getting sick causing them to go to the hospital or other healthcare facilities. “Travel Nursing is all about longevity, it can be sad sometimes because it is necessary to leave relationships that you have built in certain facilities but the job is all about packing up and moving on to the next people who need help” (Amanda Perini). Around two-hundred thousand openings for nurses are projected each year on average. The demand for healthcare services will certainly increase because of the growing number of elderly patients who are in need of assistance. Travel nursing is not as well known as standard nursing, but it should grow on a great scale due to nursing shortages across the country. Many standard nurses in rural areas are even leaving their jobs for travel nursing jobs because of the benefits. Travel Nursing is definitely relevant in today’s society and should stay relevant in the future because of all the benefits that come along with the career.