What Does a Travel Nurse Do?
A travel nurse is one who is contracted for healthcare facilities that are either large or too remote for the regular, local nurse. Travel nurses can do their work from a hospital or even out of a hotel room. The health facilities in which travel nurses work are almost always short of nurses and travel nurses are highly sought after. The pay rate for a travel nurse varies depending on the travel facility that she works for and even the city that she is working in. Travel nurses must often be willing to work flexible shifts, varying from days to weeks and will often be required to travel into the home. Travel nurses may be required to travel to out of state nursing homes or hospitals. Nursing facilities and travel nurses usually only work with other healthcare professionals.
But don’t assume a travel nurse has no chance of landing a nursing job, that would be quite ridiculous. In fact, travel nurses, in many situations, do indeed find jobs for which they are qualified. There are also plenty of travel nurses who simply quit their jobs after their travels. This will depend on many things but if a travel nurse loses a patient or goes into an emergency situation where she has to help, often her circumstances are quite different than those where she has been solely working from a hospital.
A nurse that only works from a hospital or doctor’s office might find that, at some point, they start to want more of a life. Travel nurses are there for emergencies and a hospital is not often a choice where someone can get settled in and, hopefully, be employed on a longer term basis. Sometimes, a nurse will quit a job in the hospital, travel for a few months, return to a new job and quit again. Many nurses, just like travel nurses, spend most of their lives traveling and rarely work full time. It is hard to predict a job when you are on the road. So, a travel nurse may decide that they would like to have a new job, spend time in a new area and start all over again. Many travel nurses end up working in their new location and getting established before deciding if they would like to return to their previous jobs.
A travel nurse job is one that involves travel and might have some complications. A travel nurse may be working and traveling with a nurse who is also the nurse’s personal travel nurse. Travel nurses usually travel alone. In some cases, a travel nurse may be traveling alone for quite some time. But a travel nurse will usually travel together with other nurses. Travel nurses may also travel in nursing homes with other healthcare professionals. Travel nurses often work with nurses that are their own age. But sometimes, a nurse will travel with a younger nurse, usually in their mid to late twenties. A travel nurse is almost always traveling with a nurse who is older than they are. This might not sound like a bad thing at first but it might lead to problems. Older nurses tend to be more set in their ways, more set in their rules and most likely, will not accept a younger nurse. In some situations, older nurses might even make the younger nurse feel uncomfortable because of a few issues but usually a nursing home will accept any registered nurse. Often, they do. It would be very difficult for a travel nurse to get a job in a nursing home where they would not be allowed to work with an experienced nurse. But again, some situations may require a younger nurse, specifically someone in their twenties.