Are you an ER nurse who loves the fast-paced nature of the job, but is looking for something more?
Maybe you’re a nurse who specializes in another field, and you want to switch your focus to ER nursing.
Or possibly you’re simply looking for an exciting new job opportunity that also satiates your desire to travel.
No matter your background, your goal is probably the same.
If you’re looking to break into the exciting world of an ER travel nurse, you’ve come to the right place.
This guide will outline all the details, requirements, application procedures, and everything else you’ve been wondering about becoming an ER travel nurse.
Table of Contents
- What Do ER Travel Nurse Jobs Entail?
- How Do You Know If Being an ER Travel Nurse Is Right for You?
- 3 Pros to Becoming an ER Travel Nurse
- How Do I Become an ER Travel Nurse?
- 4 Basic Requirements for ER Travel Nurse Assignments
- How Much Do ER Travel Nurses Make?
- Where Are the Highest Paying ER Travel Nurse Jobs?
- Trusted Nurse Staffing: How to Apply to The Best Travel Agency for Emergency Room Travel Nurses
What Do ER Travel Nurse Jobs Entail?
Travel ER nursing is a specialized field of nursing that requires some very specific skills.
Being an ER nurse requires an individual who can remain calm and collected in even the most stressful of situations.
Additionally, ER travel nurse jobs require skilled nurses who can:
- Quickly stabilize incoming patients
- Immediately assess and prioritize patients based on the severity of their illness or injury
- Record and monitor patient vital signs
- Start IVs
- Administer medications as prescribed by the attending physician
- Assist in various treatment procedures such as intubation, tracheotomies, setting broken bones, and giving sutures
- Manage a large caseload of patients
If this sounds like a career you’d like to pursue, Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you find the perfect ER travel nurse job that checks all of your boxes.
How Do You Know If Being an ER Travel Nurse Is Right for You?
It takes a highly skilled individual to become an ER nurse.
But it takes a truly special person to be an emergency room travel nurse.
In addition to being able to perform all the job duties and responsibilities, a successful traveling ER nurse needs to:
- Be an adventure seeker
- Enjoy being independent
- Want to take the leap into full-time traveling
- Have a desire to learn new skills
- Be comfortable going with the flow
- Embrace change with an open and positive mind
- Be highly professional, organized, and reliable; and
- Desire a higher level of work-life balance
3 Pros to Becoming an ER Travel Nurse
Becoming an ER travel nurse will add to your life, both professionally and personally, in ways you never expected.
#1: ER Travel Nurse Jobs Are in Demand
Without question, emergency room travel nurses are currently in high demand.
Nurses, in general, are in demand due to a multitude of reasons, including:
- A shortage of licensed nurses
- The rapidly aging population; and
- A large number of aging and retiring nurses
Nurses with specialty training are in even higher demand, and even higher still is a demand for highly skilled travel nurses.
Emergency room travel nurses are among the most needed nurses across the country.
This high demand is an enormous benefit to you if you’re a trained ER nurse because it means that you can be picky and choose an ER travel nurse job that is the perfect fit for you.
#2: ER Travel Nurse Jobs Are Never Boring
Emergency Room nursing jobs are among the most exciting and rapidly changing nursing specialties out there. No one day spent as an ER nurse is ever the same as the next.
Let’s face it, the daily life of an ER nurse is literally the thing that prime-time TV dramas are made of.
In addition to the ever-changing tasks and high-pressure situations these nurses face daily, highly-trained ER nurses who choose to travel can also work in some surprisingly interesting settings.
Besides the standard emergency room, traveling ER nurses might work as:
- In-flight nurses
- Members of search and rescue teams
- Emergency medics at popular theme parks
- On-site movie medics; and
- Cruise ship nurses
#3: ER Travel Nurses Get to Check Off Bucket Lists
Beyond the obvious professional benefits that come from working ER travel nurse jobs, there are tremendous personal benefits you may not have considered.
Does your personal bucket list include traveling, new experiences, and exploring different places?
If so, becoming an ER travel nurse might be the perfect way for you to check these things off of your list.
Live in and Explore New Places
Have you ever wanted to …
- Make cross-country road trips
- Immerse yourself in the bright lights, loud noises, and excitement of the biggest cities in the country
- Travel so much that you forget which time zone you’re currently in
- Sip coffee on the quaint streets of Small Town, USA
- Dip your toes in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
- Have the ability to pack up and hop on a plane to a brand-new city at a moment’s notice
- Lose track of time hiking unknown mountain trails
- Experience the vastness and amazingly diverse scenery of the US
- Taste different cuisines and regional specialties
Working as a traveling emergency room nurse is the perfect way to explore new places and satiate your adventurous spirit.
Meet New Friends and Contacts
Meeting new people, be it fellow travelers, co-workers, or simply the people you come across in everyday life, is another huge benefit of becoming a traveling ER nurse.
Networking is key, and the potential with travel nursing is huge.
Travel nursing exposes you to people you otherwise never would have met and gives you the chance to make some important connections and life-long friends along the way.
Boost Your Nursing Resume
An ER travel nurse gets to gain experience in different types of hospitals across the U.S. that can all contribute to a much more impressive and well-rounded resume.
Working in different types of settings, some state-of-the-art and others low-income, can help an individual develop as a stronger, more experienced nurse for pursuing any future nursing jobs.
How Do I Become an ER Travel Nurse?
An ER travel nurse is a registered nurse who is specially trained to treat patients who are seriously injured or ill, typically in hospitals or in transport.
To become an ER travel nurse, one must:
- Become a registered nurse
- Pass the NCLEX
- Gain relevant experience
- Obtain additional certifications
4 Basic Requirements for ER Travel Nurse Assignments
If you want to become qualified for ER travel nurse jobs, you must first meet the initial education and training required to become a registered nurse. From there, you need to gain some additional experience and certifications to become a trained ER travel nurse.
#1: Become a Registered Nurse
The first requirement for ER travel nurse assignments is to become a registered nurse, which typically takes between 2 and 4 years.
To become a licensed RN, you must earn one of the following:
- A Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) from an accredited four-year college or university
- An Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) from an accredited two-year technical college.
#2: Pass the NCLEX
Simply completing your nursing degree is not the only thing required to become a licensed RN.
Approximately 6 weeks before graduating from your nursing degree program, you should apply for licensure and register to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
Passing this 6-hour, 75-question computerized test is required to become a registered nurse.
After passing the NCLEX and fulfilling all other board of nursing requirements in your state, you will be eligible to become a licensed and registered nurse in your state.
#3: Gain Experience in Different Areas
Once you’ve obtained your initial RN licensure, you’ll be able to practice in a variety of healthcare settings. Sorting through the options and landing your first nursing job can feel overwhelming, but you’ll need to start somewhere.
Most ER nurses don’t just jump straight into the ER. It’s a field that requires a multitude of skills, so experience in other departments is often required.
Some great facilities in which you can begin to gain experience include:
- Local hospitals
- Nursing homes
- Rehabilitation centers
- Health insurance providers; and
- Home health care agencies
If you’re already an experienced nurse, you’ll want to make sure that you create a stellar resume that highlights your background.
#4: Additional Certifications May Be Required
Keep in mind that different healthcare facilities may require different certifications and training.
While all of these certifications may not be required to land ER travel nurse jobs, the more you add on, the more comprehensive and impressive your resume will be.
Some additional certifications that ER travel nurses may wish to obtain include:
- Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
- Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course (ENPC)
- NIH Stroke Scale certification (NIHSS)
- Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC)
- Critical Care certification
- Cardiac Care certification
- Ambulatory Care certification
- Psychiatric-Mental Health Care certification
How Much Do ER Travel Nurses Make?
While it varies based on assignment, ER travel nurse salary can be as high as $95,000 per year. On average, ER travel nurses make about $35/hour or $6,000/month.
Additionally, ER travel nurses typically receive:
- Insurance coverage
- Retirement options
- Bonuses
- Free or reduced housing; and
- Travel reimbursement
Where Are the Highest Paying ER Travel Nurse Jobs?
There is a wide range in pay when it comes to ER travel nurse jobs so, obviously, you’ll want to land the highest paying assignment possible.
But how can you do this?
The truth is, finding the highest paying ER travel nurse jobs can require a good bit of work and know-how.
If you’re looking to land the highest paying job possible, you’ll want to focus on these types of ER travel nurse assignments:
- ER nurse strike jobs
- Rapid Response jobs
- Crisis Rate jobs
- ER travel nurse jobs with bonuses
These types of emergency room travel nurse assignments often come with much more pressure to perform well in high-stress situations. As such, they are positions that are usually harder to fill, and thus pay more to experienced nurses who are willing to put in the work that it will take to be successful in these difficult situations.
Trusted Nurse Staffing: How to Apply to the Best Travel Agency for Emergency Room Travel Nurses
If you’re struggling to find the highest paying job possible, are unsure how to get started in this field, or just want to make sure you’ve covered all of your bases, Trusted Nurse Staffing can help.
If you’re ready to begin your adventure as an ER travel nurse, the first step is to create your free profile.
You’ll then be contacted by one of Trusted Nurse Staffing’s recruiters, who will provide exceptional and personalized service to you every step of the way.
You can count on Trusted Nurse Staffing to:
- Always maintain the highest level of integrity
- Treat you with respect and compassion
- Lead by example, striving to create a better future for all of our clients
- Keep our commitments
- Remain committed to continuous learning and improvement
- Move forward with passion, continuing to challenge the status quo
You can rest assured that, by working with Trusted Nurse Staffing, your ER travel nursing career will always be in the best of hands.