Are you curious about travel occupational therapist jobs? Worried about the rigid schedules of staff occupational therapy jobs, or feeling trapped by student loan debt?
A perfect solution for occupational therapists who want the higher compensation of a travel position but also need the benefits of a staff position exists.
Learn how Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you find travel occupational therapist jobs and offer amazing perks along the way.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Travel Occupational Therapist?
- What Does a Travel Occupational Therapist Do?
- The Benefits of Working as a Travel Occupational Therapist
- How to Become a Travel Occupational Therapist: A Look at Skills, Qualifications, Demand, and Earning Potential
- Choose Trusted Nurse Staffing To Start Your Travel Occupational Therapist Journey
- Sign up for Pronto Today to Experience A Seamless, Stress-Free Travel Occupational Therapist Experience
What Is a Travel Occupational Therapist?
A travel occupational therapist is an OT who works short-term contract positions. Despite the title, the occupational therapist contract position might not require travel — there could be several open positions that don’t depend on you to move at all.
If you want to see what kind of travel occupational therapist jobs are available near you, check out Pronto – the easiest way to find travel occupational therapist jobs.
With Trusted Nurse Staffing’s allied health travel placement services, you can get all the benefits of a staff position with the increased compensation of a travel contact. Contact us today to get started on your travel OT adventure.
What Does a Travel Occupational Therapist Do?
Occupational therapy is an important field of rehabilitation and healthcare. OTs work with patients to help them learn or relearn the skills needed for them to perform daily tasks, such as getting dressed, feeding themselves, and returning to the workplace after an injury or illness.
Occupational therapy is often associated with the elderly and stroke victims, but OTs work with patients from all walks of life. Occupational therapists also work with children who have disabilities and who need extra help learning how to do daily tasks, as well as people recovering from severe injuries or illnesses.
Occupational therapists also help patients adapt to using new assistive tools, such as wheelchairs or crutches. OTs can even be hired by large companies to ensure that their offices are wheelchair accessible. This career can take you to a lot of different medical facilities, including:
- Rehabilitation centers
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Nursing homes
- And more
The Benefits of Working as a Travel Occupational Therapist
Why choose a travel occupational therapist gig over a staff position at a hospital or rehab center? The answer might surprise you.
Better Compensation
The numbers don’t lie. One of the biggest reasons occupational therapists decide to take travel placements is better compensation.
This, combined with the other perks is enough to make most occupational therapists consider a travel position. If you are curious about travel occupational therapist jobs near you, check out Pronto – the best travel job board for occupational therapists.
Networking and Career Advancement
Staff positions allow you to grow within the medical facility you are working in. That can be useful, but also very limiting.
With travel occupational therapy jobs, you get to see how it is done in various medical facilities. You also get an idea of which age group you enjoy working with the most.
Travel jobs also encourage occupational therapists to network in their field, learning different techniques and making valuable connections.
Control Over Scheduling
A staff occupational therapist generally does not control their schedules. Schedules are planned by the manager without OT input.
This kind of inflexibility in schedule can cause burnout – a huge problem in the medical community. With a travel occupational therapy position, you are in charge of your schedule, allowing you to spend more time with family.
How To Become a Travel Occupational Therapist: A Look at Skills, Qualifications, Demand, and Earning Potential
Interested in what it takes to become a travel occupational therapist? Like all travel positions, it is recommended that OTs start in a staff position for a few years to get an idea of the procedure and day-to-day practice.
Travel Occupational Therapist Qualifications
Occupational therapy is a health science field and therefore requires a lot of education and licensing. Here is a breakdown of the educational and state licensure requirements to operate as an occupational therapist:
- Bachelor of Science: Receive a BS in a science-related field from an accredited university. Whatever you choose, if you want to go into occupational therapy, your course load should include:
- Human Anatomy and Physiology with lab
- Statistics
- Medical Terminology
- Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and other Social Sciences
Undergraduate degrees that are good for occupational therapy include:
- Kinesiology
- Biology
- Sociology
- Education & Child Development (especially if you want to work with children)
- Master’s or Doctorate of Occupational Therapy: After you have completed your bachelor’s degree and shadowed occupational therapists for more experience, you are ready to move on to higher education. A master’s degree in occupational therapy is required to practice.
- Most master’s degrees in occupational therapy take about 2 years. A doctorate takes closer to 3 years.
- A doctorate in OT is not required for most entry-level OT positions, but ite does increase your ability to be hired into higher positions and administration.
- Become Certified: To practice occupational therapy you must pass the certification test, which is required in all fifty states. This test is administered by the National Board Certification of Occupational Therapy and requires studying and prep work.
- Obtain Your Occupational Therapy License: After passing your certification exam you need to become licensed to practice in your state. The requirements of every state are different.
An OT must pass through all of these stages successfully to practice. Getting licensed in multiple states can be difficult for travel occupational therapists. Luckily, Trusted Nurse Staffing offers many administrative benefits, including help with state licensure for travel jobs.
Travel Occupational Therapist Demand
Is occupational therapy an in-demand career? Studies say – yes!
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for occupational therapists is expected to grow 11% from 2023 to 2033, which is considerably faster than other occupations. The BLS also expects almost 10,000 openings for occupational therapists each year – that is both staff and travel positions!
In fact, current trends indicate a predicted shortage of occupational therapists in all 50 states by 2030, with the most need in Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii. The exact cause of this is unclear, but several factors could be contributing:
- Aging Population: As Baby Boomers age the need for OTs, especially ones that specialize in geriatrics, rises. The current number of occupational therapists is not enough to meet demand.
- Retirement and Burnout: Many occupational therapists either retire or experience burnout that makes them want to leave the field, with no one to take their place.
- Health Insurance: As more and more people get health insurance, the demand for occupational therapy outpaces the supply.
This is great news for anyone looking to become an occupational therapist. This in-demand career is expected to only grow, providing lots of opportunities for travel occupational therapists.
Travel Occupational Therapist Earning Potential
According to ZipRecruiter, a staff occupational therapist can expect to make an average of $94,375 a year. However, a travel occupational therapist can expect an average of $98,873 a year with some locations earning over 100K.
As the demand for occupational therapists increases, the possibility of earning potential increases as well.
Choose Trusted Nurse Staffing to Start Your Travel Occupational Therapist Journey
With Trusted Nurse Staffing, you get the best of both a staff position and a travel position. Here are just a few of the benefits of working with us:
- A welcome box and a $1500 referral bonus program
- The trusted ambassador program
- Compliance assistance to help with state licensure and testing, with reimbursement for any certification costs
- Payroll assistance, direct deposit, and competitive compensation
- Occupational therapist student loan debt got you down? Trusted Nurse Staffing can help! We provide student loan assistance for employees who have been with us for over six months.
- Benefits, benefits, benefits! When working with Trusted Nurse Staffing you get:
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Wellness benefits
- Disability insurance
- Portable permanent whole life insurance
- And more
- Flexibility in work-life balance. Full-time, part-time, per diem and contract options are all available. You are in charge of your schedule, giving you more time for your family and preventing burnout.
Sign up for Pronto Today to Experience A Seamless, Stress-Free Travel Occupational Therapist Experience
Pronto is so much more than a job posting board for travel occupational therapists. It is the perfect tool for finding travel positions across the country.
Pronto, the cutting-edge job search tool from Trusted Nurse Staffing, can help you find the travel position of your dreams. Signing up is simple and, best of all, it’s free! Here is how you get started with Pronto:
- Create a profile with Pronto and upload your resume, license, and OT certification.
- Search for travel jobs based on your preferences. Pronto easily allows you to search for positions by location and other criteria.
- Get automatically matched with a recruiter who will review your profile and help you find the perfect travel occupational therapy placement.
Contact Trusted Nurse Staffing to get started today.