Are you considering going into travel nursing? New to the whole idea and looking for info?
You have come to the right place. Navigating the world of travel nursing and understanding all the information there is to discover can feel overwhelming.
This guide will break down the top 10 things you can expect with travel nursing.
Read on to learn what to expect as a travel nurse.
Table of Contents
- 10 Things to Expect When You Become a Travel Nurse
- #1: You’ll Jet Set Around the United States
- #2: You’ll Learn How to Work in Different Environments
- #3: You’ll Make Connections Across the Country
- #4: You’ll Become a Pro Packer
- #5: You’ll Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
- #6: You’ll Learn to Be Comfortable in Your Independence
- #7: You’ll Get to Know Yourself on a Deeper Level
- #8: Your Friends and Family Will Live Vicariously Through You
- #9: You’ll Become More Informed
- #10: You’ll Reap Excellent Benefits
- What You Should Know Before Becoming a Travel Nurse
- Explore Travel Nursing Positions with Trusted Nurse Staffing
10 Things to Expect When You Become a Travel Nurse
Travel nursing offers a uniquely exciting and adventurous lifestyle. There are tons of great benefits and growth opportunities waiting for you in the wide world of travel nursing.
#1: You’ll Jet Set Around the United States
Have you always wanted to live on the west coast and experience the grandeur of mountains cascading into the ocean? Maybe your childhood dream is to live in a little town in New England (looking at you, Gilmore Girls fans!).
No matter where your dream location is, travel nursing offers you the chance to move there and enjoy all the state has to offer.
As a travel nurse, you will spend short stints in various locations. Imagine spending 3 months 15 minutes from the beach in Florida and another 3 in the mountains of Colorado.
Travel nursing is great for someone who likes to keep moving and discover new adventures.
Imagine a job that allows you to take road trips across the country every few months!
Travel Nursing is one of the best jobs for someone who wants to really explore the lower 48.
If you love flying, you could even end up in Hawaii or Alaska!
#2: You’ll Learn How to Work in Different Environments
There is no better way to become a well-rounded person than to expose yourself to people of different cultures, creeds, and habits. As a travel nurse, you will get endless opportunities to do just that.
From assignment to assignment, you will work with people who have a variety of:
- Lifestyles
- Personality
- Cultures
- Values; and
- Traditions
Not only will you get exposure to other cultures and lifestyles, but you also get the chance to hone your people skills.
As you strengthen your diplomacy and compromise muscles, you will get the chance to learn new ways to do old things.
Additionally, you will become even better with people, as you gain a vast knowledge of how to solve different problems.
As you spend time in new hospitals and see the ways nurses in each facility do things, you will get the chance to grow your toolbox and strengthen it with new solutions for old problems.
In fact, one study has shown that spending time in another culture can actually help to boost creativity, which can lead to you being able to come up with better solutions faster.
You will have a little bit more to offer each new assignment.
#3: You’ll Make Connections Across the Country
Living as a travel nurse means making new connections and friends all across the country. At each new assignment, you get the chance to make new friends and grow your social circle.
With social media fast becoming the main method of communication, it is easy to keep up with your new friends and stay in each other’s lives.
Plus, with friends all over the country, you’ll always have someone to see and somewhere to crash, no matter where you are!
Travel nursing offers a great chance to connect with unique people all over the country.
#4: You’ll Become a Pro Packer
Be honest, have you ever gotten to the airport and had to do the great reshuffle to get your bag underweight only to discover that you still can’t fit everything you need? We’ve all been there and it is no fun.
As a travel nurse, you will become a packing pro. When you move 3-4 times each year, you learn pretty quickly what is absolutely essential and what is just nice to have.
You will learn what clothing items you really love and can’t live without and which ones you are hanging onto for no reason.
You will quickly learn what kitchen tools and bedding options you simply cannot live without.
If you’ve been dreaming of learning how to be a minimalist, or if you already are one, travel nursing just might be for you.
#5: You’ll Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Travel nursing is a great way to broaden your horizons and take a few steps outside of your comfort zone. Each new assignment brings new opportunities for adventure.
For instance, you could go:
- Chasing the Northern Lights in Alaska
- Spelunking in the Ozarks
- Surfing in San Diego
- Square dancing in Texas
- Scuba diving in Florida
- Hiking in Hawaii
- Canoeing in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota
- White water rafting in Tennessee
Every state has unique adventures to offer.
Travel nursing gives you the chance to see the states and live American life to the fullest.
#6: You’ll Learn to Be Comfortable in Your Independence
As a travel nurse, you will make great new friends and many travel nurses report that their new coworkers are welcoming and excited to involve them.
But that doesn’t mean everything will be handed to you on a silver platter.
You will have to learn to navigate your new city and find solutions to those pesky everyday issues on your own.
As you learn what backroads to take to get to work, which restaurants are the best (and which are the worst!), and which gas stations have the lowest prices, you will gain confidence in yourself and you’ll likely find that your independence soars.
Moving to a new city can be an empowering and exciting journey.
You are a strong, independent, qualified nurse and travel nursing gives you a great chance to prove that to yourself (and everyone else).
#7: You’ll Get to Know Yourself on a Deeper Level
There is a reason that one of the most common movie tropes includes the main character moving away to truly find themselves and discover who they are meant to be.
When you are in a new environment where no one knows you or has expectations of you, you get the chance to really get to know the real you.
As a travel nurse, you get to enjoy the rich experience of self-discovery.
Who are you, without all the extras and without the environment you are used to?
What do you enjoy and what skills do you want to develop?
Travel nursing lets you get out of your bubble and really find out who you are at the core of your being.
If you are on this journey by yourself, you can learn to embrace the gift of solitude. Being alone with yourself is a gift that not everyone gets to experience.
If you are traveling with a partner or friend, you two will get the chance to know each other more deeply and strengthen and grow each other.
However you find yourself traveling, travel nursing gives you a chance to get to know yourself in a whole new way.
#8: Your Friends and Family Will Live Vicariously Through You
Ask almost anyone if they wish they could have a job where they get great pay and the chance to travel the country and you are bound to get a wistful look and some form of, “Of course I do!”
As a travel nurse, you get all that and more.
It’s true, travel nurses work hard. But they get to play hard, too. Your friends and family back home will be jealous of all of the people you get to meet and places you get to see.
(Luckily for you, Trusted Nurse Staffing has a refer-a-friend program that offers you $500+ bonuses when your friends join and complete their first assignment!)
#9: You’ll Become More Informed
Widening horizons and embracing new cultures is part of what makes us well-rounded humans and there are few better ways to do this than travel nursing.
Are you a small-town girl who was always intrigued by the big city? While you might not be taking a midnight train just anywhere, you may still get the chance to experience the big city.
You could find that battling rush hour traffic isn’t the worst thing in the world and that all the big city has to offer makes the traffic worth the trade-off.
Or maybe you are a city boy who has always had a little shred of curiosity for small-town life. Getting out of your South-Detroit world and tuning in to the simpler life just might be for you. You may find yourself loving the laid-back pace and friendly faces of small-town USA.
Sitting under the Friday night lights and being swept away in the spirit of the local high school football game might be the scene you never knew you could love.
Or maybe hitting a modern pop-up club is a night you never knew you needed to experience.
Whatever your history and no matter your dreams, travel nursing gives you the chance to experience life on the other side.
You just might find that you love the things you once thought you would absolutely hate.
#10: You’ll Reap Excellent Benefits
It never ends.
Every single time you get a new job, someone wants to know if you have good benefits or not. From the curious friend to the concerned parent to the nosey grandma and beyond, they all need to know if you have a solid benefits package.
As a travel nurse with Trusted Nurse Staffing, you can answer with a resounding, “Yes!”
In addition to the basic benefits that come with travel nursing, Trusted Nurse Staffing has some added benefits to offer, as well.
We are proud to offer:
- The highest pay rates in the industry
- Weekly paychecks
- Employee Sponsored Blue Cross & Blue Shield insurance Health Insurance
- Wellness benefits
- An HRA card to cover pesky healthcare deductibles
- 401K with 4% match after 1 year and 1,000 hours of employment
- Travel, housing, and meal stipends
- Much, much more
As a Trusted travel nurse, you get 24/7 access to your Trusted Partner, meaning you can get what you need when you need it. We pride ourselves on being there for our nurses —where you need us, when you need us.
We are here for you.
What You Should Know Before Becoming a Travel Nurse
Thinking you might want to pursue travel nursing? Now more than ever, travel nurses are desperately needed.
Before you make your plans though, there are some things you need to know.
To be a travel nurse, you need to be a licensed LPN, RN, or BSN with 1-2 years of experience, preferably in a hospital setting.
If you are serious about becoming a travel nurse, make sure you have all the needed certifications and qualifications. Once you do, submit your application and we will review it.
Realizing your dream of traveling around the country working in a field you are passionate about is closer than you think.
Explore Travel Nursing Positions with Trusted Nurse Staffing
Trusted Nurse Staffing is here to make your travel nurse experience as enjoyable and simple as possible.
Our team members are dedicated to you and to ensuring that your assignments are a great fit for you and your needs. And as a travel nurse with TNS, you get access to your own personal Trusted Partner who is there for you every step of the journey.
Trusted Nurse Staffing has your back.