It’s no secret that travel nursing comes with its advantages. If you’re ready for a serious change in pace as a healthcare professional, travel nursing is something you should consider. We’re breaking down 5 perks of being a travel nurse, and how you can get started.
Perks of Being a Travel Nurse: Career Growth
As a travel nurse, oftentimes you have very little information about the facilities you travel to. Sure, you know what unit you’ll be working on and your schedule, but there’s not much else you will know before seeing it for yourself. Although you should have at least 2 years of experience in your specialty, travel nursing gives you the opportunity to grow your skills. You might learn something new that you haven’t seen before, or discover that maybe you want to explore a different nursing specialty. Growth is inevitable when you are put outside of your comfort zone, and travel nursing is a great opportunity to do so.
Better Pay
While the high travel rates during covid are a thing of the past, pay for travel nurses is still over 30% higher than they were pre-pandemic. If you qualify for tax free stipend, you can easily make double, even triple what you make as a staff nurse. However, there’s a reason why travel nurses have higher pay. Travelers are expected to hop into their assignments and help where they are needed. This can mean a variety of things, but in this case, hard work quite literally pays off!
Perks of Being a Travel Nurse: New Experiences
One of the best perks of being a travel nurse? Traveling across the country and experiencing new things. For the true adventure seekers and nomads, travel nursing is a great way to see new places. You can find assignments in the heart of big cities you’ve dreamed of visiting, like New York City. Or you can find assignments near big national parks and landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The opportunities are endless!
Perks of Being a Travel Nurse: Flexibility
With staff nursing, you’re working the same hours every week for the entirety of the year. The perks of travel nursing? You get to choose how long and how much you want to work. Typical nursing schedules range anywhere between 36 and 48 hours. Most travel nursing contracts are 13 weeks, but you can find assignments as short as 8 weeks or as long as 26 weeks. You can choose to take time off between contracts, extend your contracts, or take a few weeks off in between. Did we mention you get paid more, too?! If you can manage your money properly, you can make as much as you did as staff in a year in as little as 6 months! Which means less time working, and more time working towards financial freedom.
No More Politics
If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that nobody likes workplace politics. As a traveler, there’s no need to involve yourself in it. No more monotonous staff meetings or “employee appreciation” pizza parties. You come in, do your job to the best of your abilities for 13 weeks, and then it’s off to the next. Even though you’re not dealing with everything that comes with staff at a hospital, you do get to meet some amazing people and make tons of new friends as a traveler.
Travel nursing comes with some amazing perks, and our SQUAD has experienced recruiters available 24/7 to help you start your next travel nursing assignment.
