In 2017 I quit my staff job at a small community hospital outside of Portland, OR. It was the best decision of my life. Never would I have dreamed of creating a work life balance that allows for more LIFE outside of clocking in.
For those unfamiliar, travel nursing is essentially contract labor for hospitals nationwide. An agency places you in a city of your choosing, for a minimum of 13-weeks. They provide a tax-free stipend for housing, as well as a higher pay rate than regular staff nurses.
In my 5 years of experience traveling, here are my main reasons why anyone who’s interested should start:
- The money honey! You have the opportunity to earn significantly more than staff nurses and get to escape the unit drama and politics of management. A win win.
- Unlimited vacation hours. These contracts typically last only 13 weeks at a time. Wanna take a month off and explore SE Asia? Great. Wanna sit at home on your parents’ couch and not work? You’re free to do that too. Preventing bedside nursing burnout, one long break at a time.
- Strengthens your nursing skills. Not only are you navigating a new hospital, electronic charting system, as well as various types of equipment; you’re re-learning an overall flow of patient care. With each assignment, you’re adding even more clinical expertise under your RN belt.
- Your independence grows. Typically, you are only given one day of orientation. You’re expected to figure it out as you go. You become your own advocate not only on the hospital floor but also when it comes to negotiating a pay rate with your staffing agency. You gain confidence in asking for what you want with each contract, and not settling for less.
- You get to live in places you’ve always dreamed of. From New York to Hawaii, San Francisco to Los Angeles, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to experience such different lifestyles. No city is off limits, as there’s a nursing shortage everywhere. Dream big!
- You get to meet some amazing people. I’ve met some of the coolest, kindest people throughout my travels, both in and outside of the hospital. Being able to experience that feeling of coming “home” when visiting friends in multiple cities is a wonderful thing.
A little forewarning though, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Be prepared to get more difficult patient assignments and possibly get floated to different units. In some cases, you have to get comfortable with the idea of not knowing where you’ll be living or working up to a month before you actually start. But if you identify as a flexible person who easily adapts to new environments, this is the job for you!
Travel nursing definitely has it’s challenges, but it’s 100% worth it.
I highly recommend it to anyone on the fence, anyone feeling burnt out, anyone questioning why they became a nurse in the first place.
You will gain so much, see so much, and there is not one part of you that won’t grow from this experience.
Start now, you won’t regret it.
