There are numerous benefits to travel nursing. It looks great on your resume, but there are also other reasons to become a travel nurse including the chance for adventure. It’ll never be dull or boring when you’re traveling from one location to another. While it’s not for everyone, if you’re considering this exciting career path, you’ll be experiencing a unique way to apply your skills.
Excellent Pay
As a travel nurse, you’re compensated a bit differently from a nurse who is staffed permanently in a hospital or clinic. Many travel nurses will work for an agency that has contracts with hospitals around the world that need qualified nursing staff. The agency covers most travel expenses as well as providing a stipend for accommodations. In some areas of the country, that stipend will leave you with plenty of money left over plus you’ll get your paycheck too. Most travel nurses are provided with compensation that will equal or exceed the pay for a local position. In an area with a low cost of living, a travel nurse can save money or spend it exploring and experiencing the location.
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Adventure Opportunities
If you want to travel the world, this is a great adventure. You won’t have to save money all year to spend 3 days in a new location. Instead, you’re able to travel to a new location every few months. Most agency assignments last from 2 to 4 months. You’ll be able to explore a new locale while working at a career that you love. The agency will ask what kind of location you want. Everyone wants to visit the beach, so you might have to wait for assignments in certain locations, but you can travel places that have other activities you’ve always wanted to try. The chance for adventure, new experiences or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities is what brings nurses to this career path.
New Career Avenues
This kind of career path isn’t only available for new nurses. Some nurses begin to experience burnout or fatigue after working in the same location for an extended period of time. It can be quite difficult to care for patients all day without a break especially for the most compassionate nurses. A change of scenery, new staff and patients to work with and a new environment might be all a nurse needs to avoid the burnout or reinvigorate their passion.
Flexibility and Freedom
Working for an agency, you’ll be able to pick and choose the locations as well as the types of jobs you want to take. Imagine a scenario where you get a 3-month assignment to a great location. After the assignment is over, you spend time with family and friends while waiting for your next assignment. That kind of flexibility and freedom is what many people envision as the ideal life. It’s available for travel nurses.
Resume Builder
The title of travel nurse has a certain glamour and mystique surrounding it. You’re flying around the world to fill in with your numerous skills exactly where you’re needed. Human resource managers love to hire nurses who are flexible and have developed a variety of skills in different environments.
Travel nursing is a career that doesn’t have the stability of working full-time for one employer, but it’s a terrific way to embark on an adventure. If you’re new to the career and want to travel before settling down, this is a great career choice. For those who are established but at risk for burnout, you might need a change of pace and scenery to reignite your passion.
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