Whether you have or haven’t thought about becoming a travel nurse, here are some of the top reasons you might want to consider it again:
1.
Fulfill your desire to travel and still have a great job! If you are a restless soul and two weeks of vacation is never enough for you to satisfy your urges to travel and see the country, then travel nursing may be an option for you to explore. With typical assignments lasting thirteen weeks you could experience four different cities in one year.
2.
Explore new nursing opportunities not available in your community. If you have always wanted to work in a large teaching hospital but none are available in your hometown, you may want to explore travel nursing possibilities. Or perhaps you want the challenge of a large burn unit, or work in a cancer research hospital. Travel assignments may be your answer.
3.
Expand your resume with new experiences, skills, competencies, and professional knowledge. If your current employer offers you little challenges and few opportunities to learn new things, or to showcase other skills and talents you may have, a travel assignment may open new doors. Learning new treatments, procedures and techniques may be limited in your current job, but traveling to a new region and a new venue may afford you this chance.
4.
Spend the winter in a warm climate such as Florida or California and escape the summer heat in Alaska. Explore big cites or small rural communities. Perhaps you are very tired of shoveling snow and skidding around on icy roads. Spend the winter in a warm climate and return home when the sun comes out again. Or maybe you live where it’s too warm for you and spending a summer in the cool climate of Alaska while enjoying the tremendous landscapes would give you the break you want.
5.
Ski all winter in Colorado or Vermont and surf all summer in Hawaii. Maybe you just can’t get enough skiing in the winter or surfing in the summer. Make a move to live with close to the slopes or waves. Spend your days off enjoying your favorite pastime.
6.
Earn top pay, great benefits and perks such as free housing. Explore what all is included in the package deals agencies entice you with, but it is true that travel nurses can make big salaries.
7.
Meet new people and make new friends. Moving forces you to meet new people and make new friends. Learn about new cultures, dialects and lifestyles in various regions throughout your own country. From the big cities to the back woods, hospitals have a shortage of nurses and travel nurses help to meet their needs.
8.
Travel with your children and let American history become real to them. Spend a semester in historic Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington DC and let your children see and explore where historic events took place in America.
9.
Make life one continuous vacation by traveling and working in major tourist cities. It may be way too much to take in Disneyland, Universal Studios, and get a chance to see a TV show being taped in a week’s vacation. But spend a thirteen week assignment in Southern California and you can do this and much much more. Maybe spot a few celebrities along the way.
10.
Spend extended time with friends and relatives outside of your hometown. If you have always wanted to spend more time with family or friends in another state, travel nursing may give to the opportunity to do so.
11.
Travel across your own metropolis and earn a stipend to stay in your own home. Or if you are moving for a spouse’s job, explore hospitals where you’re going to relocate before pursuing a permanent position.
Travel nursing can provide you with many possibilities and this list may give you many new reasons to consider it.
By Kathy Quan RN BSN
Kathy is the author of The Everything New Nurse Book, and author/owner of TheNursingSite.com.
