Six Reasons to Become a Travel Nurse
Travel nursing exposes you to many new opportunities and experiences.
Not only will you have opportunities to travel to multiple cities, but you will also enhance your skills, earn higher pay, and meet people in diverse communities. If you have been debating about becoming a travel nurse, read on for TotalMed's top reasons why you should join the travel nursing industry!
1 – Explore New Cities
One of the top reasons for becoming a travel nurse are the opportunities to visit many locations while pursuing your passion for helping people. The ability to tour National Parks and Landmarks during your assignments and experience locales you may never have thought of visiting are huge selling points for becoming a travel nurse. For example, if you live in a big city, choose a small town for your next assignment and participate in all they have to offer.
2 – Flexible Schedule
Other top reasons for becoming a travel nurse are the flexible schedules. After your 13-week assignment, you can choose whether to continue on to a new assignment or take a break. You may want to travel back home to spend some time with family and friends, or go on an extended vacation. No matter how long a break you choose to take, you can easily pick up where you left off and start a new assignment!
3 – Higher Pay
On average, travel nurses earn more than staff nurses since they are filling in for a nurse shortage. According to Indeed, the average travel nurse makes around $100K per year! Plus, most of your travel salary is tax-free due to traveling more than 50 miles from home. At TotalMed, we will do everything we can to ensure you are getting the best compensation package possible!
4 – Gain More Experience and Skills
Each assignment contains diverse people to meet, updated systems and techniques to learn, and unfamiliar locations to explore. These new experiences will enhance your nursing skills, improve your communication, test your critical thinking, and grow your confidence. Applying these new skills to each and every assignment will help you build your resume and land your dream assignments!
5 – Avoid Burnout
While burnout can happen to both travel and staff nurses, it is less common to occur for travel nurses. For instance, staff nurses may have more responsibilities within the facility than a travel nurse. With contracts typically lasting only 13 weeks, travel nurses are less likely to have that “stuck” feeling. During your travel healthcare assignment, be sure to take care of yourself; socialize, go on a hike, or try out a new hobby to help avoid burnout.
6 – Meet New Friends
Travel nursing is a great networking opportunity to connect with colleagues and mentors. Throughout your travel RN journey, you will make new friends and meet coworkers who may even be able to help further your career.