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This is it! It’s time to get on the road. You turned in the 7,000 single pieces of paperwork and gave your two-week notice. Fingerprints: check. Drug screen: check. Cancel cable and internet: check.
Your entire life is packed snugly in the back of your car and the travel snack bag is sitting in the front seat with you.
Next stop – your first assignment!
Discover your dream travel assignment here.
Move in day is my favorite! I’m a nester. I love getting out the stuff I haven’t seen in a week and putting it in just the right spot in my new home away from home.
For your first assignment, it’s important to spare some room for a few picture frames from home and maybe your favorite wall hanging to make the space yours.
Getting to know your new area is a fun first-day adventure. Drive to the hospital, scope out the parking and your new Starbucks, check out your the grocery store and Target. If you decide to save grocery shopping for day, two you’ll get the opportunity to try out a new restaurant or happy hour – Yelp will be your new best friend.
If you travel with a pet, I’d also suggest you scope out the nearest vet, or at least the nearest 24/7 emergency clinic (I guess you should do that for yourself too, ha!). It never fails that one of my pups gets into something they shouldn’t at the most inopportune moments. Like midnight on the night before my first day on the unit. That’s not exactly when I want to be scrolling through vet reviews on Yelp (See? New best friend).
Before you get to your new hospital, your recruiter will give you First Day Instructions. Reading and knowing this info well beforehand will really help ease first-day anxiety.
They’ll typically include where to park, hospital orientation dates and times, what building on what day, and what to wear (Spoiler Alert: this will always be scrubs – even if it’s not. Unless you enjoy being a fancy pants. Then by all means, bring dress clothes).
First day of hospital orientation varies by hospital. Some require travelers to go through the entire general nursing hospital orientation where the onboarding process is very similar to new grads or new full-time employees and is a week long. Other hospitals just require some online modules, a few hours with HR for paperwork, and then maybe some computer training and/or skills lab.
After the hospital orientation/onboarding hoopla travelers usually get 2-3 days of orientation on the unit with a preceptor. This is the most important part, you learn where stuff is in the supply room and all the codes to the doors, oh, and also how they do nursing care. I like to take over from the very beginning of day one.
Starting over in a new unit is hard. You don’t know anyone, how the unit runs, which person is going to share your off-the-wall sense of humor. If you didn’t have social skills before, you’ll definitely be acquiring them travel nursing.
I’ve found that if you come in with a good attitude, willing to work hard and help out your new coworkers will welcome you with open arms. People are usually curious and want to know all about where you’re from, where you’ve worked before, why you wanted to go into travel nursing.
It’s not hard to strike up a conversation and keep it going. Plus, you’ll be running around asking a million questions during your first shifts on your own. That’s a great way to remember everyone’s names and faces. I’ve left almost all of my assignments feeling like a part of the team. When people find out you’re leaving, a lot of times they won’t even know you weren’t permanent staff in the first place.
On the other end of that spectrum though, there are going to be one or two times where you feel like you were just the hired help (Reality Check: you are the hired help). A lot of the units you’ll be going to have nurses that are already tired and overworked. Although they know you’re one cool cat and appreciate your help, they might not always show it.
It’s mind-boggling how fast years can fly by (those high school reunions sure have a way of reminding you don’t they?).
Three months goes by at lightning speed. At the beginning of the assignment, the end seems forever away. Yet, one minute you’re getting ready for your first day of orientation and the next it’s your last shift on the unit. All the faces that were once strangers are now friends and you can finally find the tape measures in the supply closet.
When I think about my very first assignment it feels like yesterday, yet here I am five years and 13 assignments later, getting ready for my next new adventure.
We all know what they say about opinions. But alas, that is what this article is about, my opinion on the top 5 states to travel to. However, I’m going to go ahead and pull the experience card. I may not have been to all 50 states for this to be 100% accurate but I am about to start my 15th assignment and my 5th year of traveling, so I do know a few things and want to share them with you.
So without further ado, here are the top places for travel nursing – from an actual travel nurse’s point of view.
Find your dream assignment here.
This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Once you get past the craziness that is the licensing process, California is easily my favorite spot to travel to. California has everything you could possibly want from a travel assignment – great pay, stunning beaches, lush forests and mountains, and so many things to do you couldn’t get bored even if you tried.
In northern California you can expect to make about $45-50 per hour, and that’s not even including any type of housing, housing stipend, or meals reimbursements. You’ll also find cool summers, fun in San Francisco, and the picturesque Redwood National Park.
Southern California will satisfy your Mexican food cravings, help you work on your tan, and allow you to finally learn to surf, an activity not limited to summertime. Southern Californian hospitals typically pay around $30-$35 per hour not including housing or meals.
Never fear snow bunnies, no matter where you are in the state of California, you are within driving distance of beautiful resorts and great skiing. Not mentioned yet are the many amazing hospitals you’ll have the opportunity to work at. A few of the award-winning hospitals are UCLA Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai, UCSF Medical Center, and Stanford. If you plan your assignments right, you can have an entire year of sunny 70 degree weather.
Apply now for travel positions in California!
An entire article could be written about all the things New York City has to offer. Tons of history, prestigious hospitals, and something to appeal to every single person in the world. No matter what time of the year you go, you will never run out of things to do . Central Park in the summer is great for biking, running, and sightseeing. In the wintertime, cold weather calls for indoor activities like going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, seeing a Broadway show, eating at any of the top-rated restaurants, or take advantage of some of the greatest shopping in the world.
Traveling to NYC will give you the chance to work at New York Presbyterian Hospital and NYU Langone Medical Center where you can expect to bring home approximately $45 per hour. With everything NYC has to offer, money is the last thing on my priority list.
New York is waiting. Start your travel nursing adventure now.
When I think of Colorado, the following things come to mind: professional sports, the great Rocky Mountains, and delicious craft brew. The city of Denver is known for the Broncos and Rockies, however it is also known for its variety of microbreweries and craft beer. If you choose to partake in the adult beverage and consider yourself a “beer snob” or “connoisseur” then Denver is the place for you. If that’s not your scene, fear not, the Rocky Mountains run the entire length of the state and offer miles of hiking and biking trails, skiing, scenic drives, and historic mountain towns.
Denver is home to University of Colorado Health System and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Depending on specialty one might expect to make approximately $30 per hour here that you can put right toward your ski lift ticket. Not convinced yet? It’s a compact state! Yep, no need to apply for licensure if your initial license is compact.
Take your career to a new high in Colorado. Travel nurses needed now.
Full disclosure: I am a native Texan. However, I’ve spent most of the last 5 years out of state so I feel like I can be mostly unbiased at this point. Texas is hands down one of the best places to be during the wintertime. If kayaking, standup paddle boarding, or paddle boating in January and February sounds like a good time, Austin is the place for you. Austin is also known as the live music capital of the world and hosts many live music festivals like Fun, Fun, Fun Fest, South by Southwest, and Austin City Limits. Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio are also mild winter options for those who are tired of those northern snow storms or have never lived north of the Mason-Dixon.
Texas is home to Baylor University Medical Center and Houston Methodist Hospital – both highly esteemed in the medical community. In Texas you’ll take home $20-$30 per hour. Don’t be discouraged by the lower hourlies, the cost of living in Texas is a lot lower than California or New York so your money will go further there. It’s also another compact state!
Ready for a Texas-sized opportunity? Travel nurses make up to $10k per month!
This one might seem a little bit out of left field. As far as I know, it doesn’t make any top lists of places to visit in the travel nurse world. That’s too bad, because it is such a great state. Before traveling to Baltimore, Maryland I had no idea where it even was on a map. I found out it’s a lush, green state, full of history and great opportunities. My favorite thing about Maryland is its rich history. The cities of Annapolis and Baltimore date back to the 1700s and you can still eat and drink in places that have been in existence for over a hundred years.
Maryland is also right in the middle of the east coast. If you’re the type of traveler who likes to get good bang for your buck, Baltimore is it. In 3 hours or less, you can drive to New York City, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and beachy Ocean City, Maryland. Washington D.C. is just an hour train ride to the south. So just one assignment in Baltimore can get you to all those amazing cities. Maryland is also great for outdoorsmen and women. Maryland’s outer banks have lovely beaches and Assateague State Park where you can spot wild horses in their natural habitat. Further inland, you can take advantage of the many state parks for hiking, mountain biking, and waterfall hunting.
Let’s not forget the biggest selling point for travel nurses, Johns Hopkins Hospital. It’s one of the best hospitals in the nation and it’s the only hospital I’ve been back to twice. Hourly rates in Maryland are $20-$30 per hour depending on what hospital you work at and what company you’re traveling with which is true for each state. And once again, Maryland is a compact state.
Related: Current Nursing Compact States – What You Need To Know
These are but a humble traveler’s top 5 states for travel nursing. The second I get back from Alaska or Hawaii, it’s possible this list could change, but I’ll stand by it for now. Also, it’s important to note that ten of the hospitals I mentioned hold spots in U.S. News’ Best Hospitals Honor Roll for 2016-2017. My favorite 5 states are rich in history, adventures, and great medical care. Please do yourself a favor and travel to all of them! Twice!
Since becoming a traveler, filling out skills checklists and new company applications are probably the top two things I hate doing the most – even more than peeing in a cup every three months. However, it’s absolutely necessary to get exactly what you want out of travel nursing.
Traveling with more than one travel company can ensure that you’re getting the money you want, housing you want, and benefits you want.
Not all travel companies offer the same experience so traveling with more than one allows you to personalize it to fit your needs.
Match with a travel company here.
Obviously the first thing on everyone’s mind is money. Your check can be affected by a couple of different factors with different companies.
First, the more companies you work with the more diversity in your housing. Some companies have bigger take home pay but maybe the housing isn’t stellar. This would be a good company to go with if you’re just looking to make bank for that super sweet island vacation you’ve been dreaming about.
If living in an extended stay hotel all the time isn’t ideal for you, it’s good to have that company with a little less take-home but luxury housing working with you too.
Another way multiple companies can be beneficial in the payroll department is by being able to compare multiple different pay packages. Some bonuses are offered by hospitals but some are offered by the company. Traveling with only one company means you could potentially miss out on lots of bonus Benjamins.
Also, some companies have lower hourly rates and higher stipends and vice versa. It really just depends on what’s important to you. It also depends on taxes and Lord knows He did not bless me with accounting skills so definitely do a little research on that subject when accepting a pay package.
A lot of times different companies will have the same position so you wouldn’t necessarily have to give up a great location because the company you’re currently with doesn’t offer a bonus or the stipend amount you’re looking for.
One tip I recommend is to make sure you let the company you’re most interested in know what others are offering. Often they can match or get close to what other companies are offering just to keep you.
Click here to discover new high paying opportunities.
Working with multiple travel nurse agencies helps you get to where you want to go. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that not all companies have contracts with every hospital in every state.
Some companies can get you to Alaska and Hawaii, others can get you to specific hospitals like Johns Hopkins or New York Presbyterian. Certain companies have exclusive contracts with agencies. So you really have to work with multiple companies if getting to a specific hospital is on your agenda.
The more companies you work with the more options you have, simple as that. The more options you have also helps you get to where you want to go WHEN you want to go. You definitely won’t find me in the north during the wintertime if I have anything to do with it! I’m a fair weather kinda gal and working with multiple agencies helps me stay comfortable all year long.
Travel nurse companies have anywhere from zero to all the benefits. And similar to the dinero side of things, which company you go with depends on your needs at the time.
Are you so over paying on your student loans and just need them out of your life?! Then a company with little benefits and more cash is probably the way you want to go for a little while until Sallie Mae stops sending you all those emails.
Do you have a husband and two dogs (or kids) to take care of? Then maybe a company with a 401k and health insurance is the way for you to go. There’s even a company or two out there that offers PTO and sick days.
The lovely thing about living is that you can go from one set of needs to another and sometimes back again at any point in your life which is why being already set up through many companies is most beneficial to your wellbeing/stress level.
Find travel assignments in your specialty here.
Personally, I work with about five different companies. They go from one of the largest in country to the smallest.
One company has gotten me to the biggest, most prestigious hospitals, another has housed me in places nicer than I’d pick for myself where I can truly make home for 3 months and get paid enough to support my family and pay off student loans at the same time.
I’ve had such great experiences with each of the companies I’ve worked for. I have no doubt that no matter where I want to go or when I want to go that I can get there because I have so many people on my side working to get me there.
Match with a travel company here.
During one of my initial, lengthy conversations with my new best friend (read: my recruiter), I was shocked to learn that most nurses only do one travel assignment. What!? One!? Do they know there are 50 states!?
I understand there are a lot of different reasons why one might not try for a second assignment-homesickness, loneliness, maybe you thought that hospital’s policies were off base, or you think you found your new home unit.
These are all real things that could definitely send someone running back home or ready to buy a new home and settle in their new city. Let me share with you why I believe it’s so important to do more than one assignment.
Click here to find new travel assignments.
First, we’ll start with the most obvious. The more assignments you do, the more places you get to see! If I would have stopped after just one assignment all I would’ve seen outside of tiny little Rosebud,Texas was Las Vegas, Nevada. Okay maybe that wasn’t a good example because Vegas is well, Vegas.
After Las Vegas however, I went on assignments in Los Angeles, San Fransisco, San Diego, Houston, New York City, Baltimore, San Antonio, Knoxville, and Chicago. And it’s only been three years!
With a permanent staff job it would take 10 years to see all those cities; five, if you’ve got lots of flier miles and two vacations a year. There were cities that weren’t even on my radar that I absolutely fell in love with. Namely, San Diego-it’s my soul city.
Maybe your reason for traveling was to pay off debt or to build up a savings account (I’m looking at you fellow Millennials.) Yes, money is a major reason why so many are initially drawn to travel nursing but the experiences of living in new cities, meeting new people, and making new ‘forever friends’ is equally if not more, valuable.
Explore the country while getting paid! Find assignments in your dream city here.
Speaking of valuable life experiences, expanding one’s knowledge base is a welcomed side effect of travel nursing. There is an infinite number of things one can learn working in a new unit.
Limiting your travel to just one assignment really sells yourself short on all the things a new hospital has to offer. With a new hospital or unit comes new equipment, new disease processes, different patient acuities, different coworker dynamics, and different charting, just to name a few.
I learned so much from my first assignment but it was still pretty similar to my home unit, all the way down to the paper charting. I started off with general Pediatric ICU experience and it wasn’t until my second and third assignments where I really started to see more than just the regular ol’ ‘PICU potpourri’.
After Vegas, I got to dabble in Pediatric Cardiac ICU. Lucille Packard Children’s in Palo Alto, California is where I got my first dose of all things regarding congenital cardiac defects and the surgeries that repair them. Lucille Packard was also where I learned how to care for patients that were status post liver and kidney transplants.
Find travel assignments in your specialty here.
Alright, I’m going to be real honest here and admit that I haven’t absolutely loved every single one of my 11 assignments. Out of those eleven, there were only two assignments that left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
However, I feel like those are pretty good odds (Vegas got to me!). Even at a permanent job there are going to be days or weeks where you feel overworked or under appreciated … October through March, anyone? The reason I say this is because even though the odds are that your first assignment will be great, there’s a small chance it might be rough.
The first assignment is going to be an emotional rollercoaster. At the beginning it will be exciting and a little scary at your new job. Then you’ll get settled and start feeling comfortable. Next at least for me, you’ll feel a tad bit homesick. Lastly, excitement again and you’ll start working with your recruiter to find your new destination!
The first assignment is an adjustment and just like with anything else in life, the more you do it the easier it will become and the more you get out of it. All of the anxieties that I had initially with my first assignments are gone. Now as crazy as it seems, I get anxious when I think about settling down somewhere. And please don’t even bring up buying a house, that one freaks me right out!
Discover your dream travel assignment here.
Lastly and logistically, the process of doing a second and third assignment (or more) is much easier than the first. With the first assignment comes lots of paper work, tax forms, checklists, document faxing, and doctor visits. After all that mumbo jumbo is done, it is only required that you renew those things once a year.
Consecutive assignments are much less stressful to begin. All that is required is picking a new spot (and maybe a drug screen and a handful of online learning modules) and hitting the road!
Becoming a travel nurse has been the most rewarding life decision I’ve ever made (okay, maybe marrying my husband is the most). Travel nursing will mold you into a person who is more culturally informed, brave, creative, flexible, knowledgeable, and adventurous.
It will test you and stretch you to limits you didn’t think you could handle and you’ll come out on the other side a stronger nurse who can handle anything life-or the charge nurse-throws at you. Though one assignment can be rewarding, I believe two or more (or 11!) are necessary in order to get the most out of travel nursing and for it to truly transform your life.
Take your skills on the road – start your travel adventures today.
