Are you new to travel nursing and want to know what all the hype is about? Are you a travel nurse who’s considering a switch to staff nursing? Then you’re in the right place!
We’d like to go over some reasons why travel nursing is an amazing career choice.
Travel nurses earn more than staff nurses
We recently posted an article detailing how travel nurse rates are, unfortunately, decreasing. The reasons behind it are positive. COVID is not as severe as in the early years of the pandemic which is stabilizing the need for nurses across the country. That being said, it’s still a bitter pill to swallow to see weekly rates shrink from $8,000 per week to $3,000.
Even with these dramatic decreases, however, travel nursing is still more lucrative than staff nursing. If you go by yearly averages, travel nurses make roughly 36% more money than staff nurses.
Financial security is a wonderful thing to have, and travel nursing can help achieve that. Of course, money isn’t everything. You shouldn’t make life choices based solely on how they’ll affect your bank account. So, what are some other reasons travel nursing can be the right choice for you?
You can see the country
The U.S. is one of the most diverse countries in the world, both demographically and geographically. Being able to see all it has to offer is a bucket-list-worthy aspiration and one that few can accomplish.
As a travel nurse, traveling becomes part of your job. You can experience America and its tapestry of cultures while getting paid! Nurses send us pictures of their off-duty adventures all the time and, we’ll be honest, it is just a tad jealousy-inducing.
Guess what? That can be you! YOU can be the next nurse to make us green with envy when we see a picture of you exploring a city’s nightlife or a nearby nature trail.
And what’s even better? You get to choose where you travel to. Most contracts last 13 weeks, which means you can literally find a new destination for each season of the year. This brings us to our next point…
It provides flexibility
Few careers offer the flexibility that travel nursing does. You get to choose where and when to work based on your desires and situation. Want to stay close to home? Or maybe head over 1,000 miles across the country? It’s all in your hands.
It goes beyond new locations, though. As long as you have the experience, you can pick up contracts based on the specialty you’re desiring at that moment. If you are a nurse with ER and ICU experience, you can find contracts for either specialty depending on your current preference.
Being able to have such control in your career is one of the greatest perks of travel nursing.
It’s a dynamic career (if you want it to be)
Travel nursing isn’t just flexible; it’s also very dynamic. Jumping from assignment to assignment, from location to location is an exciting lifestyle that ensures your work life will never be too stale.
It also means that if you’re, heaven forbid, unhappy with your assignment then you know you’ll be onto greener pastures soon enough. Staff nurses have no such luxury if they’re feeling discontent with their work situation.
What if you don’t mind a bit of routine? Or what if you REALLY like your assignment and would like to stay just a bit longer? No worries! In the world of travel nursing, extensions are frequently offered. As per our point about flexibility, it’s up to you!
