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BECOMING A TRAVEL NURSE IN FIVE "EASY" STEPS
Depending on your background and experiences, becoming a nurse who travels can be a long and challenging process. Don't get me wrong. This isn't an article trying to talk you out of diving in. With the money I've made as a traveler, I was able to pay off a huge helicopter school student loan and save my family from impending financial ruin. But it didn't happen overnight.
Traveling has some great benefits, but they don't come without significant costs. If you're considering becoming a travel nurse, you must measure whether those benefits outweigh the costs. I started traveling during the Pandemic. Paying rent was becoming impossible, and I was moving from house to house, trying to stay ahead anyway. The travel pay was high, and I had a lot of bills to pay. For me, it has been worth it. Will it always be worth it? I'm not sure.
You can find endless blog articles on the web about how to become a travel nurse. Some make it seem like a quick route to making a lot of money while living like you're constantly on vacation. The reality can be very different. Most of the articles you'll read suggest five or more steps to becoming a traveler. I've summarized and condensed them here and included my experiences navigating the nurse-who-travels profession. Here are the five most common steps you'll probably encounter when researching how to become a travel nurse.
MY EXPERIENCE NAVIGATING THE FIVE STEPS TO BECOMING A TRAVEL NURSE
STEP 1. EARN A NURSING DEGREE
Earning a Nursing Degree seems easy enough. You go to college, and four short years later, Bam! You're a nurse. In my case, it wasn't so easy. When I first looked into nursing, everyone said, "You've got to have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a BSN, to get the good jobs and pay."
Things may have changed post-Pandemic, but a nursing school offering a BSN was very hard to get into in 2014. The nursing school I attended was purportedly a high-powered, highly successful, limited-access, elite institution. It took two challenging years of grinding through prerequisite classes like Microbiology and Chemistry to apply. The grade point average had to be very high to get accepted. I had to sacrifice massive amounts of time with family and friends to study and prepare. Nursing school can be tough. But with hard work, dedication, and grit, you can do it.
After getting accepted into the nursing program, things only got harder. My husband had just finished his master's degree in Anthropology, and he compared our workloads. He believes I was required to do more reading, writing, and coursework than his master's program. Again, things may have changed or might have been different at your college, but my program wanted us to be nurse scholars. This meant endless readings, discussion boards, essays, research papers, presentations, and group projects on top of clinicals, tests, and coursework. Some of it was invaluable, and some did not prepare me for the actual job I ended up doing.
STEP 2. PASS THE NCLEX AND GET LICENSED
If you just read down the list of steps, it appears straightforward. You take a test after graduating from nursing school. If you pass, they give you a license, and you're ready to go. You can start working in your specialty of choice. Some articles about becoming a travel nurse fail to mention how intensive taking the NCLEX can be and the various complications that can arise during the licensing process.
The NCLEX, or National Council Licensure Examination, is a computerized, adaptive test that nurses must pass to become licensed to practice in the United States. It tests you on the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for entry-level nursing. It includes questions on various topics such as patient care, safety, and infection control. If you're not great at this kind of test (like me), passing the NCLEX can be difficult and daunting.
The NCLEX was as demanding as any test I had to take as a helicopter pilot and in the military. I had to fork out some cash to take an NCLEX prep class to get me ready—another one of those costs to weigh against the benefits. Fortunately, I passed on the first go. Some nurses are not so lucky. I should tell you there is typically a 45-day waiting period after graduating to take the NCLEX. I needed to work, and this was frustrating.
Getting your RN license in the state you want to work in can also take some time, and it varies by state. For some new nurses, it takes a week or two or up to 30 days after completing the NCLEX. So, right out of school, I was looking at 75 days before getting my RN license. Knowing this, I first applied to a nurse apprentice program while still in school. This allowed me to work in acute care alongside experienced nurses. My role was similar to a CNA, a certified nursing assistant.
After taking the NCLEX, I applied for my temporary nursing license and started working at a home health and hospice company. I had to work under another nurse while waiting for the NCLEX and my license. For me, it took the full 30 days to get my RN license. The journey might seem long, but the hands-on experience and connections you make along the way to becoming a travel nurse are worth it. Remember, your state and situation may be different, so be sure to do your research.
STEP 3. GAIN EXPERIENCE AND OBTAIN CERTIFICATIONS
In my opinion, this step is one of the hardest. Most travel agencies and hospitals want at least two years of experience. So, at minimum, you are looking at six years before you can travel. There are always exceptions to this. You may find a way to start traveling earlier than that.
After graduating from a high-powered, highly successful, limited-access, elite institution, there was no job for me within five hundred miles of my hometown. The nationwide shortage of nurses you may have heard about didn't affect my area. I applied at the two big-box hospitals that owned most of the hospitals in my home state dozens of times, only to have my application rejected. This flew in the face of what I was told about the extremely high rates of placement my elite program enjoyed.
A lack of experience, hiring freezes, and a reluctance to hire new grads seemed to stand in my way. I wasn't the only one. Most of the people I graduated with found themselves in the same boat. I ended up working in home health and hospice, which was not what I wanted to do with my career. I had to move 800 miles to find a job and gain the experience needed to become a travel nurse.
After graduating from nursing school, I advise you to find a magnet hospital with a new grad program. Magnet hospitals are supposedly the gold standard for innovation and nursing practice. They educate, train, and retain nurses at the highest levels. The magnet hospital where I got my first med/surg job made me a better nurse and prepared me for traveling.
Depending on the type of nursing you do, getting as many certifications as possible is the way to go. I'm a med/surg nurse traveler, and many of the small rural hospitals I work at want travelers to have a variety of certifications to handle all the different types of patients they might encounter.
STEP 4. RESEARCH AND APPLY TO A TRAVEL AGENCY
Finding a good travel nurse agency to work with can be a struggle. I haven't found one yet that I would call ideal. For every agency I've heard great things about, I've also heard concerning stories. Other nurses who travel may have a different experience, but I've never started an assignment with an agency and had it go smoothly from start to finish. There are always problems, bumps in the road, misunderstandings, and misrepresentations.
I've lost count of how often nursing agencies have dropped the ball. I don't blame the employees. The failings seem to be a product of the system rather than the individuals trying to make a living in the industry. I recommend developing a good relationship with recruiters and trying to work through the system with them instead of against them. Some travel nurses can't stand recruiters, especially those who act like pushy salespeople. I recommend you drop any travel nurse recruiter who doesn't prioritize your best interests.
STEP 5. SECURE YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT AND START YOUR JOURNEY
So, after working your way through four years of nursing school, two years of gaining experience, obtaining certifications, and finding a travel agency you can tolerate, you're ready to become a travel nurse. You can start helping hospitals in need while making a good living and visiting awesome destinations. It all seems great, a real adventure. Sometimes it is. Other times, it is a travel nurse nightmare.
Just securing an assignment can be filled with half-starts and full-stops. Whether it was intentional or not, I've been signed up for the night shift when the job posting clearly indicated working days. I've had to redo drug tests because my pee is clear. I guess I drink too much water. I've had my background check take much longer than anticipated. The problems of just trying to start an assignment never end, no matter how prepared I am.
CONCLUSION
In closing, before deciding if you want to become a nurse who travels, I advise you to seriously and thoughtfully weigh the costs versus the benefits. It was great during the Pandemic when I was making $4,500 a week. The benefits of being a travel nurse definitely outweighed the costs. Now, three years later, I wonder. The pay has gone down, the cost of housing has gone up, and there are fewer jobs and seemingly endless travel agencies to sort through.
Traveling can be hard, and there are many myths, half-truths, and downright lies floating around about travel nursing. Despite the costs, there are still benefits to the lifestyle. You have to make the best choice for yourself and your career.
If you want to share your experience at Nurse Travels, please write to me at kristinsmith@kopiisto.com. Thank you.