Is Travel Nursing Worth it?

Is travel nursing worth it?  A black and white question, that has a gray answer – “it depends”.  As a travel nurse on and off for seven years, I’m going to delve into the advantages and disadvantages of travel nursing so that you can decide whether or not travel nursing is right for you.  Because while I fully believe travel nursing is worth it, I don’t think that the answer is one size fits all.

 

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Advantages of Travel Nursing

There are many advantages to travel nursing!  From pay to time off,  below you’ll find my favorite advantages to being a travel nurse.

 

Unlimited Time Off

My absolute favorite thing about travel nursing is the amount of time off you get every year.  You can work as much or as little as you want!  When I was a new travel nurse, I took 2-3 months off every year to travel and see the world.  And the longer I was a travel nurse, the more money I was able to save, and the more time I took off every year.  My last year of travel nursing I was only working 1-2 assignments every year and would have at least six months off.  While this might not be for everyone, I would encourage you to take small breaks between your assignments to prevent burn out.

 

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Higher Pay

I think the thing that originally draws nurses into travel nursing is the promise of a larger paycheck.  I know that this is what motivated me when I first started!  Gone are the days where you have to pick up extra shifts just to make ends meet or because the incentive is too good to pass up.  Now you’ll be getting paid more for doing the same job you were doing as a staff nurse.

 

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Opportunity to Explore New Places

If you’re unsure where you want to live or just want a chance to explore new parts of the United States, travel nursing is a great way to do just that!  When I was a travel nurse, I made it a point to travel from the east to west and north to south to experience different places in hopes I’d find somewhere I wanted to settle down.  I also made sure to base myself in certain areas based on what was happening at that time of the year, which ended up being really fun!  (I made sure to travel in CA and AZ in the winter months, and WA and TX in the summer months).

 

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Disadvantages of Travel Nursing

While there are many advantages to travel nursing, there are also some disadvantages.  Like every career, travel nursing is far from perfect!  Below you’ll find some disadvantages of being a travel nurse.

 

Scheduling/Unpredictability

One of my least favorite things about travel nursing is the unpredictability of it all.  You usually don’t even know you’ve gotten an assignment until just a few weeks before you’re required to start work.  And once you do know where you’ll be working, you generally don’t get your schedule until the day before you start meaning it’s hard to make future plans.  (The flip side is that you are able to request certain days off during your assignment but once your contract is signed, you’re much more limited in requesting specific days off).

As a travel nurse, you’re also required to work more weekend shifts which can be a bummer at times.

 

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Health Insurance

While you can get health insurance from your travel nurse company, if you’re a nurse who likes to take big breaks between assignments (like me), then you’ll need to find your own insurance – which can be pricey.  But before you find your own health insurance, talk to your recruiter and see if the company you’re working with offers alternative options.

 

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Lack of Sick Pay/PTO

As a travel nurse, you don’t earn sick pay or PTO.  The exception to this is that some companies will offer time off after working a certain number of hours – but overall, it’s very hard to earn and takes a lot of work before you even get one day off.  On top of this, if you call into work sick, you risk not qualifying for your entire weekly stipend which can make your paycheck significantly lower than normal.

 

Higher Housing Prices

Because landlords know that travel nurses make more money than staff nurses, they’ve started to raise housing prices for short-term rentals throughout the years.  So not only are you required to pay more than normal, but you also risk moving into an apartment that might not even be fully furnished.  Overall, there is not a great solution for travel nurses looking for housing.

 

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• Housing for Travel Nurses:  Hello Landing
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Travel Nurse Demand

The demand for travel nurses will always oscillate throughout the years.  With some years seeing a high demand, and some years seeing a lower demand.  Take 2020 for example.  Before COVID, the need for travel nurses was pretty steady for the few years before 2020.  (Of course, some months saw a higher need and some a lower need but overall the demand was pretty steady.  There was never an issue in getting a job, but you couldn’t always work exactly where you wanted to).  Then once COVID hit, the demand for travel nurses increased by 35+%.  After COVID peaked and began to taper off with the introduction of vaccines, there was a decrease in demand for travel nurses partially because COVID was under control but also partially because hospitals blew their budgets on paying top dollar for travel nurses.  Now in 2024, things are starting to equalize again and I predict that unless there’s another pandemic, the demand for travel nurses will stabilize as the industry returns to pre-COVID needs.

 

 

Is Travel Nursing Right for You?

As I mentioned earlier, travel nursing is not the right career choice for every nurse.  You have to decide if it’s right for YOU.  I love travel nursing – it provided me with so many opportunities and advanced my career.  I am such an advocate for travel nursing, and sure, I could tell you to go for it – but that doesn’t mean that you’ll love it like I did.  What I can tell you is that if this is something you’ve been considering for a while, the desire and curiosity probably won’t go away until you experience travel nursing for yourself.

 

In Summary – 10 Reasons Travel Nursing is Worth it in 2024

To summarize, here are 10 reasons that I personally think travel nursing is worth it in 2024.

1. Higher pay – Who wouldn’t want a bigger paycheck for the same amount of work?
2. Networking – I’ve made so many great connections from working in different hospitals; think of each assignment as an opportunity to network with other nurses and managers – you never know what doors could open for you in the future.
3. More time off – My favorite part of travel nursing is the amount of time off you get every year – you can take as much or as little time as you want!
4. Being off on the holidays – Another reason travel nursing is worth it is because you can design your schedule so that you don’t have to work any holidays.  Personally, I choose to take November and December off each year so that I can stay home for the holidays.
5. Ability to experience new places – If you’re unsure where you want to live and settle down – this is a great reason to be a travel nurse.  You get to experience so many different cities and states without having to commit for longer than 13 weeks.
6. Meeting new people – I’ve made lifelong friends as a travel nurse!  I would’ve never met most of these people hadn’t it been for travel nursing.
7. Expanding your knowledge/skills – When you work at multiple different hospitals, you have the chance to learn different ways to do things and you get to see what really works/expand your knowledge base.  Every hospital has policies that differ and this is your chance to learn different things from different doctors, nurses, therapists, etc.
8. Career growth – As a travel nurse, I am much more marketable than as a staff nurse who has only worked in one hospital my whole life.  When I interview for jobs now, I can say that I know tons of different systems (Cerner, EPIC, Meditech, etc), I can share how different clinical experiences has strengthened my discernment as a nurse, and more.  If I had only worked in one hospital, I wouldn’t be able to show that I’m a team player and can adapt easily.
9. Avoiding workplace politics – As a travel nurse you don’t have to worry about all of the politics that come with staff nursing.  You don’t have to fight about scheduling or join a committee.  You simply show up, do the job, and go home.  You can truly leave work at work.
10. Freedom of choice – As a travel nurse you have the freedom to choose when you want to work, where you want to work, etc.  I don’t know of any other job that allows so much freedom and flexibility.

 

FAQ

Q:  “Is travel nursing hard?”

• A:  In terms of skills, travel nursing is not hard because you’re expected to know and perform the same skills as a staff nurse.  Travel nursing gets hard when you consider things like – knowing your colleagues names, knowing how to call the doctor, knowing how to send labs, etc.

Q:  “Is travel nursing stressful?”

• A:  In my opinion, travel nursing is most stressful at the start of each assignment.  You have to pack, find housing, get through orientation, and figure out your new unit.  However, after the first couple of weeks things get better and it isn’t as stressful.

Q:  “What is the difference between a travel nurse salary vs a normal nurse salary?”

• A:  I can’t give you an exact number or percentage, but as a travel nurse your salary will be more than a staff nurse.  The only exception is if you’re an experienced nurse from Northern California and you’re taking a travel nurse assignment in the midwest (where pay is notoriously lower).

Q:  “Why do hospitals hire travel nurses?”

• A:  Travel nurses are hired when there is an emergent (seen or unforeseen) need for more nurses.  This could happen if there was a sudden influx of patients, if many staff nurses are going out on maternity leave, if a unit is expanding, etc.

Q:  “What do travel nurses do?”

• A:  Travel nurses function as any other nurse and perform the same duties as staff nurses.  They step in when a unit or hospital needs more nurses for a short period of time and they are not permanent hires.  However, a travel nurse assignment can certainly lead to a permanent staff job if that is what the nurse and hiring manger want.

Q:  “How much do travel nurses make?”

• A:  This answer largely depends on where the assignment is, what time of the year it is, what unit the nurse is working on, etc.

 

Travel Nurse Essentials

 

Is travel nursing worth it?  I hope that this post helps you make the best decision for yourself.  But according to me, yes – travel nursing is worth it.  If you have any questions about travel nursing, let me know in a comment below!

 

If you’re considering getting into travel nursing, don’t miss…

• Why I Became a Travel Nurse
• 10 Tips for First Time Travel Nurses
• 10 Pieces of Advice for New Travel Nurses
• 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Jumping into the Crazy World of Travel Nursing

 

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