The Travel Nursing Profession in Brief

Travel nursing is a wonderful way to merge the nursing profession that you love, with a fondness for travel, meeting new people, and gaining new experiences. You can travel to and work in different locations and medical facilities around the country as a travel nurse or as a travel nursing professional. By joining an agency for traveling nursing professionals, you can gain the experiences of meeting people and seeing the landscapes of different areas and develop a broader range of nursing skills by working in the top notch medical facilities scattered throughout the nation. The travel nursing profession offers you the opportunity to share your skill and compassion as a nursing professional with people from all over.

Travel nursing is unlike most other forms of business travel. Usually with travel for business purposes there is little leisure time available between business meetings, conventions, tradeshows, and the like, for treats such as sightseeing excursions, shopping, and entertainment experiences. But in the travel nursing profession you will be living and working in the areas you accept assignments to. When you are not working, you will be able to take in the sights and soak up the local cultures, shop, dine, and attend the entertainment and sporting events held in different regions, which makes traveling away from home so exciting.

Don't grab a suitcase, throw in some clothes, and head out for destinations unknown expecting that any hospital or medical facility you walk into will have a position just waiting for you. The travel nursing profession is open to a variety of nursing professionals from RN's, and LPN's to Radiologists, Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapists and other nursing professionals. But there is a process involved and requirements that must be met before you can begin working in the travel nursing profession. You must have successfully graduated from an accredited US or Canadian nursing program. You will be required to keep your nursing license current, and if you are entering to work in the United States from Canada, you will need to provide proof of a valid nursing license and a valid work permit for working in the United States. Furthermore, keep in mind that each state has its own requirements for allowing out-of-state health care professionals to practice within their borders that must be met before you can begin working in that state.

Some people may try to persuade you into thinking that you do not need to join a travel nursing profession agency. Although you most certainly can put yourself through the lengthy and cumbersome process yourself, there are many hoops to jump through in order to inquire about their regulations and asking for applications to be sent to you. However, remember that you will need to fill these out and mail them back to the agencies that sent them to you, and then wait for a notice that your applications have been accepted. All of this work and you have not even contacted any of the hospitals and other medical facilities in that state to inquire if they have positions for traveling nursing professionals. You may even be unable to secure the no cost lodging that is made available to many members of the travel nursing profession belonging to professional travel nursing profession agencies. It is true as well that many hospitals and other medical facilities prefer working with travel nursing professionals affiliated with a travel nursing profession agency over those traveling professionals that approach them on their own.

A professional agency representing the travel nursing profession simplifies the process of finding and requesting applications from state nursing regulatory agencies around the country, and also provides many other benefits to its members. They are in contact with top notch hospital and medical facilities from around the country and they are knowledgeable about the positions that are open to travel nursing professionals wanting to work in those states. They are also more able to secure no cost lodging arrangements, high pay and bonuses for the travel nursing professionals they serve. You can learn more about the agencies that represent travel nursing professionals and about the travel nursing profession online. Of course you should check out the credentials of any travel nursing profession agency before giving them your personal information in the same way that you need to protect yourself and your personal information using the internet.

The travel nursing profession pays well and the demand for traveling nursing professionals is large with the nursing shortages that are occurring throughout the United States. Travel nursing is a wonderful way to broaden your skills as a nursing professional as you work in a variety of nursing faculties and with different nursing professionals. It is an excellent way to experience meeting new people and learning about the cultural flavors in different areas. The travel nursing profession is a perfect merging of providing those in need with quality health care, and traveling to regions you have always wanted to see and experience.