How to Become a Travel Nurse in 10 Steps
Travel nurses are nurses who work temporary jobs commonly referred to as travel nursing assignments. Assignments are typically 13 weeks in length but can be longer or shorter. Travel nursing is a great way travel around the country while gaining valuable work experience. However, you should familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to undertake travel nursing. If you decide that it’s right for you, then you just need to know how to become a travel nurse. Here we’ll provide our 10 steps to becoming a travel nurse.
Step 1 To Become a Travel Nurse: Complete the Required Education
To become a Registered Nurse, you must first obtain a high school diploma or GED. Then, you must complete an accredited college nursing program.
An Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) are the lowest level college nursing programs that meet the requirement. Colleges design these degree programs for students to complete within 2 to 3 years.
However, it’s important to note that many hospitals and healthcare employers prefer, and in some cases require, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN). That said, it is unclear exactly how prevalent this requirement is.
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What percentage of Registered Nurses are required to have a BSN?
For example, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, “A bachelor’s degree was required for 49.1% of registered nurses….” in 2022. Meanwhile, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reported that 25% of healthcare employers required new hires to have a bachelor’s and 69.8% strongly preferred it in 2023.
It’s important to note that degree requirements seem to ebb and flow with the nursing labor market. For example, in October, 2019, the AACN reported that 43.2% of healthcare employers required new hires to have a BSN. In 2022, the AACN reported that percentage dropped to 25%. This drop is no doubt the result of hiring difficulties both during and post COVID 19 pandemic.
Nonetheless, you should consider these trends when deciding between ADN/ASN and BSN programs.
What percent of hospitals require travel nurse to have a BSN?
When it comes to travel nursing jobs, it’s unclear what percentage of jobs require a BSN. Our experience and the years of job data we have, suggest that the percentage is less than 10%.
Step 2 to Become a Travel Nurse: Pass The NCLEX Examination
Your ADN, ASN and/or BSN degree will qualify you to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc (NCSBN) develops and administers this examination. All states require passage of this examination in order to consider you for licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in the United States.
Step 3: Obtain the Required Nursing Experience
For travel nursing jobs, hospitals typically require a minimum of 1 year of recent nursing experience in the specialty applied for. Again, this is the minimum. However, many hospitals require 2 or more years of experience. These experience requirements increase when the labor market is slack and decrease when the labor market is tight.
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Many experienced travel nurses urge newcomers to obtain a minimum of 2 years of experience. This is because hospitals provide little to no training or additional support for travel nurses.
When obtaining your nursing education and landing your first job, you should give careful consideration to the specialty you choose. Below is a list of the most in demand specialties for travel nurses:
ICU, ER, MS, MS/TELE, TELE, OR, L&D, LTAC/LTC, PACU, CVICU, Cath Lab, PEDS, PICU, NICU, Case Management, SDU/PCU, CVOR, PostPartum, Mother Baby, Home Health
Finally, if you don’t already reside in a “Compact State”, then you should consider moving to one to get your first nursing job. States that participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact recognize the state nursing licenses of all other participating states. 41 states currently participate in the compact.
A compact license is an advantage in the travel nursing job market. One reason is that many hospitals require verification of a valid state nursing license for the hospital’s state before they’ll accept candidates for consideration. So, a Compact Nursing License creates immediate opportunity in 41 states!
Step 4: Determine How You’re Going to Maintain a Tax Home
Travel nursing pay packages almost always include some form of tax-free compensation. In fact, you will be hard pressed to find a company that will agree to provide a pay package that is all-taxable.
The catch to tax-free money is that you must qualify to receive it. If you don’t qualify, then you will need to declare all tax-free compensation on your annual tax return and pay income taxes on it.
To qualify for the tax-free reimbursements, you must maintain a legitimate tax-home. This is definitely doable, so don’t let this discourage you. We have you covered! Here are some links where you will find everything you need to know:
Qualifying for Tax Free Stipends and Deductions As a Travel Nurse : This is part 1 of a 4 part series on why you need to maintain a tax home and how to do it.
Everything Travel Nurses Need to Know about Taxes, Stipends and Tax-Free Money : This is a category of articles devoted to the topic. It has tons of useful information.
Step 5: Determine What You Want Out of It
Next, you should decide what you want out of travel nursing before you start approaching travel nursing agencies. This is because different agencies offer different options. We’re referring specifically to where you want to travel and what types of hospitals you want to work in.
Step 6: Determine What You Want Out of Your Travel Nursing Pay Package
Similarly, you should decide what you want out of your pay package prior to your search for travel nursing agencies. Again, different agencies offer different pay arrangements and benefits. The differences can affect housing, travel stipends, medical benefits, 401Ks, rental cars, and more.
It’s important to note that travel nursing pay packages are very different than the pay packages for permanent jobs. In fact, travel nursing pay packages tend to confuse almost everyone. Therefore, it’s important to have a solid understanding of pay packages before you get started. Don’t worry, we have you covered with over 60 articles on the subject. Here are few links to get you started:
Compensation Video : This video is the perfect place to start. It provides a basic breakdown of how travel nursing pay packages work.
Pay Package Comparison Strategy : Comparing pay packages is one of the most confusing things travelers will have to do. This 3-part series of articles provides the context and detailed examples you’ll need to be a pro.
Sample Breakdown of a Pay Package : This article provides some perspective from the agency’s side of the equation. You may know more than your recruiter after reading this!
Step 7: Begin Vetting Travel Nursing Agencies
Once you determine what you want out of travel nursing, you’re ready to find agencies that can deliver. There are several approaches to finding travel nursing agencies. Here are a few of the more popular approaches.
- Colleague referral: If you know someone who has done some travel nursing, then it’s a great idea to see if they can refer you to agencies and recruiters that they had good experiences with.
- Reviews: Google, Glassdoor, Indeed and Facebook provide the ability for anyone to leave a review about an agency. Meanwhile, Highway Hypodermics and Travel Nursing Central allow only travel healthcare professionals to leave reviews for agencies. Finally, BluePipes aggregates reviews from all these sources and provides an annual list of the best companies. Here is a link to the list of best travel nursing company for 2023.
- “Lead Generator”: Lead Generators are websites that offer to “connect you with the top agencies”. Essentially, these websites collect your contact information and basic career information and then sell it to agencies. The agencies will then contact you. Here is link with more information about these services.
- Join BluePipes: BluePipes is a professional networking website for healthcare professionals. It has tons of great tools that will simplify your travel healthcare career including a universal profile, universal skills checklists, job board and pay calculator. You can also connect with agencies and recruiters on the site.
Finally, when speaking with travel nursing agencies you’ll also need to vet them in an effort to make sure they can deliver on your expectations. Do they have assignments in the locations you want to go? Do they offer the compensation variables that are important to you? Getting these questions answered up front will save you a ton of time and trouble. In the end, you’ll select several travel nursing agencies to work with, and then build on that moving forward.
Step 8: Complete Your Travel Nursing Submission Profile
It’s standard practice for hospitals to require an agency to submit an application, a skills checklist, and clinical references in order for the hospital to even consider the agency’s candidate. The industry commonly refers to these documents as a “submission profile”. Every agency you work with will want you to fill out their submission profile documents. This can turn into a paperwork nightmare for you. Instead, you can become a member on BluePipes where you can control your own submission profile, reduce your paperwork burden, and land the travel nursing jobs you most desire.
Step 9 To Become a Travel Nurse: Get Your Documentation Together
Ideally, you should start thinking about your paperwork well in advance of actually getting it all together. This is particularly true for licenses and certifications. This is because many hospitals expect candidates to have all the required licenses and certifications at the outset. To be clear, it’s common for hospitals to consider only candidates who currently have the licenses and certifications the hospital requires.
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Medical records are a different matter. Hospitals require many medical records to be recent in order to qualify. While it’s true that agencies will often coordinate and cover the cost of medical records, it’s in the travel nurse’s best interest to maintain their own set of documents. Doing so helps them land travel nursing jobs more quickly which is very important to landing the most desired jobs in the volatile travel nursing job market.
Step 10 To Become a Travel Nurse: Secure an Assignment
At this point, you’re ready to have agencies submit your profile for the jobs you’re interested in. We’ve covered this process in great detail and offered some strategies in previous blog posts. This process should include a travel nursing job interview and signing a travel nursing contract.
When it comes to the contract, it’s important to note that you can negotiate the compensation and terms of the contract. Negotiating the complex pay package and contract terms can be difficult. We have you covered with our free eBook on travel healthcare compensation negotiation. You can pick up a copy here to help you negotiate a great deal. At that point, you’re on way to an exciting career as a travel nurse!
