Travel nurses often find themselves in unfamiliar environments, requiring them to learn new hospital policies and procedures quickly. This requires confidence, which is an important skill to cultivate for any nursing professional. Another aspect of travel nursing that can benefit a nurse’s career is networking. By connecting with other nurses in different locations, you can learn about opportunities, tips and tricks for success and even become a mentor.
You Get to Learn New Skills
If you love working with different people and are open to change, then travel nursing might be your perfect career path. By working in new facilities and collaborating with various healthcare teams, you’ll be exposed to ideas that will make you a better clinician overall.
Adaptability is a key trait of travel nurses; they must quickly acclimate to their new environments and learn the technology and protocols that may differ from one facility to another. This valuable skill will also help your future career and personal life. Each assignment provides a unique experience that will teach you something new.
For example, if you’ve always wanted to see what it would be like to work in a children’s hospital or cutting-edge research facility, this is your chance. Additionally, many travel nurse assignments offer opportunities to gain experience in specialty areas that might not be available in your home state.
You Get to Try Out Different Specialties
Travel nurses typically work in a variety of settings. This allows them to see what neighborhoods they prefer and what clinical specialties they enjoy working in. If you like certain aspects of your job, you can pursue permanent positions in those areas.
Working as a travel nurse can also help you develop stronger communication skills and an eagerness to learn about different cultures and healthcare systems. These are skills that will benefit you regardless of what your long-term career goals may be.
Another benefit of working as a travel nurse is the opportunity to build a strong professional network. With each new assignment, you will meet countless people from different locations and departments within the hospital. The relationships you form can be leveraged into everything from career mentorship to job references.
You Get to Meet New People
Travel nurses can be found everywhere, from rural clinics to big-city hospitals. This means that you’ll be exposed to many new cultures and environments. This is a great way to expand your horizons and develop cultural competency, which will look good on your resume.
You’ll also work with many new people, permanent staff and fellow travelers. This is a great opportunity to build a strong network, which will be invaluable in the future. Your connections can help you get a job in a certain location, connect you with a mentor, or even be a reference.
Developing social skills is essential for traveling nurses, who often work in different settings and with various patients. This can help you learn to adapt quickly and become a better nurse in any environment.
It also gives you confidence that you can adjust to various conditions, which will be helpful in any career path. For example, if you’re assigned to a large city hospital that uses the latest technology but then has to transition to a small town clinic with limited resources, you can be confident that you can still do a great job.
You Get to Experience Different Environments
Travel nurses can work in various healthcare environments, including hospitals, private practices, home health and hospice care, and research facilities. This enables them to experience a wide range of healthcare systems and methods, which will help them advance their career in the long run. Strong communication skills and a willingness to learn will also come in handy at every new facility they work at.
Hospitals can be full of office politics and drama, and often these can distract from patient care. Fortunately, for traveling nurses, the short-term nature of their contracts makes it easier to avoid this type of drama and focus on patient care. In addition, traveling nurses get the opportunity to handpick their work environment.
Whether it’s the hustle and bustle of New York City or the tranquility of a beach, they can find a contract that suits their preferences. This will not only help them develop professional growth, but it will also help them build a strong resume for future nursing jobs. Ultimately, this is what will make them stand out from the competition.
You Get to Travel
As a travel nurse, you get to see new places and experience life in a way that most people will never have the opportunity to do. For some, this may be an important job perk that helps them feel fulfilled.
Working at different facilities, from top research hospitals to rural community centers, adds a depth of experience to your resume and shows that you can adapt to different work environments.
This can help you to stand out amongst other candidates when it comes time to apply for permanent positions. It’s important to remember that not every facility will be your favorite. However, you will only be at each assignment for, on average, 13 weeks, so if it turns out to be less than ideal, you can move on to another location quickly.
This will also prevent you from getting stuck in a negative workplace culture that can hinder your professional growth. This ability to avoid on-the-job politics is one of the biggest perks of traveling nursing.