Benefits of Travel Nursing

I have been a travel nurse for 2.5 years. I am truly grateful for all the benefits travel nursing has brought into my life!

In this article we will walk through the pros of travel nursing. If you are serious about getting into travel nursing, be sure to check out my other article about the cons of travel nursing. These two articles will give you a well-rounded view of what travel nursing is really like so that you can make the best decision for yourself.

Flexibility

Travel nursing means that you are no longer tied to one hospital or one place. You are free to make your own decisions about where you work, when you take a contract to work, and what schedule you work.

Time off

While you generally don’t make money when you aren’t working, you do have the freedom of being able to take time away from work whenever you want. Just to be clear, I’m referring to the time between contracts. You don’t get to just decide not to show up to work while you are on contract and expect to keep that contract very long.

During the previous two years, I’ve worked 9 out of 12 months. The other 3 months were split between traveling internationally and visiting friends/family back at home. Another travel nurse that I met on assignment only works 6 months each year. He spends the other 6 months a year backpacking through other countries or rock climbing around the US. Of course, you need to manage your money well in order for this kind of lifestyle to work, but it’s such a cool option to have!

Location independence

I love the fact that I get paid to live in different areas around the country. My job doesn’t tie me to one place leaving me with only short periods of time off to explore new areas. Instead, I get to spend 3 months or longer in a location of my choosing. Honestly, travel is much more enjoyable this way. I get to see all the sights, do all the things, and really immerse myself into an area at a reasonable pace. Gone are the days of trying to squeeze every drop out of a short vacation just to see something new.

No more staff meetings

As a travel nurse, you show up for your shift, do your job and go home. You clock in, then you clock out. Anytime outside of that is YOUR time. This means more freedom and flexibility with your time. You don’t have to show up for pointless meetings or involve yourself in unit politics.

Growth

Full disclosure- career growth is on my list of cons for travel nursing. Realistically, whether this is a pro or a con depends on what you mean by growth.

Career growth

As I mentioned in my cons list, travel nursing is not good for climbing the ladder in a corporate sense or for being trained in new skill sets. I do believe, however, that it will help you grow as a nurse. Seeing variances in protocols and generally in the way other nurses practice holds a lot of value. While you may not see the ladder type of growth as a travel nurse, you will see growth in your own nursing practice and critical thinking skills.

Personal growth

I am a big believer in the idea that exposure to more people, cultures, and environments will help you grow and change as a person. This growth can be scary at times, but when you look back, you will be proud of how far you have come.

Personally, I have grown in my ability to relate to more people, make friends and put myself out there since I became a travel nurse. I realized that if I wanted to make travel nursing work for me, I would have to grow, and I’m so glad I did!

Exploration

This one is my favorite, and it’s the main reason I started travel nursing. 

I absolutely love exploring new places. Since I started travel nursing, I have explored many new cities, learned to surf (well somewhat, I’m pretty bad at it, but it’s fun!), taken salsa dance lessons, gone snow skiing, snorkeled with sea lions, gone wine tasting in Napa, hiked countless trails, attended cultural events like Chinese New Year celebrations and Gay Pride festivals, taken short weekend trips (plus a 5 day trip to Hawaii!) and tried so many different foods and restaurants. All of this have been during my work contracts (it doesn’t count the time off between). Really, it’s a whole lifestyle, and I can’t get enough!

While I could have done some of these activities if I was a staff nurse, there is no way I could fit all of them in. With travel nursing, I know there are many more adventures to come.

By the way, I do have a section of this blog geared towards different cities that I’ve traveled to for work. If you are take a contract in one of the same areas, it will have some helpful information for you. Here is the link to my destination page.

Money

While exploration was my primary motivator for becoming a travel nurse, money is what initially caught my attention.

I started travel nursing during the pandemic when the pay was really good. Since then, pay for travel nurses has dropped pretty significantly, but you can still find contracts that pay well. The key is getting a true understanding of what the pay is after you factor in things like duplicating expenses and cost of living. This will help you to be able to explore apples to apples with your alternative, staff nursing. Because I see the question of “Is travel nursing still worth it” asked so often, I wrote an entire article on it. The article includes an excel calculator you can download and use to compare the true pay of a travel contract to your home hospital’s staff pay (You’ll need to already have excel to use the file).

No, the money isn’t as good as it was, but it can still be more than you would make otherwise.

Even though I want everyone to enjoy travel nursing as much as I do, I understand that it isn’t a good fit for everyone. Check out this post’s sister article, the cons of travel nursing, to get a better idea of if travel nursing is right for you.

I hope that you found this article helpful in understanding why travel nursing is such a great option! Comment below with your reason for exploring the world of travel nursing.