You’re fresh out of nursing school and hoping to begin a travel nursing career, but the thought of moving away from home and navigating this new lifestyle is crippling.
How do you obtain a nursing license in every state you work in? What do you do about finding housing? How does getting paid work?
The questions are endless but the opportunity seems promising.
Take advantage of the best travel nursing resources available to get started on a successful travel nursing career.
Table of Contents
- Best Travel Nurse Resources for Getting and Staying Licensed
- Best Travel Nurse Resources for Your Career
- Best Travel Nurse Resources for Finding Housing
- Best Travel Nurse Resources for Financial Questions
- Utilize Trusted Nurse Staffing for the Best Travel Nurse Resources
Best Travel Nurse Resources for Getting and Staying Licensed
Becoming a travel nurse offers many great opportunities, including seeing the world while getting to do what you love for work. But to become a travel nurse, you must first acquire a license.
As a travel nurse, your license is what will give you job opportunities and help you earn your potential for being the very best nurse you can be, no matter what healthcare facility you accept a travel nursing contract.
Here’s what you need to do to become a travel nurse:
- Earn your Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) through a variety of different avenues.
- Pass the NCLEX and meet the board of nursing requirements for your state.
- Apply for a compact nursing license that allows you to be licensed in numerous states to work as a travel nurse.
- Utilize a trusted travel nurse staffing agency to find the best travel nurse contracts for you.
Trusted Nurse Staffing works to place travel nurses with hospitals, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, and various healthcare facilities across the nation. If you’re the best travel nurse resource to help find reliable contracts, Trusted Nurse Staffing can help.
Trusted Nurse Staffing’s State Guide
Each state’s Board of Nursing has different requirements and guidelines when it comes to travel nursing. It’s difficult to know exactly what you might need for each travel nurse contract you obtain in different states.
Board of Nursing sites are full of outdated information that you can spend hours perusing to attempt to learn what you need for each travel nurse contract, but Trusted Nurse Staffing makes this process even simpler.
Our interactive state map holds the information for a comprehensive travel nursing guide for each state that covers:
- Licensing requirements and fees
- Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC) status
- CEU requirements
- Pay
- And more
Even more, our travel nurse career resources page has helpful topics on travel nursing.
At Trusted Nurse Staffing, we reimburse you for any licensure and CEUs that you get when you work with us. If you have more questions, contact us to help.
Nurse Licensure Compact
The Nurse Licensure Compact (NCL) allows nurses to have one compact state nursing license that gives them the ability to practice in many different states under the same agreement.
As of January 2023, there are 40 states part of the NLC agreement, including:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Guam
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Virgin Islands
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Trusted Nurse Staffing can help obtain an NLC and provide more information about becoming a travel nurse and what it entails.
Best Travel Nurse Resources for Your Career
Advancement in travel nursing often brings new opportunities in your career. Because healthcare workers are in high demand, as a travel nurse, you might be up against 20+ other highly qualified candidates for a position.
By boosting resumes and taking the time and opportunities to work in different settings, travel nurses can expand skills, experiences, and resources to become the very best travel nurse possible.
Some important resources are worthy to note to help boost your travel nurse career:
- Nursing CEU
- Support groups
- Social Media
Nursing CEU
A nursing CEU, or continuing education unit, is a unit of measurement designed to keep nurses up to date on all of the new techniques and practices in patient care and the healthcare industry.
Although each state has different continuing education requirements, 1 contact hour is typically equal to 10 hours of participation in a board-approved activity or educational course.
As long as the nursing CEU is approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, it should be valid.
Consider these resources to complete your CEU requirements:
- Nurse Continuing Education Courses
- Subscription Options for Nursing CE Courses
- American Nurses Association
- The National Council of State Boards of Nursing
- Online Nursing Continuing Education Directory
- HealthStream
- Continuing Education Online at NetCE
Join a Support Group
As with most industries or niche groups, travel nursing shares a unique language and set of situations that only other experienced travel nurses may be able to help navigate, and a travel nursing support group is a great resource to learn from and connect with fellow travel nurses.
Not only is the information shared in these groups relatable, but the expertise and learning that takes place within a support group among fellow travelers is a great way to further your travel nursing career.
Lean on a Social Media Group for Travel Recommendations
We all know it to be true — social media is a great place to go for a community, recommendations, and to engage with other like-minded individuals. That’s why various social media groups can be a great resource for travel recommendations, whether they’re specific to travel nursing or not.
- Facebook has thousands upon thousands of already established groups for various topics. It’s easy to head to your Facebook account and search for travel groups, or more specifically travel nurse groups, for recommendations and information.
- Instagram utilizes the hashtag feature so users can easily search for accounts or posts they have things in common with or for something they’re specifically looking for. In this instance, the hashtags #travelnurse or #travel will likely serve you well in connecting with others.
- Similar to Instagram, TikTok also utilizes a hashtag feature to help connect users with similar interests or those looking for specific information. Tap the search icon in the top right of your screen and enter a specific hashtag to find what you’re looking for.
Travel nurses might also take to Pinterest, Lemon8, or YouTube to find travel recommendations and information regarding tips and specific locations.
Best Travel Nurse Resources for Finding Housing
A perk to working with a travel nursing agency, like Trusted Nurse Staffing, is that your recruiter will discuss housing options with you and ensure all of your housing arrangements are set before your departure.
You might be interested in an Airbnb for your stay, an extended-stay hotel, an apartment, VRBO, or you might know someone in the area you’re traveling to that will let you crash in their guest room. Whatever it may be, your recruiter will make sure everything is set before you go.
Your Travel Nurse Agency
As part of their job, your travel nurse agency will help you choose which type of housing may be best for your contract and how to go about receiving the stipends to cover your housing cost.
Before we help you decide on a place to stay, we consider:
- How far you want to be located from your assignment
- Things you like to do in your free time
- What you’re willing to pay
- The length of your contract
- Amenities you deem necessary to have nearby
- What transportation you have available
- If personal space is important to you
With this information, we help you decide between a variety of options before choosing which setup might be best for you.
Airbnb/VRBO
Airbnb and VRBO are mostly known for vacation rentals, but they both also work great for extended-stay work opportunities or temporary living options, like travel nursing.
With either Airbnb or VRBO, travel nurses can utilize:
- Affordable and convenient housing
- On-site amenities
- Nearby attractions
- Locations close to hospitals and medical facilities
- Safe and comfortable living areas
Hotels
If you don’t mind the hustle and bustle of other guests or smaller accommodations, an extended hotel stay might be best for your travel nurse contract.
Maybe housekeeping and room service are top on your list of must-haves, but having to utilize a laundromat or shared laundry facility isn’t as important to you.
Before booking a hotel:
- Prioritize your needs.
- Join loyalty programs for hotels you might frequent.
- Review and understand the reimbursement process.
- Call the hotel before booking to ensure the best deal.
Best Travel Nurse Resources for Financial Questions
If you’re new to travel nursing, you likely have many questions related to finances. A variety of resources may be helpful to you as you embark on the journey of travel nursing.
Consult a Tax Professional
Not only is it important to know how to handle your taxes once tax season rolls around, but there are many tax benefits a travel nurse can take advantage of when it comes time to submit them. Working with a tax professional is a great way to navigate the complicated financial obstacles that come with working in many different states and can help you avoid tax fraud and liabilities.
Consulting a tax expert is the best way to understand and work through the financial aspect of travel nursing.
Lean on a Financial Advisor
As a travel nurse, you might have some financial goals you’re working toward during your career. A financial advisor is a great resource to share those goals with so they can best help support you through ways to reach them.
Consider these financial milestones to work toward:
- Creating an unexpected expenses/emergency fund
- Retirement accounts
- Buying a home
- Paying off student loans
- Paying off debt
- Saving for a family
- Building a reliable savings account
- Caring for sick or aging family members
- Building a retirement savings
Utilize Trusted Nurse Staffing for the Best Travel Nurse Resources
Starting a new career as a travel nurse can be intimidating.
Maybe it’s your first job. You might be leaving home for the very first time. It could be your first taste of independence.
Ensuring that you’re set up for success and have a trusted community to lean on could be important for your career.
At Trusted Nurse Staffing, we work effortlessly to ensure all of our nurses have every resource they need to be successful. And if we don’t have the answers for you, we have the best travel nursing resources to help you find them.
If you’re a new travel nurse looking to get set up for success, look no further than Trusted. Our team of recruiters:
- Analyzes your education, experience, and work history to help you customize your resume for the positions you want
- Listens to your goals, interests, and availability
- Creates a list of possible assignments based on our conversations and skillset
- Connects you with and submits you to your top choices
- Arranges a phone interview with the facilities hiring manager
- Consults with you on the offer details to ensure you are getting exactly what you want and need, and confirms the start date
- Assists with all pre-hire compliance, including:
-
- Setting you up for drug screens
- Setting up appointments
- Assisting with getting your certifications up to date
- Guides you through the onboarding process at each new facility you are placed
- Acts as your go-to for all of your questions and concerns during your assignment, whether that be for moral support or something relating directly to the facility or position
- Negotiates and extends your current assignment or helps you choose and plan for the next adventure
Contact us to get started with your travel nursing career today.