Labor and delivery nurses have the privilege of coaching women through one of the most life-changing events they will ever encounter – childbirth. And after a baby is born, labor and delivery travel nurses can also help care for Mom and baby post-childbirth through monitoring, educating, and supporting.
You love working in labor and delivery and have been thinking about becoming a labor and delivery travel nurse. What might it take to make your dream a reality?
Luckily for you, becoming a labor and delivery travel nurse and finding L&D travel nurse jobs may be more attainable than you think.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about labor and delivery travel nurse jobs and how to land a high-paying position as a labor and delivery travel nurse.
Table of Contents
- What Does a Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Job Entail?
- Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs: Where Are They Typically Placed?
- What Are the Basic Requirements for Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs?
- What Makes an Applicant an Optimal Candidate for Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs?
- How Much Do Labor and Delivery Travel Nurses Make?
- Interested in Pursuing L&D Travel Nurse Jobs? Trusted Nurse Staffing Can Help
What Does a Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Job Entail?
Labor and delivery is a highly specialized area of travel nursing.
In contrast to many other registered nursing positions where you provide care for patients across a wide spectrum of medical situations, a labor and delivery travel nurse has a very specific purpose — working with women before, during, and after giving birth.
Labor and delivery nurses care for only a few patients at a time to ensure they are giving as much attention as possible to their patients during such a monumental moment of their lives.
Some of their primary responsibilities both during the labor and delivery process and post-childbirth include:
- Monitoring vital signs for both the baby and mother
- Timing contractions
- Helping to administer any needed medications (including epidurals)
- Identifying and assisting in the handling of any complications that may occur
- Assisting with inducing labor
- Encouraging and comforting women during labor
- Coaching women throughout the process of labor and delivery
- Providing support to breastfeeding mothers
- Caring for women until they are discharged from the hospital
But that’s not all.
As a labor and delivery travel nurse, you may be asked to take on different roles depending on the needs of the hospital or facility where you are working.
Labor and Delivery Scrub Nurse
As a labor and delivery travel nurse at some facilities, you may be asked to work alongside surgeons performing cesarean sections as a scrub nurse. Scrub nurses mostly provide surgeons with the necessary instruments but could also get their hands dirty and assist the surgeon with the procedure if needed.
H3: Labor and Delivery Postpartum Nurse
After the delivery of a baby, both the baby and mom are assigned a nurse for their care. The labor and delivery postpartum nurse helps care for new mothers and does things like:
- Monitor vitals
- Help bathe baby
- Dispense medications
- Guide the mother through breastfeeding
- Watch for signs of postpartum depression
- Check incisions
- Watch for complications
- Uterus massages
Labor and Delivery Antepartum Nurse
An antepartum labor and delivery nurse focuses on the physical examination of the mother and baby before birth.
Labor and delivery antepartum nurses differ from the nurses who work in your OBGYN office and perform your regular check-ups. Instead, antepartum nurses work in the hospital caring for women who may be hospitalized before delivery.
They do things like:
- Record mom’s weight and blood pressure
- Check the baby’s fetal heart rate
- Perform routine urinalysis checks each visit
The goal of an antepartum nurse is to assess, diagnose, manage, and counsel about any potential health issues related to labor and delivery.
Labor and Delivery Nursery Nurse
After childbirth, many hospitals or facilities offer a nursery for the baby to go to while the mother rests and recovers if she chooses. During the baby’s time away from its mother, labor and delivery nursery nurses provide continuous care to the baby.
They may do things like:
- Monitor vitals
- Change dirty diapers
- Let the baby sleep
- Bring the baby to mom when they get hungry
- Provide comfort and care
Labor and Delivery Circulating Nurse
Differing from a scrub nurse, labor and delivery circulating nurses manage the mother’s care while in the operating room during a C-section.
Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs: Where Are They Typically Placed?
Labor and delivery travel nurse jobs are in high demand and traveling L&D nurses have the opportunity to work in many diverse settings, including:
- Hospital maternity wards
- Birthing centers
- Outpatient care centers
- Private obstetrics & gynecology practices
- Private home births
If you’re a labor and delivery nurse looking for L&D travel nurse jobs, take advantage of Pronto. With Pronto, you can search available labor and delivery travel nurse jobs around the country in all different hospitals and facilities and choose the one that sounds most appealing to you.
Our staff at Trusted Nurse Staffing can help guide you through the process and ensure you have everything you need to be successful on your next assignment.
What Are the Basic Requirements for Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs?
If you are hoping to become a labor and delivery travel nurse, you will need to follow a specific path, including:
- Becoming a registered nurse
- Passing the NCLEX-RN
- Gaining experience as a labor and delivery nurse
- Earning advanced nursing certifications related to labor and delivery nursing
Become a Registered Nurse
The first step in becoming a labor and delivery travel nurse is to earn a nursing degree.
This can be either an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited university or college.
During your studies, it may be helpful (but not necessarily required) to take electives relating to labor and delivery or to specialize in labor and delivery to begin gaining knowledge about the field.
Pass the NCLEX
Next, you will need to pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to become licensed to practice nursing in your state.
This challenging test includes a wide variety of questions and adaptive technology based on your textbooks, medical nursing knowledge, and your ability to think strategically and critically.
Unlike many other big exams, the NCLEX is a pass/fail test, so all you need to pass is a score of 0.00.
Why is that? The NCLEX is designed to simply know if you’re ready to be a nurse or not — a percentage grade won’t tell us that. You either pass or you fail and try again.
Gain Experience
Once you have the NCLEX-RN under your belt, you will be able to start your nursing career.
While the requirement to start working a labor and delivery travel nurse job is generally 1-year of experience in a labor and delivery unit, some facilities may require up to 3 years of experience.
Depending on the state you choose, additional requirements may be required for L&D travel nurse jobs in that state.
Working with the recruiters at Trusted Nurse Staffing can help to make the process of acquiring your first labor and delivery travel nurse job seamless. We understand the different state requirements and can help you fulfill them to land your first L&D travel nurse job.
Earn Certifications: 5 Advanced Certifications That May Be Required to Work as a Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse
In the field of nursing, education never truly ends.
To best serve your patients, there will always be new things to learn and the need to freshen your skills.
This is particularly true with labor and delivery nurses.
Whether they are required by your state or not, the following certifications will enhance your skills, as well as boost your labor and delivery travel nurse resume — and our team at Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you obtain them.
#1: Basic Life Support (BLS)
This certification is offered by the American Heart Association and may either be taken in person or in an online setting with a hands-on session.
The Basic Life Support certification takes approximately 4.5 hours to complete and covers:
- CPR for adults, children, and infants
- The American Heart Association’s chain of survival
- Rescue breaths and barrier devices
- Instruction in using an automated external defibrillator
- Choking relief for infants and adults
- Team-oriented multi-rescuer resuscitation
#2: Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
The ACLS is provided through the American Heart Association and may be taken in a classroom or a blended setting.
The focus of this 15.5-hour class is to build upon the foundation of life-saving skills that were introduced in the Basic Life Support class, with additional focused attention on how to perform continuous, high-quality CPR.
#3: Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) training is a highly advanced certification.
It can take a minimum of 8 years to become a certified nurse-midwife, including:
- 4 years to obtain a BSN
- 1 year of nursing experience
- 3 years in a nurse-midwifery program
In addition to delivering babies, certified nurse-midwives have the qualifications to:
- Perform gynecological exams
- Counsel new parents
- Monitor fertility
- Test for sexually transmitted diseases
- Prescribe medications
#4: Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
The Neonatal Resuscitation Program aims to promote effective team-based care among the healthcare professionals who are involved with labor and delivery.
The class consists of online case-based simulations, testing, and hands-on workshops.
#5: Electronic Fetal Heart Monitoring (C-EFM)
The C-EFM is offered by the National Certification Corporation (NCC).
Its focus is demonstrating the healthcare professional’s adeptness at applying electronic fetal monitoring and data interpretation.
What Makes an Applicant an Optimal Candidate for Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Jobs?
Besides loving babies, the best labor and delivery travel nurse will possess some special skills and personality traits including:
- Compassion
- Approachability and friendliness
- Great communication skills
- Sharp critical thinking abilities
- Emotional stability
- Patience
- Attention to detail
How Much Do Labor and Delivery Travel Nurses Make?
As with most travel nursing positions, when it comes to labor and delivery travel nurse salary, how much you make will depend on:
- The part of the country and city you choose
- The type of facility you are working in
- Your nursing experience
- Your certifications
A Review of Labor and Delivery Travel Nurse Salary and Benefits
Labor and delivery travel nurse jobs are not only incredibly rewarding on a professional level, but they also offer excellent pay.
Check out the top 10 states with the highest hourly labor and delivery travel nurse salary:
- Tennessee – $62.60
- New Jersey – $62.41
- Massachusetts – $61.42
- Connecticut – $59.93
- Oregon – $58.60
- Alaska – $58.44
- Wisconsin – $57.39
- Ohio – $56.69
- Maryland – $56.12
- Virginia – $54.65
Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you find a travel nurse job in these top-paying states through Pronto. In addition to helping our nurses land the top labor and delivery travel nurse salary, Trusted offers great benefits, including:
- Generous housing, meal, and travel stipends
- Customized benefits package
- HRA card to cover healthcare deductibles
- Referral bonus
- Sign-on and completion bonuses
- 401(k) with a 4% match after 1000 hours and one year of employment
- Overtime pay
- Direct deposit
- Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance packages
- Dental and vision packages
- License, certifications, and CEU reimbursement
- A fun loyalty program
Interested in Pursuing L&D Travel Nurse Jobs? Trusted Nurse Staffing Can Help
Does becoming a labor and delivery travel nurse sound appealing? Are you feeling ready to take your labor and delivery work to other hospitals and facilities around the country?
Getting started is as simple as clicking below to create your free profile and utilizing Pronto to search for job opportunities.
The recruiters at Trusted Nurse Staffing will discuss every aspect of your labor and delivery travel nurse career to make sure that all of your needs and expectations are met and that you have all certifications required to be successful.
Our goal is to deliver a personalized experience and exceptional customer service every step of the way. With Trusted Nurse Staffing, your travel nursing career is in the best possible hands.
Start searching for your dream job on Pronto today.