Working as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) can be a rewarding career, especially as you see your clients making progress in their ability to communicate. It can also be a lucrative career with a nice salary and benefits.
If you enjoy your role as a speech-language pathologist and love to travel, SLP travel jobs are available across the country. As an allied health professional, you can do the work you love and also experience life in parts of the country you’re waiting to explore.
How can you know if a travel SLP job is right for you? We’ll help by providing you with helpful information below about:
- What a travel SLP is
- The benefits of a travel SLP job
- The qualifications, demand, and earning potential
- How you can get started with Pronto and Trusted Nurse Staffing
Table of Contents
- What Is a Travel SLP?
- What Does a Travel SLP Do?
- The Benefits of Working as a Travel SLP
- How To Become a Travel SLP: A Look at Skills, Qualifications, Demand, and Earning Potential
- Start Your Travel SLP Journey With Pronto
What Is a Travel SLP?
A travel SLP is an allied health professional who works with patients of all ages with cognitive, communication, or swallowing disorders. For example, an SLP may work with a child who stutters or has a speech delay or an older patient who needs therapy to help with swallowing difficulties after a stroke.
Travel SLP jobs provide for staffing shortages across the U.S. Shortages may result from SLPs being out on maternity or medical leave, season staffing needs, or consistent short staffing in particular facilities. Contracts are usually 13 weeks, but depending on the facility and your personal situation, contracts may be shorter or longer.
As a speech-language pathologist, you can even work as a travel SLP (and receive all the benefits) and stay in your own city by working as a contracted SLP. Options for types of traveling SLP jobs abound.
SLP travel jobs may be available in the following settings:
- Schools
- Home health
- Hospitals
- Skilled nursing facilities
- Clinics
What Does a Travel SLP Do?
Speech-language pathologists provide specialized services for patients with speech impairment, communication delays, and swallowing disorders. Their work may include:
- Administering measuring devices and tests to assess speech impairment.
- Providing training and education to parents, family members, and caregivers.
- Evaluating and diagnosing swallowing disorders
- Treating speech, communication, language, and swallowing disorders.
- Collaborating with other professionals across disciplines.
Start your travel SLP job with Trusted Nurse Staffing today. We’ll help you find your dream job in your chosen location.
The Benefits of Working as a Travel SLP
The joy that comes with helping patients grow and make progress is probably one of the greatest advantages of being a Speech Language Pathologist. Nothing compares to knowing that your work and service are making a tangible difference in someone’s life.
On top of that, a travel SLP can expect to experience many of the following benefits:
- Flexibility with your schedule
- Freedom to work where and when you want
- Growth in clinical skills
- Higher income potential
- Personal connections with clients across the country
- Health benefits, stipends, bonuses, and other agency benefits
- Travel opportunities
- Career growth
- Participating in a rewarding and impactful career
- Learning in new environments and developing new skills — electronic medical records, new policies, and new technologies
How To Become a Travel SLP: A Look at Skills, Qualifications, Demand, and Earning Potential
Skills
Those looking to travel as an SLP should evaluate their skills in two categories:
- Experience/educational skills
- Personal durable skills
If you possess the following experiential and educational skills, a travel SLP job may be in your future:
- Knowledge of anatomy and physiology
- Understanding of language processes: fluency, receptive and expressive language, and voice and resonance
- Understanding of auditory impacts on speech and language
- Ability to assess swallowing and its mechanics
- Competence in linguistics
- Ability to collaborate with other professionals
- Ability to use diagnostic tools like videofluoroscopic instrumental swallow studies, pH probes, endoscopic testing, and more
Travel speech-language pathologists also possess the following personal skills:
- Teachability
- Strong communication skills
- Flexibility
- Analytical ability
- Technological savvy
- Objectivity
- And more
Qualifications
Qualifications may vary from state to state, but the most common qualifications for travel SLPs fall into the following four categories:
- Education – After earning a bachelor’s degree in a related field like linguistics or language development, those wishing to pursue a career in speech-language pathology must earn a master’s degree from an accredited program. Depending on various factors, it may take two to four years to graduate with a master’s degree.
- Certifications – Though not required, travel SLPs may choose to sit for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) offered by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This certification may help to meet other licensure requirements and may be required by some employers. Travel SLPs may also wish to acquire additional certifications, including:
- American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders
- American Board of Fluency and Fluency Disorders
- American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders
- Basic life support (BLS)
- Pediatric advanced life support (PALS)
- Licensure – To obtain SLP travel therapy jobs, these allied health professionals must also apply for and maintain a license in the state where they intend to practice. Since requirements may vary from state to state, check your state’s licensing requirements for SLPs so you can be adequately prepared and ready to work.
- Experience – Although some facilities may accept recently graduated SLPs with fellowship experience, many will require at least one year of experience. Before working as a travel SLP, it is beneficial to work as a staff SLP to obtain valuable hands-on experience.
Demand
Not only are SLP jobs listed in the 100 Best Jobs, according to US News and World Report, but the demand for SLPs remains — two inspiring reasons to consider a profession in this special healthcare field.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the next 10 years, the speech-language pathology field is expected to grow by 18%, much faster than average. An increase in population and life expectancy, as well as more awareness of prevention and early intervention, may be responsible for the higher demand in the speech-language pathology field.
If you’re ready to hit the road as a traveling SLP, you can search for jobs across the U.S. on Pronto. Let Trusted Nurse Staffing help you get started on your travel SLP journey.
Earning Potential
Earning potential is another motivating reason to work as a travel SLP since traveling allied health professionals generally earn higher salaries than their non-traveling counterparts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports $42.93 as a median hourly wage for staff SLPs while ZipRecruiter reports $47 per hour as a travel SLP.
Salaries can vary depending on experience, education, certifications, demand, and location, but the average U.S. salary for a travel SLP is $8090 per month.
These 10 cities offer the highest-paying travel SLP jobs per month:
- Sunnyvale, CA: $10,120
- Livermore, CA: $10,114
- Arlington, VA: $10,075
- St. Helens, OR: $9,842
- Lexington, MA: $9,840
- Kent, WA: $9,810
- Vacaville, CA: $9,768
- Manhattan, NY: $9,664
- Berkeley, CA: $9,566
- Napa, CA: $9,556
Start Your Travel SLP Journey With Pronto
Start your travel SLP adventure today with Pronto and Trusted Nurse Staffing with two simple steps:
- Sign up on Pronto and complete your profile. You can also upload your resume, licenses, certifications, and more to help us find the right job for you.
- Be matched with a recruiter, who will guide you through the process of searching and applying for jobs and recommend placements based on your criteria.
Help from Trusted Nurse Staffing doesn’t end once you’ve accepted a position — we support you each step of the way with:
- A compliance team that’s ready to assist you with any facility-specific licensing and testing that may be required — and we’ll cover the cost for it, too!
- A dedicated payroll team who is easy to contact and can answer any payroll-related questions.
- Your recruiter, who’ll be your continual advocate throughout your assignment. Not only will they support you during your assignment, but they are also available to help you find your next travel assignment when the current one expires.
The greatness doesn’t stop there. When you work as an allied health professional with Trusted Nurse Staffing, you’ll have access to some of the best benefits around, like:
- A welcome box
- 401(k) with a 4% match after 1,000 hours and one year of employment
- Direct deposit
- Employer-sponsored health insurance
- HRA to fully cover deductibles
- Guardian dental and vision insurance
- Wellness benefits
- Portable permanent whole life insurance
- License, certifications, & CEU reimbursements
- Disability insurance
- Work flexibility with full/part-time and per-diem work
- Flexible contract options
- Housing, meal, and travel stipends
- Student loan assistance
In addition to these benefits, Trusted Nurse Staffing also offers these stellar bonuses:
- Refer a Friend: Get up to $1,500 when you refer another allied health professional who completes their contracted assignment.
- Refer a Facility: Receive up to $1,500 when you refer a facility that results in a service agreement.
- Ambassador Program: Tell others about Trusted Nurse Staffing on your social media platforms to earn points to be redeemed on Amazon.
Working as a travel SLP can be a satisfying and lucrative career that gives you the chance to travel to locations you’ve only been dreaming of. Trusted Nurse Staffing can help make your travel dream job a reality. Get started on Pronto today!