Travel nurses are tired, burnt out, and mentally exhausted. With long shifts, long contracts, and weeks or months away from home, you’re likely craving some downtime between your travel nurse assignments.
And while taking time off sounds nice, you’re unsure what to do with that time to make it worthwhile.
Learn about many things you can do between travel nurse assignments that not only benefit you and your social life, but your community, career, and love for adventure, too.
Table of Contents
- Can You Take Breaks in Between Travel Assignments?
- 12 Things To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments
- Do You Have To Take Time Off Between Travel Nurse Assignments?
- Trusted Nurse Staffing: Your Partner Before, During, and In Between Travel Nurse Assignments
Can You Take Breaks in Between Travel Assignments?
One of the many perks of being a travel nurse is the time commitment. Not only are travel nurse assignment contracts typically about 13 weeks, but travel nurses can take as long a break as they want or need between assignments.
Are you hoping to go on a vacation between assignments? Do you have family business to handle back at home? Maybe you’re money-hungry and ready to jump right to your next contract.
The length of your break between assignments is 100% dependent on what you want or need for yourself, your career, and how much time off you can afford.
And when you’re ready for another travel nurse contract, Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you find one that fits your needs. Our recruiters are hands-on and work with you to find the best travel nurse assignments available. You can also begin searching yourself using Pronto job search and subscribe to be notified about new contracts.
12 Things To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments
The options of how to fill your time between travel nurse assignments are truly endless. The ball is completely in your court to do with it as you please.
Are you in need of an adventure? Maybe you want time off to simply sit and read a good book. Are you studying to further your education? Can you afford to take time off for travel?
Whether you’re looking to fill your self-love cup, your social life cup, or your career cup, there are many options for things to do between travel nurse assignments.
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for You
Nurse burnout is real. And as travel nurses are working hard to fill the positions of nurse shortages, they are also feeling burnt out.
Did you know that 80% of nurses feel burnt out due to low staffing, 76% are emotionally exhausted, and nearly 76% are struggling under high workload demands?
With such a physically and mentally demanding job, travel nurses deserve to take some time for themselves in between travel nurse assignments.
Here’s what you can do.
#1: Go Home
Traveling is fun and exciting — hardly anyone can argue that — but when you’re doing it as your full-time job, it can be refreshing to just go home.
Sometimes, spending time in your hometown and with your family and friends is all you need to feel refreshed, grounded, and ready to take on your next travel nurse assignment.
#2: Reflect and Set Goals
- Just because you’re taking time off from work doesn’t mean you have to go, go, go.
- Consider having some downtime to reflect on your last assignment. Maybe utilize guided meditation for travel nurses to help ground yourself, find a sense of calm, and help set goals for the future.
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for Your Social Life
If you’ve been on a travel nurse assignment, especially one that’s 13 weeks long, it’s probably been a while since you’ve last seen your family or friends.
Utilizing the time off between travel assignments is a great chance to pour into these relationships and ensure your social life isn’t taking a backseat to your career.
#3: Visit Family and Friends
As a travel nurse, you might be making friends in all different parts of the country. Or, maybe you miss your hometown friends, too.
Take this time between travel assignments to plan visits and spend quality time with loved ones you might not see during your assignments.
#4: Join a Club
Let’s face it, hectic nursing schedules don’t allow for much free time. But as a travel nurse, you can take advantage of time off to do whatever it is that you’ve been putting off because of your busy career.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to join a book club or try a new sport. Maybe you’re hoping to train for and run a race. Whatever it might be, use this time to meet people with similar interests and enjoy time outside of nursing.
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for Your Career
There are many opportunities available for nurses to continue their education and progress through their careers, but where do they find the time to dedicate to these things?
The time off between travel nurse assignments is a great opportunity to pour into your career outside the walls of a healthcare facility.
#5: Update Your Resume
With all your experiences and skills gained from your different travel nurse assignments, you’ve likely learned unique skills and made new contacts and references that can benefit you in the future.
Why not spend your free time updating your resume to reflect your continued growth in your career?
#6: Continue Your Education
Continuing your education as a nurse is beneficial in many ways and taking the time to pursue additional certifications, attend workshops, or take education courses to enhance your nursing skills can pay off as you progress throughout your career.
As a nurse, investing in continued education can help you:
- Learn new clinical skills
- Strengthen clinical skills
- Maintain nursing credentials
- Stay updated on industry trends
- Adapt to technological advancements
- Increase the quality of patient care
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for Adventure
With all the traveling you do for work, you’ve learned quite a bit about adventuring. And now you want to put your skills and knowledge to the test outside of a travel nursing contract.
We’ve got good news — the time off between travel nurse assignments is a great time for an adventure.
#7: Travel Somewhere Different
Travel nurses earn more than staff nurses, so why not use a little of that extra money to travel to an exciting and new destination for a vacation?
Take a week in Mexico or a month in Thailand. The flexibility of time off makes it easier for travel nurses to plan and execute these dream destination trips with no guilt about what you’ve left behind at work that’s waiting for you upon your return.
Instead, finish out a travel nurse contract, then take a stress-free vacation before committing to your next one.
#8: Explore Your New City
If you’ve recently finished a travel nurse assignment and already have your next one lined up to start in a few weeks, consider taking your time in between to arrive in your new travel assignment city early.
Keep in mind that your travel and lodging expenses likely won’t be covered if you choose to arrive before your contract. But with some extra time off and money in your pocket, you can spend a week or two getting a true feel for your new travel assignment destination before the work begins.
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for Relaxation
Traveling is fun, continuing your education is great, and visiting friends and family is fulfilling. But with all the hard work you put in at your job, you deserve to relax.
#9: Hit the Spa
Take time at the spa to unwind, take a breath, and engage in some serious self-care. Whether it’s for a one-hour massage or an entire weekend of pampering, you deserve it.
#10: Exercise
Did you know that exercise reduces stress hormones and stimulates the production of endorphins?
As a travel nurse, we can bet you’re feeling stressed.
Take the time off between travel assignments to prioritize your physical and mental well-being by committing to regular exercise, healthy eating, and self-care activities after many weeks of physically and mentally exhausting work.
What To Do Between Travel Nurse Assignments for Your Community
Are you someone who loves to give back to your community? Use this time to pour into your community or charities near and dear to your heart.
#11: Volunteer
Consider volunteering your time at a healthcare facility. Maybe your local hospital needs cuddlers to help rock and hold NICU babies, or your local assisted living facility could use some extra hands.
You might know of an elderly couple who requires assistance with grocery shopping or mowing their lawn.
Whatever it may be, volunteering can not only provide you with a sense of purpose and community but also help to improve skills that might be beneficial for your career.
#12: Donate to Charities
With some time on your hands between travel nurse assignments, you might find yourself researching charities that have personal meaning or connection to you. Or maybe your most recent travel nurse assignment brought a great need to your attention.
Donating to charities is a great way to support your community and they qualify for a tax deduction.
Do You Have To Take Time off Between Travel Nurse Assignments?
No, choosing to take time off between travel nurse assignments is fully your choice.
Trusted Nurse Staffing can help you secure your next travel nurse assignment, whether you’re looking to hop from one to another or take time off in between.
Sometimes, the idea of time off between travel nurse assignments can be stressful, especially if you have a family to support, bills to catch up on, or you need some extra savings.
If you choose to not take time off for whatever reason, here are some options you can pursue instead:
- Inquire about extending your contract: Happy where you are? Ask your recruiter about a contract extension.
- Plan for your next assignment: Whether you’re a seasoned pro, or new to travel nursing, planning ahead is key to a successful journey. Find housing, outline your commute, or plan fun things to do in your downtime.
- Open yourself up to new locations: Need more money? A change of scenery? Warmer weather? Consider locations outside your usual search parameters. For example, Hawaii is far but might pay more. Arkansas might not pay as much, but the cost of living is low.
- Take an assignment at home: You can take local contracts as a travel nurse. This might offer you the chance to continue as a traveling nurse while having some time at home to catch up on life’s other essentials.
Trusted Nurse Staffing: Your Partner Before, During, and in Between Travel Nurse Assignments
Whether you’re a travel nurse who loves to always be on the go or you cherish some well-deserved downtime in between assignments, Trusted Nurse Staffing can help.
Our team of recruiters works closely with our travel nurses to ensure they’re getting everything they need and more from their travel assignments.
Are you hoping to hop from one contract to the next? Our team can ensure you’ve got contracts lined up and ready to go.
Are you looking to enjoy some downtime after a grueling 13-week assignment? Let us know when you’re ready for your next contract and we’ll help you find the perfect one.
Contact Trusted Nurse Staffing and use the Pronto job search to find available travel nurse assignments whenever you’re ready.