How to Become a Travel Nurse: Your 5-Step Plan to Start with Confidence

If you're interested in travel nursing and want clear steps on how to become a travel nurse, you're in the right place.

This article will help you become a travel nurse with leverage so you can land the highest paying jobs with confidence.

I'm Veronica, and I'm a travel nurse. After years of travel nursing, chats with 100’s of fellow travel nurses and recruiters from 500+ agencies, I’ve got the inside scoop on travel nursing to help you.

Short on time? Skip straight to my Quick Start guide below. However - I REALLY recommend reading this entire article.

Do your own travel nurse research before talking to travel nurse agencies - trust me!

Researching in advance will help you avoid:

• Lowball pay
• Missing out on money
• Bait & switch jobs
• Getting scammed
• Other common travel nurse pitfalls

You'll find all my favorite travel nurse experts included so you can take tips from lots of different sources. Happy learning!

Table of Contents

• How to become a Travel Nurse in 5 steps: Quick Start!
• What is a Travel Nurse?
• Travel Nurse Requirements
• What are the Best Travel Nursing Agencies?
• How to Negotiate Travel Nurse Pay
• Best Travel Nurse Blogs
• Travel Nurse Job Boards: An Objective Comparison

How to become a Travel Nurse in 5 Steps - Quick Start!

a

1. 🩺 Become an Experienced RN

• Earn your degree: RN Travel nurses can have a BSN or ADN. You can also travel nurse with your NP or APRN, your ADN or ASN or AAS, your LPN or LVN, or your CNA.
• Pass your Nurse licensing exam, get your state licenses.
• Gain 1-2 years nurse specialty experience & certifications: 1 year at minimum, 2+ years is better

2. 📂 Get your Travel Nurse Requirements organized

• Prepare your required docs to apply: Licenses, Certifications, Resume updated, 2+ References from past year (usually 1+ from RN Charge/Mgr)
• Get your burner phone number and your private email BEFORE you contact travel nursing agencies to avoid spam.
• Prepare your Emergency fund: you need 3-6 months living costs.

3. 💻 BEFORE talking to Agencies: Research the Travel Nursing Job Market

• Research travel nurse salary rates, taxes & application process BEFORE talking to agencies.
• Check current travel nurse pay trends & compare the best jobs from 500+ agencies
• Do your Math: Calculate your minimum pay to make travel nursing worth it

4. 🖐️ Choose 2-5 Travel Nurse Agencies to work with

• Contact agencies that have jobs you want using your burner phone number & private email to avoid spam.
• No single agency is best or has all the jobs - you need full profiles with 2-5 agencies for more job options & leverage for better pay.
• Your best travel RN companies need: great jobs, good pay & benefits, and responsive & transparent recruiters.

5. 🤝 Work with 2-5 Travel Nurse Agencies to land jobs & start work

• Have recruiters from 2-5 different agencies submit you to jobs that meet your pay & location goals
• Research locations before you sign: Before you sign contracts research your potential hospitals, housing availability, & travel plans.
• Read before you sign: Understand your travel nursing contract terms before committing.
• Begin your first assignment after close communication with your recruiter & facility leadership!

What is a Travel Nurse?

A travel nurse is a nurse that works a temporary assignment to supplement full-time staff, usually in a hospital or healthcare facility.

The main differences between travel nurses and staff nurses are:

Is it hard to become a Travel Nurse?

Some might consider it hard to become a travel nurse. But if you already are a nurse, or healthcare worker, becoming a travel nurse or travel healthcare worker is easily within reach.

Becoming a travel nurse will be much easier if you take your time researching travel nurse requirements and learn how travel nursing works. That way you can learn what to expect and make your travel nurse career decisions in your own best interest with more information.

How long does it take to become a travel nurse?

You need at least 1 year of nursing experience to become a Travel Nurse - it's better if you have 2 or more!

Although some travel nurse agencies & facilities accept 1 year of experience for travel nurse jobs, 2+ years in your RN specialty will be safer for you, your license & your patients.

Travel nurse jobs require that you are ready to enter an unknown facility and supplement the unit staff by taking responsibility for a full patient load with only a few days orientation.

2+ years experience handling higher-acuity patients in your specialty should allow you to meet those minimum travel nurse requirements.

If you recently switched nursing specialties, but more than 2+ years RN experience, travel nurse companies and facilities will usually still require you to have at least 1 year recent experience in the specialty you want to travel nurse in.

All travel nurses, including CNA's, LPN/LVN's & RN's need 1-2 years of specialty experience before they take a travel nursing job.

Your possible timeline to become a Travel Nurse

The soonest you can become a travel nurse is 1 year after you earn your license & gain experience in your specialty.

Here's how long each step to become a travel nurse usually takes:

• Get your nursing degree - 2-4 years
• Gain nursing specialty experience - 1-2+ years
• Research Travel Nursing industry, jobs & agencies - 1-3 months
• Compare travel nursing jobs, apply & receive offers - 1-3 weeks
• Give notice at work & travel to your first assignment - 2-3 weeks

Remember: It's safer for you to have 2+ years of nursing experience before you become a travel nurse.

Travel Nursing for New Grads

New Graduate nurses can't get hired as travel nurses. All travel nursing jobs require at least 1-2 years of nursing experience before you start your first travel nursing assignment.

1+ year RN experience in your specialty is the minimum qualification for travel nurses. I recommend gaining 2+ years experience in your nursing specialty before becoming a travel nurse.

2+ years of nurse specialty experience will more adequately prepare you for travel nursing. Accepting a travel nursing job means you're agreeing to accept a full patient load and give safe patient care in an unfamiliar work environment with only a few days of orientation.

Getting 2+ years of nursing experience will give you more confidence in your travel nurse role, protect your license & ensure you can deliver safe healthcare to your patients.

The best way to prepare yourself for travel nursing as a new grad is to build strong nursing skills for 1-2 years learning how to treat high-acuity patients in your specialty with confidence, and obtain licenses & certifications relevant to your specialty.

Cultivate strong professional relationships with your nursing & healthcare co-workers, charge nurses & nurse managers. Focus on learning from their experience and networking with them for future job opportunities. You'll need great references from your leadership and co-workers for travel nursing jobs in the future.

What are the Best Travel Nursing Agencies?

No agency has all the jobs, you'll need to complete profiles with 2-5 agencies for more job options & leverage for better pay.

There's no single best travel company for nurses.

Don't make the mistake of only working with 1 agency - this will limit your travel nurse opportunities and your travel nurse salary earning potential.

**Start choosing your travel nurse agencies by contacting the ones that have jobs you're interested in. **

And remember, USE YOUR BURNER PHONE NUMBER & EMAIL!

Even though completing profiles for multiple traveling nurse agencies sounds tedious, having your documents ready to go will make the process much less painful.

Your best travel RN companies must-haves:

• Great jobs in your specialty & locations you want
• High pay compared to current market rates
• Good benefits ie. day 1 medical insurance, guaranteed hours, housing assistance, 401k
• Responsive recruiters that are helpful & transparent

Remember you don't need to be friends with your travel nurse recruiter. But you do need to be able to trust your recruiter professionally.

Think of your recruiter & agency as your temporary HR as you're choosing a travel nurse agency.

For the duration of your travel nurse assignment your recruiter has multiple roles including:

• Helping you get hired
• Submitting your profile to apply for jobs
• Your agency point of contact
• Your liaison between you and your hospital
• Handling your pay and contract details

And if anything goes sideways with your recruiter, you can switch to a different recruiter within the same agency, with no issues.

Questions to ask Travel Nurse Agency

Here's some questions to help you find your best travel nurse agencies with great jobs:

• What sets your agency apart?
• What agency resources are available if I have issues?
• What benefits can I get?
• Do your benefits start day 1 of my contract?
• Can you send me your health insurance coverage & cost details?
• Does your agency provide housing?
• Can you accommodate my requested time off?
• For each job - What are the pay package details? Which hospital?

How to Negotiate Travel Nurse Pay - My Top 5 Tips

Do your calculations for your minimum income requirements if you haven't already!

Keep your minimum pay package needs & other travel nursing goals in mind as you compare open travel nurse positions with your recruiter.

Don't wait until your first travel nurse job offer to start negotiating with your recruiters.

Start negotiations early by researching the travel nursing job market.

1. Understand Travel Nurse Pay

You should already understand how travel nursing pay works & be aware of current pay package rates for the jobs you want - this will help you negotiate. Take the time to research if you haven't already!

2. Use your blended hourly rate to compare job offers

Break down each pay package offer to a blended hourly rate to make quick comparisons.

3. DON'T DISCLOSE YOUR MINIMUM PAY needs with your recruiters

You could be reducing your pay potential to that number. If they ask for your preferred salary range, give them your upper range number. You can decide later if you're willing to drop from there, but you should start negotiating from the upper end of your travel nurse salary goals.

4. Tell recruiters that you're working with multiple travel nursing companies

Keep them posted on your job search progress. This is good for negotiating and creates a transparent, open communication environment for both you & your recruiter. You can even discuss competing offers with recruiters to incentivize them to match pay offers.

5. Negotiate your reimbursements

You should try to get the agency to cover as many costs as you can without adjusting your weekly pay to cover those costs. Examples include travel, parking, certifications, state licenses, etc.

I've had success with these tips from this article on negotiating travel nurse pay & contracts from bluepipes.com - one of my favorite travel nurse blogs. You should check them out!

How to Apply to be a Travel Nurse

• Choose 2-5 different travel nurse agencies with jobs you want & helpful recruiters.
• Complete your profile with 2-5 agencies - This includes your travel nurse requirements, verifying your references & completing a skills checklist.
• Have your preferred recruiters from 2-5 different agencies submit you to jobs that meet your pay & location goals.

You have two choices: You can either have your auto-submit you to jobs that meet your goals or they can get your permission first.

If you allow your recruiter to auto-submit you to jobs, there's no commitment until you sign the contract. And you can slide into great jobs as soon as they are available in the agency system.

If you require your agency get your approval before submitting to jobs you keep control & can track your submissions. The drawback is you may miss out on great jobs as they fill fast.

BUT! Don't worry if the travel nurse jobs you want are filling.

Keep this in mind about travel nurse jobs:

• 15,000 new travel nurse jobs open every day
• If your preferred job is already closed, the agency will have similar open jobs you want now or soon - possibly the exact same position.

Can you apply to multiple travel nurse jobs?

Yes! And your recruiters from your 2-5 chosen travel nurse agencies should help you submit your full profile to apply to multiple jobs.

There's no commitment for travel nurse jobs until you sign a contract, so applying for multiple jobs will open more opportunities for you.

Try not to apply to the same job twice through different agencies - this can cause confusion for the facility on which agency will represent your contract and can cause delays in hiring or the possibility that both your application will be removed.

Just be upfront with your agencies that you're working with multiple (this is normal) & keep track of jobs & hospitals you've applied to.

How long should you wait to hear back from a job?

A travel nurse job can take anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks to get back to you. If you're antsy to start work, keep submitting your applications every few days to jobs you want from your 2-5 chosen travel nurse agencies.

Travel Nurse Questions to ask Hospital

Some travel nurse jobs are offered without an interview.

If you get an opportunity to interview with your hospital, you should focus on getting your questions answered to make sure this job's a good fit for you.

If you don't get a chance to interview your hospital, ask your recruiter to get these questions answered.

Here's a list of questions you should ask about your travel nurse assignment hospital/facility:

• What's the charting system?
• Are there other travelers on the unit?
• What's the proposed schedule look like?
• Can special schedule requests be accommodated? Ie. Request time off, Block schedule etc.
• What's the patient population and acuity like?
• What are the usual staffing ratios?
• What exams are required to pass to work on the unit?
• What's the unit scrub color?
• Are there possibilities for overtime or an extension?
• What's the cost & location of parking?
• Are call shifts expected?
• What will facility and unit orientation look like?
• What's the unit break culture like?
• What's the float policy?

Travel Nurse Contract Checklist

Before you commit to a travel nurse assignment:

• Research potential hospitals/facilities - look up reviews
• Make sure you have affordable housing options - ask your recruiter for options
• Research what your travel plans & costs would be

Before you sign your travel nurse contract:

Take 24-48 hours with your contract to read & review - make sure you're not getting screwed.

Contact recruiter with any questions.

Make sure you can answer these questions about your contract:

• What are the contract conditions?
• What's the pay for any hours worked over contracted hours? (different than 'overtime')
• What are the penalties if you are unable to complete your contract for any reason?
• Can you get out of the contract if you feel that you, your license or your patients are in jeopardy?
• Are there penalties for your missed hours? (for calling in)
• Are there guaranteed hours or any cancellation protection with this job?
• Are the schedule requests, time off, overtime & holiday pay rates per expectations?
• Is the float policy outlined?

Put your contract into Chatgpt to help you understand the finer points - prompt "Explain this contract to me like I'm 5. What are my work expectations?" Ask Chatgpt questions about your contract.

Remember to remove personally identifying information (PII) such as names, phone number, emails, or any other personal info from your contract before inputting into any AI system.

Begin your first assignment as a Travel Nurse

After you sign your first travel nurse contract, keep in close communication with your recruiter -

• Get hospital check-in instructions
• Get directions for on-boarding & orientation
• Book housing for at least your first week
• Get yourself to your travel nurse assignment location!

Best Travel Nurse Blogs

Don't rely on agencies to teach you everything you need to know on how to become a travel nurse.

Travel nurse companies can and do get information wrong. Even if it's not on purpose. Travel nurse agencies want to get you into a job ASAP.

BEFORE you talk to agencies, research travel nursing on your own so you'll spot incorrect or misleading information faster.

Always verify and research all information from travel nurse agencies (& your fellow travel nurses), especially before signing a travel nurse contract.

Here are my favorite travel nursing blogs, full of useful info you should look into:

• BluePipes - has a Travel Nurse Job Board
• The Gypsy Nurse - has a Travel Nurse Board
• TravelNursing.org - has a Travel Nurse Board
• Nomadicare
• Pan Travelers
• Passports & Preemies

Travel Nurse Job Boards: An Objective Comparison

Looking for the best travel nurse job boards to research the travel nurse job market?

Finishing up

Thanks for reading! I jam-packed this article with all my favorite advice to help you become a travel nurse with power and leverage.

You deserve a satisfying and successful travel nurse experience and I'm here to help.