Starting travel nursing without an emergency fund might leave you:
- anxious being job insecure
- spending saved money
- going into debt
- in the hole covering unforeseen travel costs
Why you need an Emergency Fund for Travel Nursing
An emergency fund?!
ugh....
I know what you're thinking.
You: "I'm travel nursing to MAKE money! Why do I need money BEFORE I start travel nursing??"
Me: You need an emergency fund because travel nursing is more risky than staff nursing.
In what ways?
Travel nursing is more risky because you:
- You could get cancelled - travel nursing jobs are less secure than staff
- Your travel nurse job security depends on whether the hospital (or facility) needs your help and can afford to pay you above-market value for a nurse's job.
- Unfortunately, you could get cancelled anytime from contract signing all the way through to when you finish your assignment.
- You have to move - that means a new house & work environment.
- 🚗 Travel issues
- Your car or flights or travel plans aren't working out
- car issues traveling to your assignment
- delayed/cancelled flights
- Unexpected car maintenance
- Can you handle unexpected car costs on assignment?
- Your car or flights or travel plans aren't working out
- 🏥 Work issues
- You might not like the job
- Toxic work environment
- Your family emergencies
- Unsafe staffing or unit policy
- Your job might get cancelled
- Your job depends on whether:
- the hospital needs you AND
- the hospital can pay above market value for your job
- Your job depends on whether:
- Can you handle income gaps?
- You should be able to cover periods when you're between travel nursing jobs or searching for your next assignment, so you're not pressured to settle for mediocre jobs.
- You might not like the job
- 🏠 Housing issues
- Your housing isn't what you expected
- bad location
- bad vibes
- scammy
- Can you handle the cost of switching housing if your place doesn't work out?
- Your housing isn't what you expected
- 🚗 Travel issues
How much should an Emergency Fund be?
** I recommend an Emergency fund that covers 3-6 months living expenses.**
You deserve
- less anxiety on the job search
- less pressure to settle for bad deals
- more time between jobs
- have savings to cover unforeseen costs
- to switch jobs or housing if you need to
Give yourself a healthy-sized emergency fund so you can handle issues without them wrecking your travel nurse experience.
Give yourself cushion with savings so you take home profit at the end of your travel nursing assignment.