Why You Should Consider Spending a Year as a Traveling Nurse

The nomadic lifestyle of a traveling worker is becoming more common than ever before. It’s the ideal job for someone who enjoys exploring the world, and it fills an essential need where labor is short.

One of these vital gaps is in the field of healthcare. Since the early, uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses have been in demand around the world. 

If this is your field and helping others recover is your passion, becoming a traveling nurse may be right up your alley. The need is so great that you can almost pick and choose where you go and what you do.

Not sure if the life of living in temporary homes is for you? Give it one year, then decide if you want to continue the same job. The experience you’ll pick up during that time could change your life!

1. It Builds Character

Maybe this was what your parents told you when they made you do something you didn’t want to do. But be honest—they were usually right, weren’t they?

The reason those uncomfortable situations “built” your character is that they forced you to step out of your comfort zone. Things you would never have done in your “right mind” became the stepping stones to something more amazing!

The same idea applies to doing something as comfort-zone-pushing as signing up to be a traveling nurse. 

You’ll always be in a new environment, meeting new people. By the time you become complacent, it will be time to pick up and go to the next place. These factors will teach you how to handle adversity and become more successful.

If this sounds scary, that just means you have all the more reason to go for it. Life begins outside your comfort zone!

2. The Benefits Are Ah-May-Zing

Nurses typically get paid pretty well, especially if they’re in a high-stress field like OR or ICU. The benefits aren’t too shabby, either.

Take those perks and multiply them, and you get the idea of how lucrative a travel nurse career could be for you.

Depending on your skills and experience, you could earn close to six figures in that trial year. The institution you work with matters, too. Some hospitals and private facilities are desperately seeking competent help and are willing to pay through the nose to get it.

Paid Living Expenses

Did we mention that your salary doesn’t include living expenses? No? That’s because travel nurses get a tax-free stipend for housing, travel, meals, and incidentals. 

Your long-term travel housing could be in a high-end hotel or in a residential home. Wherever your lodging ends up, the expenses are covered. This leaves you pocketing that high salary you’re netting.

Other Benefits

Of course, there are all the other advantages of picking up and leaving after the contract is over. 

For one thing, as a temporary worker, you get to stay out of office drama. You’re not going to be there long enough for the politics and attitudes to impact you too much. And you’re not obligated to commit to committees or meetings, either.

You’ll learn different skills, techniques, and equipment protocols. You’ll see the “same old” procedures approached in unique ways. These encounters will grow you as a nurse and give you advantages you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Although your benefits don’t include PTO, they do include flexible scheduling. You pick when you work and when you want to take your vacation time, then plan your schedule around those dates. 

What could be better? Especially when technology is changing the healthcare industry.

3. Your Horizons Are Broader

Millions of people want to explore outside of their backyard but can’t. Finances, family responsibilities, and other reasons tie them to the geographic limits around them.

As a traveling nurse, you get to put your excuses away and broaden your horizons. You’ll see new places, meet new people, and enjoy a level of culture many of us will never reach.

Your job will keep you busy, but during your free time, you’ll have opportunities for adventures and sightseeing. The year could be filled with chances to cross things off your bucket list across the country or globe.

And with all the new friends you’ll meet along the way, you’ll have the choice to enjoy the solo experience with each activity or invite a companion to go with you.

The friendships you make may be fleeting as you move on to your next job. Yet, some of them will become strong connections that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Conclusion

Your passion and dedication to the healthcare field are things that everyone around you appreciates. 

Your loyalty to your current position could be keeping you from traveling as a nurse. Still, with all of the advantages to spending a year on the road, imagine how many new lives you’ll impact.

The opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and travel for free doesn’t come along every day. 

Why not give it a try for a year? You never know—you might make it your permanent career!