Has Travel Nursing Fizzled Out?

Even though the travel nurse contract rates are quite lower than they were during COVID-19, it is still a great career choice, in my opinion.  I am going to share the top three reasons why I choose to continue as a travel nurse at this point in my career: 1) developing new skill sets; 2) financial savings; and 3) travel luxuries. 

1). Developing New Skill Sets

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One thing that I have learned during my travel nurse assignments and in general, is that life is a forever learning journey. No one knows everything; there is always room for growth and improvement. On a personal note, starting an IV line (a tube that goes in the vein to inject medications or fluids) can sometimes be difficult. However, I have developed different, helpful techniques for inserting IVs that I learned from some of my highly skilled nurse colleagues.

2). Financial Savings

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Of course, money played a huge factor when it came to choosing travel nursing contracts. As I previously stated, the contract rates were significantly higher when I first started travel nursing. However, after the rates were lowered, I became smarter with managing my money. I moved backed home, started spending money within my budget, and accepted travel nurse contracts that made sense financially. For example, a contract in Tennessee paid $2200/week, with the cost housing ranging between $1300-$1700/month. Therefore, I would travel from my homebase by personal vehicle, rather than booking a flight and utilizing car transportation services. Most importantly, I had a financial advisor, who guided me on budgeting, saving, investing, and planning for my future retirement.

3). Travel Luxuries

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Who wouldn’t enjoy the luxuries of traveling! Not only do I get to travel for work, but I also get to explore the different cities/states where my travel nurse assignments are located. I especially enjoy exploring with family and friends who visit during my assignments. In fact, I do not think I would have visited half of the places where I worked, if I was not a travel nurse. I definitely plan to continue taking advantage of this great opportunity.

Do you think travel nursing is fizzling out? Let me know down in the comments and share this post! 😃