PROS AND CONS OF TRAVEL NURSING

Rohan Mathew

Updated on:

Travel nursing is undeniably a good profession, and it would explain why a lot of people are now interested in taking it up. Travel nursing involves the moving of nurses from one location to another to provide much needed medical services. With travel nursing, the nurses are not obligated to just one hospital but rather to whatever hospital or area that they are contracted to work at that particular moment. The concept of travel nursing is very beneficial to both society and practicing nurses. However, every profession has its merits as well as demerits and so does travel nursing. Some of the pros of cons of travel nursing Texas include:

PROS

Job Flexibility

One of the many benefits of travel nursing is autonomy. This means a travel nurse gets to choose her job. A travel nurse can decide not to take a job if she feels it is not suitable for her. She also gets to choose whatever country she wants to work in. Staff nurses don’t have this luxury.

Networking

Travel nursing jobs can be anywhere in the world. A travel nurse from the United States might get a job to work in a European country. Even though the job assignment is only for a short period, it involves meeting new people and inevitably means the nurses have access to a more extensive network of professionals both in their fields and in other fields.

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New Learning Opportunities

Different medical institutions may have different techniques in their provision of services. Since travel nurses get to work with different medical institutions and organizations, they can learn different approaches. This makes them more experienced and more equipped to handle any situation as compared to staff nurses who are used to just one particular environment.

Exploring New Worlds

Even though travel nurses move to new locations for work, they still enjoy the adventures of moving to a new environment. They are availed the opportunity to meet people of different cultures. For people who have always loved traveling, travel nursing allows them to travel and still be able to work.

Higher Salary

It is an undeniable fact that travel nurses get paid a higher salary than staff nurses. There are also many other benefits, including a travel allowance, a housing allowance that travel nurses get to enjoy.

CONS

Struggles Of Adapting To New Environment 

The stress of constantly traveling can be frustrating. This is because each time the nurses travel, they have to deal with new people, new job environments, and even new weather conditions. The constant adaptation to a new environment from time to time can be a lot to take on.

Being Away From Loved Ones 

Some travel nurses may take up jobs in a place far from home. This means that the nurses can’t just briefly visit home even though they will be away from their loved ones for thirteen weeks or more. This can cause the nurses to feel homesick and lonely from missing their families.

Short-Lived Relationships

By traveling from place to place, travel nurses get to meet a lot of people and form networking connections. Although this can prove helpful, whatever connection formed is often short-lived. For instance, if a travel nurse stays in a hospital for the standard thirteen weeks, the nurse will soon have to move again, thereby causing a strain in the newly formed friendships and relationships at the hospital.

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Processing Licenses

Because different states and countries give their professionals distinct licenses to practice, travel nurses will have to continuously process licenses whenever they take up a new job in a new location. While having multiple licenses can be an advantage, the process of getting the licenses might be stressful and overwhelming.

Career Trajectory

As time goes by, nurses that are regular staff in a medical institution start to move up in position, thereby taking up more responsibilities and possibly earning more. Unfortunately, a travel nurse does not get this chance. Even though the travel nurse already earns a considerably high amount of money, the nurse can only take available positions. There is no such thing as a promotion when working as a travel nurse since the travel nurse is always the newbie in every job assignment.

Before an individual chooses to venture into travel nursing, it is vital to have a clear understanding of everything that it entails. This would help make a well-informed decision. This means the individual should carefully assess the pros and cons before deciding.