Have you ever thought about becoming a travel nurse or just testing the waters with that first assignment, but wondered if you would make a good travel nurse? If so then here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine if travel nursing and you would be a good match.
Am I adaptable enough to be a travel nurse?
While at the hospital a travel nurse needs to be open minded and flexible and recognize that there are many ways to do things when she encounters new experiences. And at home a travel nurse needs the uncanny ability to make the best of situations and know how to adapt to different housing types since one assignment you could be in a small apartment and the next in an ocean side rental.
Am I confident enough to be a travel nurse?
A travel nurse needs to have the confidence in her clinical skills to come in and hit the ground running when she arrives on assignment. she needs to be poised and assertive without being abrasive.
Am I organized enough to be a travel nurse?
Being a travel nurse involves a certain level of chaos. Between paperwork, balancing finances, paying taxes in multiple states and mini-moves there are a lot of things to take care of in a travel nurses life so a love of organization is helpful to a stress free experience.
Am I friendly enough to be a travel nurse?
As a travel nurse there are a lot of opportunities to meet new people, but if that is not something you enjoy then you may need to work on it to really enjoy being a travel nurse. It takes good people skills to deal successfully with the constant changing work environments (unless you extend) and being the new face on the floor.
Am I eager enough to be a travel nurse?
Travel nursing naturally presents you with learning opportunities so being excited about becoming a better nurse and learning new skills is going to help you not only be more successful as a travel nurse, but also enjoy it more.
Am I resilient enough to be a travel nurse?
Not every travel nursing job is going to turn out to be a dream assignment, so a good travel nurse knows how to keep her chin up and find the best in any situation. But this is much easier knowing the assignment is only 13 weeks if it is not the best experience.
Am I a hard enough worker to be a travel nurse?
Taking a travel nursing assignment is often sold as a “working vacation” and on many levels that is true since you get to go live in new places and go from tourist to local in 3 short months, but don’t forget about the “working” part. If a hospital has brought in a traveler it is because they are likely short-h and ed already and you are there to help alleviate that situation for the permanent staff, which means working hard. But don’t be a push over either, make sure you have discussed any overtime or floating potential with your recruiter so you know when to make your st and when you need to.
Remember though you will never really know if you will be a good travel nurse until you try it so if you are interested just try out an assignment or two and see what you think.