Ask a Travel Nurse Question:
Hello, I’ve been a nurse for several years and am thinking about doing Travel Nursing. What I want to know is: How long is a Travel Nurse at each location? I kind of want to do Travel Nursing to explore places to live permanently and I also love traveling. Also, a couple bonus questions: Do you have a family? What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?
Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:
The amount of time you spend at any one location is often up to you. Contracts can vary in length from eight weeks all the way up to a year or two for some international travel. However, the most common contract you will find here in the states will be 13 weeks in duration.
After your initial contract, if the hospital still has a need, you can often extend your contract and do another 13 weeks. You can do this as long as the hospital has a need or allows you to stay. I have worked at places that do not allow Travelers to stay beyond a year (plus, you do run into some tax implications when committing to any one place for a year).
I do have a little one and that keeps me close to my home state of Arizona. However, I have still been able to take travel assignments within the area and even work a few strikes.
My top two locations would have to be Maui and L.A. I’ve worked three assignments in Maui, lasting a cumulative total of around two years. In L.A., I loved the atmosphere so much that I stayed three years total and worked several assignments that lasted over a year.