Education

In general, having a bachelor’s degree in nursing is preferable for breaking into the field of travel nursing. However it’s not required! It’s possible to work as a travel nurse with just an associates degree, it just may be a bit harder to land contracts. There are also travel postings out there for LPNs, but they seem pretty limited so you may have to search a bit and be willing to wait longer to get your first contract.

Experience

Once you graduate it’s important to get some experience in one chosen specialty if you’re hoping to jump into travel nursing sooner rather than later. You’ll likely need at least one year of experience before you can get a contract as a travel nurse, and even then it may take a bit with such limited experience. Dan is an example, however, of someone with just under one year of experience who was able to get a contract. He technically had eleven months of experience working at a hospital on a med/surg floor when he got his first contract, though he had over a year of experience working as an RN in general.

Specialty

Like I said before, you can travel nurse as an RN (with a BSN or ADN) or even an LPN. In addition to that, there are endless possibilities for what specialty you could work in as a travel nurse, though all require prior experience in the specialty you plan to work in. In general, most specialties require one year of experience before you can work as a travel nurse in that specialty, though some require more.

That said, if you’re already established in your career as a nurse, as most travel nurses are it turns out, you shouldn’t have a problem finding contracts for whatever specialty you work in. We’ve even met travel nurses who work (or worked) doing dialysis both in the hospital setting as well as home-health or private clinics. Though they’re technically not nurses, it seems worth it to mention that there are lots of travel opportunities for ultrasound technicians as well! There is such a demand for healthcare professionals of every kind that it seems most people in the field would be able to work as a traveler if they wanted to.

Age

Dan and I were both somewhat surprised when I started looking into some statistics on what the main demographics are for travel nurses. No one’s surprised that it’s majority women (but of course men can be nurses and travel nurses too!), but we were surprised to find that most of travel nurses are over the age of 40.

It’s honestly kind of an inspiring statistic in a way. Our culture is so saturated with the idea that you have to travel and do all of those adventurous things when you’re young and before having kids, but many people find so many different ways to do those things a bit later in life as well! Dan and I are intrigued by the idea of stepping back into the world of travel nursing again later in life. We may not wait until we’re in that specific age bracket, but who knows? We may end up hopping in and out of travel nursing for decades!

Relationship Status

Whether you’re dedicated to travelling with friends, a spouse or significant other, a whole family, or by yourself, it’s possible to work as a travel nurse! I’m not saying it will always be easy, or that some of those options aren’t easier than others, but there are plenty of people who make it work in each of those categories. Even if you have young kids, your friends are nurses too, or your spouse isn’t a nurse, it’s possible.

Travel nursing contracts can be short and it’s possible to do local contracts, so some people choose to do a period of long-distance dating. Others travel together either both as travelling healthcare professionals, or not. In a time when so many jobs are going remote (or at least have the option of being remote), it’s more possible than ever to travel nurse as a family, whether that includes children or not.

We’ve met families who went on the road together before, and it seems that most choose to homeschool if their kids are of school age. Many buy an RV or fifth wheel to make their living situation more stable, while others do one contract a year as a summertime adventure. Another option is picking one place that you’ll choose to stay (extend your contract) for as long as possible (one year is the max).

travel nursing may be more achievable than you think

I think travel nursing is a lot more achievable for people in all different life situations than they realize. It’s so much fun, really growing, and a great adventure that we would definitely recommend at least considering. That said, it’s also a huge challenge and can be quite destabilizing, so it’s definitely not for everyone! If you know a bit of what to expect when going into it though, I think everyone can find that it’s a truly incredible and rewarding experience.

Check out our Travel Nursing FAQ page for more information!