Travel Nursing: A Simple Guide For Beginners

Have you thought about travel nursing, but are overwhelmed by the idea of it all? What agency should you use? What kind of credentials do you need? Where will you stay? And don’t even get me started on taxes! There is a lot to think about, and getting started can be a lengthy process. Not to mention you’re about to embark on a very unfamiliar journey. I remember being incredibly overwhelmed before my first assignment. There is an abundance of information that exists on this fast-growing field and sorting through all of it can be stressful for newcomers. This beginner’s guide is intended to give a basic outline on what to expect as a new travel nurse. This information is based on my own personal experiences. Everyone has a different story, and I am still learning new things every day.

1. Identify Your Goals

What are you looking to gain from travel nursing? Is it all about the $$$ for you? Is your biggest desire to travel to new and exciting places? Are you looking for professional development? Flexibility? Relief from burn-out? Better work-life balance? These can all be reasons to enter the world of travel nursing. Figuring out your specific goals, will help you when deciding on an assignment. For example, if your top reason for travel nursing is burn-out relief and better work-life balance, then a 48 hour per week assignment may not be a good fit. It is important to identify realistic goals before you begin your assignment search. If you need some help figuring out what your reasons are, check out my “Top 5 Reasons to Start Travel Nursing”.

2. Choosing A Recruiter

After some reflection on what you would like to gain from travel nursing, one of the first and most important steps is finding a recruiter. There are a multitude of travel nurse agencies out there. Some are great, and some are not so great. It is important to do your research on agencies, but I think choosing the right recruiter matters just as much, if not more. It is possible to have a completely different experience with the same agency simply by using a different recruiter.

Having Multiple Recruiters

Shopping for a recruiter is like dating. You aren’t going to mesh with everyone, but when you find the one can make all the difference. And much like dating, the blind dates don’t always go according to plan. I would suggest using a recruiter that has come by recommendation. This is how I found my first recruiter with TNAA (Travel Nurses Across America), and she has been one of my best! However, in this dating world, monogamy isn’t always the standard. Different agencies can offer different contract locations, pay packages, and more. It is a good idea to have a few options in your back pocket. As long as you are respectful of your recruiter’s time and effort, they should understand that you have to do what’s best for you, and sometimes that means using a different agency.

3. Securing an Assignment

After you’ve chosen a recruiter things start to move pretty quickly. Your recruiter’s goal is to get you placed in an assignment as soon as you’re ready. This process includes a good bit of paperwork, application submissions, interviews and offers, contract acceptance, compliance, and credential checks. Be mindful, if your looking to find a job quickly, that the entire process from searching for an assignment to starting an assignment can take up to a month. Below are the typical steps for this process:

1. Create Your Profile

Most agencies will begin by setting up a profile for you. These can include your job preferences, current resume, experience, certifications, skills checklists, travel/work history, and licenses. Your recruiter will compile these things into a profile that can be submitted to hospitals when applying for jobs.

2. Application Submission

Once your profile is created your recruiter can begin submitting you to jobs of your choice. A recruiter should never submit you to a job without your knowledge or say so. If they do, this is a red flag and I would advise you to begin looking for a new recruiter. At the same time, you should never submit to a job that you would not potentially accept an offer to. This only wastes time for the hospital, your recruiter, and yourself. Prior to a submission the recruiter should provide you with the potential contract details such as assignment dates, hours per week, shift times, stipend rates, hourly pay rate, and more. This is also the time to inform your recruiter on any time off that you will need during your assignment.

3. Interview and Offer

Next you wait. Sometimes an offer can come within 24 hours of submission. This is more likely if the agency is preferred with the hospital. Other times it can take up to a week or more to hear back. An offer is typically received in the form of a call from either the unit manager or from a third party. Some facilities perform an informal phone interview and some simply present you with an offer. Most hospitals expect a response within 48 hours, but if you are not ready to immediately accept it is always a good idea to ask how long you have to given an answer. I typically request 24 hours to consider the offer before responding.

4. Contract Acceptance

After accepting the offer, your recruiter should send you your contract terms. Read over this carefully to ensure that everything aligns with the terms that have been discussed. If you’re satisfied with the terms, congratulations! It’s time to sign!

5. Compliance

You’ve signed your contract, but you’re not finished yet! This is when the tedious work begins. Especially if this is your first contract. It’s time to ensure your nursing license, required certifications, drug screenings, vaccinations, background check, and education requirements are current and valid for the assignment location. Thankfully your recruiter and agency compliance staff are there to help you every step of the way.

Pro tip: Save your compliance PDFs and documents into a singular folder to make this task easier the next time! I have a folder on my desktop titled “Travel Nursing Compliance” that includes my resume, diplomas, licenses, ALS, BLS, PALS certifications, etc. If you choose to work with a new agency in the future this will make the start-up process less stressful.

4. Finding Housing

You have multiple different options when it comes to finding housing. Some agencies may have the option to cover housing, however, if you go with this option you will lose your per diem rate also known as your housing stipend. Per diem or “per day” pay is added to your weekly paycheck to cover housing and meals. This money can be non-taxed to travelers who are maintaining expenses in a tax home location separate from their travel assignment location. (More on this in the section about taxes).

Housing Assistance

My suggestion would be to pay for housing yourself. This doesn’t mean you won’t have support in locating a place to stay. Many agencies offer assistance in finding housing. TNAA for example, has multiple assistance options such as a leads list that can help guide you to traveler friendly housing. They also offer a financial assistance plan to help pay moving costs up front with a convenient repayment plan after you are settled. Always ask you recruiter about the different assistance options your agency can provide.

Furnished Finder and AirBNB

Personally, I have located housing on my own for each of my contracts and have used both AirBNB and Furnished Finder. I have had great success finding housing this way, and each place has had everything I needed. As a travel nurse a place that is furnished and includes all of the essentials is a important. I also travel with a cat so it is necessary for me to find pet-friendly housing. Keep in mind temporary housing, such as this is often going to be more expensive than your typical mortgage or rent back home. However the monthly rent should include utilities, wifi, waste services, etc. Always read reviews and do your research on the area before choosing a place to live. Safety is most important!

RV, Camper, or Hotels

Two additional options that I have not personally taken advantage of are RV/camper living and hotels. Many travelers choose the RV life and love it! You just have to locate an RV campsite and would need to pay rent here to qualify for your stipend.

5. Taxes

Dreaded taxes. It’s the thing no one wants to talk about, but it is very important when it comes to travel nursing. Taxes can get confusing quickly when you’re working in multiple different states throughout the year. And if you want to receive tax free stipends it becomes more complex. You must prove that you are maintaining a tax home. A tax home is not specifically the home you live in, it is the entire city or general area where your main place of business or work is located, regardless of where you maintain your personal home. There are so many rules that I had no clue about as a new travel nurse; how long you can work in a certain location, how to properly duplicate expenses, what to put on your W-4, how often to return to your tax home, etc. And there is even more misinformation out there.

Travel Tax

I use Travel Tax to manage all of my tax needs. They have been wonderful in making sure I am compliant with the IRS and have answered any questions I’ve had in the process. Working with a trusted company can provide peace of mind. Licensed tax professionals or CPAs are great for your normal tax needs, but most of them don’t always understand the rules regarding taxes for travel nurses. I ran into this problem when using a local CPA at the start of my travel nurse career. She told me that per diems didn’t exist anymore, which is obviously false. Do your research and choose your tax professional wisely. You don’t want to be in trouble with the IRS and travel nurses ARE getting audited.

Travel Tax also offers a tax home consult for $75. The consult is via phone with a travel tax team member and includes counseling on maintaining a tax home as well as answers to almost any other question you may have regarding taxes. I utilized this and am so thankful I did. I still refer back to the information in the recap email sent to me following the consult.

6. Have Fun!

The most important advice I can give is to find joy in this process. There are a lot of things to keep in mind, but at the end of the day travel nursing should be fun! You’re getting to explore new places, meet new people, and try new things! You’re hopefully getting to experience more flexibility with your time and finances. Take advantage of this. Learn to lean on your resources to remove the stress from everything, and never let fear stand in your way of experiencing something great.

There is a lot to learn about being a travel nurse, and I hope that this simple guide provides you with a good foundation so that you can have the chance to enjoy all that travel nursing has to offer.