Travel nurses enter into short-term contracts that may require long trips or temporary living away from home. Again and again they have to get used to new colleagues, new protocols and new jobs.
So why would nurses leave their stable jobs to become travel nurses?
Well, for one thing, they get bigger salaries. But nurses in the US have reasons other than making more money, according to a study I conducted.
To conduct this study, I interviewed 27 registered nurses based in various locations.
Many of the people I interviewed revealed that they had left permanent positions to combat burnout. Although they welcomed the increase in pay, travel nurses also gave them the autonomy to decide when and where to work. This autonomy allowed them to pursue personal and professional interests that were meaningful to them and made some of the other hassles, such as long commutes, worthwhile.
Besides making more money, breastfeeding while traveling “gives you the opportunity to explore different areas,” said a nurse I’ll call Cynthia because research rules require anonymity. “When you actually live there for three months, it gives you a chance to really immerse yourself in the area and really get to know not only the touristy stuff, but really hang out with the locals and really be exposed to that area.”
Other survey participants said they enjoyed the novelty and educational opportunities.
“You won’t get bored or stuck in a routine,” Michelle said. “You’re always trying to learn new policies at the new hospital you’re at, learning about new doctors, nursing staff, new ways of doing things, where things are. It helps me not feel burned out so quickly.”
Patricia said: “I want to see how other operating theaters in the country are doing things and how they are doing things differently. I really learn a lot by moving from place to place.”
Elaine Cromie/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Why it matters
A growing number of nurses in the US were receiving temporary assignments before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But travel nurses became much more common in 2020, when hospitals struggled to maintain sufficiently high staffing levels as millions of Americans contracted the coronavirus, straining capacity in many communities.
Although compensation varies widely, the median pay for registered nurses in 2022 was $81,220, about 35% less than the $110,000 that registered nurses who traveled earned.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel nurses can earn an even bigger premium. Many of them were paid twice as much as nurses.
As the number of Americans with severe symptoms declined, so did that premium. But there are still more than 1.7 million traveling nurses in the U.S. Hiring them is one of the main ways hospitals are addressing the long-term nursing shortage.
But full-time nurses may resent this arrangement when they learn how much more travel nurses earn for doing the same work, as I discovered through another research project.
What other tests are being done
Research supports a widespread trend: More Americans have temporary and freelance jobs than in the past.
While travel nurses can help hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ offices meet staffing needs, there are signs that patients aren’t always doing well in their care.
And a Canadian study found that when hospitals let nurses work part-time and offer other alternative arrangements, their retention rates can rise.
A research brief is a summary of an interesting academic paper.
