If you want to travel, you need experience—period.
David Morrison, RN
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I recently received a question from a woman who teaches an NCLEX review class. Her question was in regard to whether any travel
companies considered new graduates for travel positions. I was not able to help refer her to any, but I hope I was helpful
in steering everyone away from any company that would ever consider placing a new grad in a travel position.
There is a saying in nursing: "You will learn more your first year out of nursing school than the entire time you spent in nursing school." Obviously, this is meant to be an emphatic overstatement of the knowledge you receive in your first year
on the job but, realistically, is it that much of an overstatement?
First yearYour first year as a new grad is instrumental in shaping the way you will practice. This is the time when you will learn many
of the skills that nursing school just cannot teach. The first time you have eight patients on a medical floor, without an
instructor to fall back on, is certainly the time when you learn what it can be like out in the real world.
Your first year as a nurse is the time in which you develop your skill set. You become proficient in things like starting
IVs or inserting NG tubes and Foley catheters. You also learn about prioritization and how to triage your patient needs. While
a patient in one room might be loudly screaming out for you, maybe your focus needs to be on the quiet patient next door with
the agonal respirations.
You will learn how to interact with doctors and other healthcare staff. You will enhance the knowledge you received in nursing
school by seeing and caring for the types of patients you had only read about. You'll learn what is emergent and what can
wait. You'll learn ... well, let's face it, you'll learn more than you did in nursing school!
What to take
If you are still in nursing school, or a recent graduate, and know you want to travel, work toward gathering the skills that
will make you marketable as a traveler. If you work on a tele floor, take a 12-lead EKG class to increase your skill at recognizing
dangerous arrhythmias. If you work in L&D or OB, perhaps a PALS certification will help when it comes time to interview for
travel positions. While it does take a year's worth of experience before you can travel, that does not mean you cannot work
toward becoming a traveler who will stand out above the rest when you are ready to hit the road.
You can also consider cross-training in another area or becoming certified to perform a special procedure. Some hospitals
use nurses to place arterial and PICC lines. If you are an ICU nurse, why not try becoming a member of a rapid response team
or a CODE team? This type of versatility actually embodies the type of nurses that facilities are seeking when it comes to
travelers. Whatever opportunities present themselves in your first year of nursing, take them—they will only make you a stronger
nurse and a stronger traveler when the time comes.
Worth the wait
I knew upon graduation that I wanted to travel, but the mandate of a year's worth of experience by the travel companies forced
me to gain the experience I would need on the road. Travel nursing is not going away any time soon. It will be there when
you are ready, so take the time to prepare yourself. Know that a year is the minimum for most travel agencies, but also know
that for some nurses, it may take years of experience before they are comfortable facing the demands of travel nursing.
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