Friday, October 21, 2011

Travel Nursing Jobs Offer Flexibility And Choice

By Adriana Noton


Travel nursing jobs offer the choice of what location you work and in what type of environment. They also allow flexibility to choose, among other things, the hours you work. They give you the chance to train in the speciality of your choice when there are few opportunities to do so within commuting distance of your home. They give the nurse the chance to travel all over the country and all over the world and the opportunity to meet new people.

Mingling with other professionals can help you build on your nursing skills. It also provides opportunities for personal and social growth. It can also help you to develop skill in a hobby or pastime like skiing in the mountains of Colorado or deep sea fishing off the coast of Florida or California. If you are especially adventurous, you can travel to other countries and gain a broad perspective of the health professions.

Some nursing specialities have more vacancies than others. Oncology, operating theaters and midwifery offer fewer opportunities than community nursing, emergency medicine or care of the elderly. If you have a particular interest in, say, midwifery, being prepared to travel will open more opportunities for you.

There are specialized recruitment agencies that handle openings for nurses to want to travel. It can take a while to identify the agency that suits you best. There is also an initial commitment in time to assemble the necessary documentation. You will be asked to complete an application form and provide evidence of your qualifications and any licenses that you hold. You will also need to verify that you have had the required immunizations and proof of your current TB status, either by a recent test result of chest x-ray. Your agency may request other documentation.

Inside the United States of America, pay rates vary depending on whether you are located in the south, where wages are lower, or in the western or northern areas of the country, where pay is higher. Positions that offer a wide range of benefits (free accommodation, car rental, insurance, etc.) will offer a correspondingly lower rate of pay.

Further afield from North America, there is even more variety in terms of wages and benefits. For instance, the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom pays considerably less than private hospitals. On the other hand, because they are one of the largest employers in the country, they have better purchasing power in terms of benefits like career development, pensions, etc.

A lot of agencies employ people that help people put together a curriculum vitae (CV), or resume. The candidate provides information such as personal details, education and employment histories. The specialist will create the document and the candidate may amend it keep it up to date. Some agencies also host social networking, both virtual and 'real'. This enables the job seeker to communicate with other nurses in a similar position.

Most of all, travel nursing jobs offer flexibility. If choosing your own hours is more important to you than which state you reside in (perhaps you have young children), then your agency will be able to focus on postings that offer what you want.




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