View jobs

Seven Steps to Getting Started in Travel Nursing  

Seven Steps to Getting Started in Travel Nursing  

Expert advice from a former travel nurse and healthcare career advisor

Are you curious about travel nursing? Perhaps you’ve wondered what it would be like to explore a new city and everything it has to offer, all while getting paid for it. Whether you have a passion for travel or enjoy working in a diverse environment, travel nursing presents endless opportunities. Here’s your guide to starting your travel nursing career. Traveling to new cities, embarking on exciting adventures and growing in your career is not only possible; it’s closer than you think! 

  1. Get your degree

Nurses who have completed an associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited program are eligible for travel nursing. If you’re just starting out, you can earn an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) degree in person or online in about one to two years, depending on your selected program. If you pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), expect the program to take around three years, based on transfer credits or prior coursework. Registered nurses (RNs) aiming to earn their BSN can often finish the program in a few months or less. There’s also an accelerated program that can be completed in under two years if you already hold a non-nursing bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

I began my nursing career as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) before deciding to pursue my RN license. I completed a one-year LVN to RN transition program and earned my associate’s degree in nursing. After graduation, I successfully passed my NCLEX-RN exam and secured my first hospital position. Eager to continue my education, I pursued a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) online at the University of Texas in Arlington while working full-time. I completed my degree in under a year. I have since worked as a staff nurse and a travel nurse, and I am currently serving as a clinical nursing manager for StaffDNA®.

  1. Reaching out to agencies

Once you’ve earned your degree, you need to choose the right healthcare hiring and staffing agency to help you get started with your job search. If you find yourself exploring options after hours and wish to see available opportunities in real time, I highly recommend downloading the StaffDNA app. This app shows thousands of current job postings along with pay details. While many companies advertise contracts without revealing important information, StaffDNA sets itself apart by prioritizing transparency.

  1. Onboarding process

 A seamless onboarding process is essential! You can learn a lot about a travel nursing company from how well-organized their onboarding is. Whether you’re a first-time traveler or an experienced nurse, our recruiters will guide you through every step. What sets StaffDNA® apart is the ability to build your profile independently using our app. This means less time spent waiting and more time devoted to finding your dream assignment while we handle the logistics!

  1. Land your dream assignment

Do you want to spend the summer hiking in Colorado? How about snowboarding in the mountains at Heavenly Resort in California? StaffDNA® has job opportunities across all 50 states! With the StaffDNA technology, it’s never been easier to find the right job. If you hold a compact license, you can work in any of the participating compact states. Holders of single-state licenses will need to apply to their destination state—a process our compliance team is ready to assist with. If this applies to you, let your recruiter know ASAP, as obtaining licensure can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Our compliance and recruitment teams are here to help you navigate licensing requirements while you focus on preparing for your next adventure.

  1. Check housing in those locations and sign that contract

While waiting for your contract offer, start looking for housing near the hospital where you’ll be working. Resources, like Furnished Finder, Airbnb, and even VRBO, have been my go-to for gauging the average cost of furnished rentals and setting a budget to ensure I don’t spend more than I earn. Some nurses have mentioned that they aim to spend no more than a week’s pay on housing. My top priorities are safety, location, and reasonable pricing when searching for potential places. Always read the reviews if available, communicate with the person renting it, and evaluate them as you would any apartment or house. It’s essential to have a contingency plan and a backup option for housing.

If this all seems overwhelming, let StaffDNA help secure housing for you. Share your preferences with your recruiter and we will be happy to provide options that suit your needs.  

  1. Plan accordingly

Get there at least two to three days before your assignment or more if you can. This gives you plenty of time to check out your housing, get acclimated to your area and plan your route from your temporary home to your contracted hospital. Also, if things don’t go well with housing, it gives you time to plan for option two or option three. If there is one thing I must emphasize, it is you must plan for the unexpected and be willing to adapt—these traits are essential to being a travel nurse. It’s also a good idea to reach out to local connections. I always found someone I knew, someone close to the city where I was working. I’d reach out for local recommendations, things to do, and more. 

  1. Your assignment and beyond

Day one is an exciting opportunity to make a positive impression. Greet your co-workers with a smile, introduce yourself and show your willingness to help. A positive attitude goes a long way in fostering connections and earning respect. Travel nurses are valued for resourcefulness and are expected to acclimate quickly to the team. Being a team player, proactive at work and communicating with your team and leadership will set you up for success.

As your assignment comes to a close, you have a few options: extend your current assignment (if offered) or transition to your next assignment. As I mentioned earlier, we always have the latest contracts available, and we will ensure you receive the assignment you desire with the pay you deserve. If this sounds fantastic, download our app and let’s get started!

Person with curly hair outdoors.

Kassandra Salazar

Clinical Nursing Manager

Check out these other great StaffDNA articles

Healthcare organizations face some of the toughest workforce challenges: tight budgets, lean IT teams and limited tools for sourcing, hiring and onboarding staff. Add in manual scheduling, rising labor costs and high burnout, and the pressure grows. Rolling out complex systems can feel out of reach without dedicated tech support. Even simply evaluating new technology can overwhelm already stretched-thin teams.

These challenges make it clear that technology isn’t just helpful; it’s essential for healthcare organizations. Especially when they’re striving to do more with less. Not only are healthcare organizations falling short on implementing new technology, but they’re struggling to update outdated systems. A 2023 CHIME survey found that nearly 60% of hospitals use core IT systems, such as EHRs and workforce platforms, that are over a decade old. Outdated tools can’t integrate or scale, creating barriers to smarter staffing strategies. But the opportunity to modernize is real and urgent.

Tech in Patient Care Falls Short

In healthcare, technology has historically focused on clinical and patient care. Workforce management tools have taken a back seat to updating patient care systems. Yet many big tech companies have failed when it comes to customizing healthcare infrastructure and connecting patients with providers. Google Health shuttered after only three years, and Amazon’s Haven Health was intended to disrupt healthcare and health insurance but disbanded three years later.

Why the failures? It’s estimated that nearly 80% of patient data technology systems must use to create alignment is unstructured and trapped in data silos. Integration issues naturally form when there’s a lack of cohesive data that systems can share and use. Privacy considerations surrounding patient data are a challenge, as well. Across the healthcare continuum, federal and state healthcare data laws hinder how seamlessly technology can integrate with existing systems.

Why Smarter Staffing Is Now Essential

These data and integration challenges also hinder a healthcare organization’s ability to hire and deploy staff, an urgent healthcare priority. The U.S. will face a shortfall of over 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026. At the same time, aging populations and rising chronic conditions are straining teams already stretched thin.

Smart workforce technology is becoming not just helpful, but essential. It allows organizations to move from reactive staffing to proactive workforce planning that can adapt to real-world care demands.

Global Inspiration: Japan’s AI-Driven Workforce Model

Healthcare staffing shortages aren’t just a U.S. problem. So, how are other countries addressing this issue? Countries like Japan are demonstrating what’s possible when technology is utilized not just to supplement staff, but to transform the entire workforce model. With one of the world’s oldest populations and a significant clinician shortage, Japan has adopted a proactive approach through its Healthcare AI and Robotics Center, where several institutions like Waseda University and Tokyo’s Cancer Institute Hospital are focusing on developing AI-powered hospitals.

Japan’s focus on integrating predictive analytics, robotics and data-driven scheduling across elder care and hospital systems is a response to its aging population and workforce shortages. From robotic assistants to AI-supported shift planning, Japan’s futuristic model proves that holistic tech integration, not piecemeal upgrades, creates sustainable staffing frameworks.

Rather than treating workforce tech as an IT patch for broken systems, Japan’s approach embeds these tools throughout care operations, supporting scheduling, monitoring, compliance and even direct caregiving tasks. U.S. health systems can draw critical lessons here: strategic investment in integrated platforms builds resilience, especially in a labor-constrained future.

The Power of Smart Workforce Technology

In the U.S., workforce management is becoming increasingly seen as more than a back-office function; it’s a strategic business operation directly impacting clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Smart technology tools are designed to improve care quality, staff satisfaction, scheduling, pay rates, compliance and much more.

For example, by using historical data, patient acuity, seasonal trends and other data points, organizations can predict their staff needs more accurately. The result is fewer gaps in scheduling, fewer overtime payouts and a flexible schedule for staff. AI-powered analytics can help healthcare leadership teams spot patterns in absenteeism, see productivity and forecast needs in multiple clinical areas in real-time. Workforce management tools can help plan scheduling proactively, rather than reactively. It’s a proven technology tool that can help drive efficiency and reduce costs.

Why So Many Are Still Behind

Despite the clear benefits, many healthcare organizations are slow to adopt smart tools that empower their workforce. Several things are holding them back from going all-in on technology:

Financial Pressures

Over half of U.S. hospitals are operating at or below break-even margins. For them, investing in new technology solutions is financially unfeasible. Scalable, subscription-based and even free workforce management tools are available, but most organizations are unaware of or lack the resources to source these products. Workforce management tools can deliver long-term return on investment for most organizations. Taking the time to understand where the value lies and which tools to invest in needs to happen.

Outdated Core Systems

Many facilities still depend on legacy technology infrastructure that lacks real-time capabilities. Many large players in the healthcare workforce management industry dominate hospital systems. Other smaller, real-time tools that offer innovative solutions to scheduling, workforce hiring, rate calculators and more are available at a fraction of the cost.

Competing Priorities and Strategic Blind Spots

Healthcare organizations and hospitals have many high-priority business objectives and regulatory demands. Digital transformation naturally falls down on the priority list, which causes them to miss improvements that can lead to long-term stability. With patient care and provider satisfaction at the top of the priority mountain, technology changes can be easily missed or shoved to the side when other business objectives are perceived to “move the needle” more.

Poor Change Management

Even the best technology efforts can fail without the right strategy for adoption and support from senior leadership. Resistance from staff, lack of training, or poor rollout communication can undermine success. Effective change management—clear leadership, role-based training and feedback loops—is essential.

Faster than the speed of technology

Change needs to come quickly to healthcare organizations in terms of managing their workforce efficiently. Smart technologies like predictive analytics, AI-assisted scheduling and mobile platforms will define this next era. These tools don’t just optimize operations but empower workers and elevate care quality.

Slow technology adoption continues to hold back the full potential of the healthcare ecosystem. Japan again offers a clear example: they had one of the slowest adoption rates of remote workers (19% of companies offered remote work) in 2019. Within just three weeks of the crisis, their remote work population doubled (49%), proving that technological transformation can happen fast when urgency strikes. The lesson is clear: healthcare organizations need to modernize faster for the sake of their workforce and the patients who rely on providers to deliver care.

 

Share On

Facebook
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
X
Email

Check out StaffDNA Insights