April 19, 2024

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Why a Travel Nursing Job in Tennessee Can Be the Best Option for Your Career

Experience both spontaneity and security with a travel nursing job in Tennessee.  If you are an RN, you can be matched with available positions at various health care facilities around the country.

Enjoy the benefits of seeking out adventure in new places, meeting different people, experiencing various skills, and being exposed to multiple specializations in your career.  Being a travel nurse gives you the best of the best that this country can offer in the nursing profession. You get paid handsomely while working with a job you love.

The Job Description of a Travel Nurse

What do travel nurses do?  Travel nurses are typically assigned to healthcare facilities for a duration of eight and twenty-six weeks.  They provide temporary medical assistance on short-term assignments.

They are a great help in healthcare facilities as they fill in the need when healthcare facilities fall short of their core staff.  As a travel nurse, you will expect to fulfill the following responsibilities:

  • Perform the general rundown of RN duties, which will vary from one assignment to another
  • Recording patient history
  • Performing routine check-ups
  • Measuring vital signs
  • Assessing and recording symptoms
  • Making diagnoses
  • Discussing treatment
  • Administering medicine to the patient
  • Helping doctors during exams and surgeries
  • Dressing wounds and incisions
  • Conducting basic lab work

Job Requirements

The most important element to entering a travel nurse job in Tennessee is experience.  Most travel nurse agencies and hospitals require a minimum of two years of nursing experience before applying for a travel nurse contract.  

If you will be working in a specialized unit, such as labor and delivery or ICU, you may be required more years of experience as a travel nurse in that specialization.  Included in the job requirements are:

  • License Requirements:  active RN license or LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) depending on the location and staffing needs of the assignment
  • Additional licensure in the state if required
  • Basic certifications of Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) to sign on with a travel nursing agency
  • Credentials in the specialty in a specific unit if you plan to specialize.  For example:
  • CCRN certification for critical care
  • NRP for labor and delivery and postpartum care
  • CPN for pediatric care
  • CEN for emergency care
  • Strong clinical background
  • Leadership skills
  • Expertise in the field
  • Adaptability
  • Flexibility
  • Solid communication skills
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Reliability

The Salary of a Travel Nurse

Travel nurses make an average between $1,300 to $2,700 per week.  Hence the annual average salary ranges from $44,727 to $106,985.  The pay for a travel nurse job varies based on the state, the travel staffing agency, and the department the nurse works in.

A travel nurse that specializes in areas like Neonatal Intensive Care, Operating Room, Cardiac Cath Lab, and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit will; get higher wages than a Medical-Surgical travel nurse.

A great advantage of a travel nurse job in Tennessee is the perks (depending on the agency) such as:

  • Non-taxed stipends for housing and living expenses
  • Stipends are paid on top of the nurse’s hourly rate
  • Medical, dental, vision insurance
  • 401K investment options
  • Sign-on, completion, and referral bonuses
  • Free continuing education courses
  • License reimbursement
  • weekly/Bi-weekly Pay
  • Tax Advantage Plan
  • Life insurance
  • Liability insurance, disability insurance, and worker’s compensation
  • 24/7 Support or emergency line, in case help is needed in any situation

Some travel nursing companies provide additional incentives like an upfront round trip airfare and provide a rental car if needed.  There are other companies that go over and beyond and offer retirement plans.

Rewards of a Travel Nursing Job in Tennessee

The main goal for a travel nurse job is to improve patient outcomes throughout the country.  Travel nursing agencies educate the healthcare professionals that they staff and detail about the healthcare facility and city they will be traveling to and the nursing industry as a whole.

Travel nursing jobs in Tennessee cover nearly the entire spectrum of specialties in both inpatient and outpatient healthcare facilities.  Whether you love the city or the freedom in wide open spaces, your preference can be accomodated from big cities to community facilities in suburbs and smaller towns.  You don’t have to apply for a new state license to work in Tennessee if you already hold a multistate nursing license..

It is an adventurous journey to hold a travel nursing job in Tennessee.  There is a mix of rewards and benefits like being in-demand in a booming industry, incredible flexibility, opportunity to work in a range of different settings all over the country, opportunity for growth and development in the skill and knowledge needed in the profession, and exploring new work environments and places.