If youβre an ICU nurse in todayβs tight labor market, youβre almost certainly familiar with travel nursing. But just what are the benefits of being an ICU travel nurse? And can you make friends and long-term connections while working as traveler?
The answer to the first question is that there are many advantages to being an ICU travel nurse. And the answer to that second question is: yes, youβll make a ton of friends along the way. Not only that, you might just meet the love of your life on assignment. But first things first: the pay!
1. Travel nurse positions pay more than regular staff jobs β a lot more
Thatβs the primary reason ICU travel nurse Matt Voorhis went for travel nursing five years ago. βEverybody who goes into travel nursing goes in for a different reason. Mine was financial,β Matt says. βI love making money, and I love investing money. Itβs one of the things that Iβm good at.β
It became clear how much more travel nurse jobs pay when he was working at a staff job in Missouri. βI spent almost six years there, two years on the step-down ICU, high-acuity ventilators, insulin drips, dopamine, high-acuity step down. And then I spent the last three and half in the cardiac ICU, also high acuity, ECMO, LVADS, all that stuff. I had patients, I was precepting, I was teaching a lot of the hemodynamics class, the EKG classes. I was ingrained in that whole entire hospital system.
βIt became more responsibilities on more responsibilities with almost no compensation. And I think what really turned for me was a couple of travel nurses came onto the unit. They were my age, a young couple, just married, and just having the time of their lives. They were telling me how much they made at the hospital I was working at which was like two to three times more than I was making, and they had way less responsibility.β
It wasnβt long before Matt decided to follow their example, and he hasnβt looked back
2. You might meet the love of your life
Matt didnβt just make more money as a travel nurse, he also met his future wife while on assignment.
βOn the first day of my contract, she was already there for a week, we met and became good friends for a while. Then I finally convinced her to go on a date with me,β he says. βThen we decided to take a contract down to San Diego for three months and see if it would work out. It worked out great. We spent a year down there together and did some more traveling and then we went to Costa Rica for a whole month because, why not? I proposed to her down there.β
3. You will grow your network
When it comes to making connections, you canβt beat travel nursing for expanding your network. One of Mattβs old college roommates, Bob Goldnetz, also went into ICU nursing and became a travel nurse several years ago. According to Bob, βYou meet other people and have such amazing experiences within such a short amount of time as a travel nurse.β
Matt agrees. βMy bachelor party is coming up and there will be 14 guys there, and I think probably 75% of them are from travelers who I met in California, Arizona, Florida, and Missouri. I really have a pretty neat network going on through the country now.β
Both Bob and Matt say they regularly get invited to try new experiences with other ICU nurses.
βOne assignment, I had been there a week, and one guy said you should come spear fishing with us,β Bob says. βYou never know who youβre going to meet, and everyone has something theyβre good at. Itβs kind of like traveling abroad, you meet a couple people, and you never know where youβre going to end up or who youβre going to meet.β
4. You can set your own schedule
Travel nursing allows you to choose where and when you want to work. Matt refers to this as βtime freedom.β
βYou donβt really have a lot of time freedom when youβre in a staff job because the days youβre off you usually have meetings,β he says. βBut with travel nursing, you have control of your time. You decide when you work and when you have off. Then when your contract ends, you can take as much time off as you want before your next one.β
He and his fiancΓ© have done just that. βWe spent 30 days and we toured the whole countryside of Costa Rica from the Caribbean to the Pacific. I mean, it was awesome. Weβve also done a lot of National Parks. We spent a week or two in Montana and did Glacier, so weβve done a lot of cool things. You design your contract around life events and weddings. You have so much control of your time, itβs incredible.β
5. It can help you build a financially solid retirement
Both Bob and Matt have used the better pay of travel nursing to set themselves up for retirement.
βWe just bought our property which is an Airbnb and weβre going to try and acquire more,β Matt says. βWeβre just trying to use this money and this time to start setting ourselves up for our future. Itβs been a great year. We bought a new house, we just bought a new car, we have no debt, weβve been able to save a ton of cash.β
6. It can help you recover from burnout
Tired of the politics? Tired of more and more responsibility at work all the time? Thatβs one more reason Matt and Bob recommend travel nursing.
βAlmost every traveler Iβve met has had that same goal. They want to step away from staff to make some money to then pursue their passions. Itβs because theyβve realized nursing is just a tough place to work. Itβs become an interesting field because we keep getting overburdened with responsibilities and more work,β Matt says.
With travel nursing, βUsually by the time any politics or drama comes up itβs about time to hit the road,β Bob says.
7. You just might enjoy life more
Working as an ICU travel nurse has helped Matt to find a better work/life balance and just enjoy living life.
βTraveling to me is just like you go with the flow. You let yourself be open to things,β Matt says. βYouβre in the hospital, you do what youβre told, and you just go with the flow. And outside, go with the flow.β
A great option for ICU travel nurses
No matter which of these perks of travel nursing appeals the most to you, both Bob and Matt say travel nursing is a great option for ICU nurses interested in increasing their income and having more schedule flexibility. Maybe youβll stay in ICU travel nursing for years, or just do it for a few assignments to bank some money or recover from burnout. Give it a go and you never know where your flow will lead you.
RELATED: 4 ways RNnetworkβs benefits make your life easier
Interested in learning more about travel nursing for ICU nurses? Give us a call at 800.866.0407 or view today’s travel ICU nursing jobs.
Add Comment