Being a travel nurse means answering the call for adventure and facing unique challenges. It also means making unexpected, difficult decisions. For example, what if you love an assignment so much that you don’t want to leave? When you love a location, the facilities, your co-workers, and the opportunities, leaving can be hard. Do you really have to?

Travel nursing is a fantastic opportunity for individuals in the health care field. Working on short-term assignments gives you the flexibility to try new types of work in a variety of places while holding a stable job that is constantly in demand.

Travel nurses have the ability to travel across the country — or beyond — and explore new places, usually while receiving tax-free housing stipends, as well as stipends for meals and incidentals. You can also meet new people, learn about different cultures, and see how things operate in new facilities, building your skill set along the way.

Navigating temp-to-perm positions

Despite all the benefits of becoming a travel nurse, you may one day realize that the facility where you’re currently contracted is the perfect one for you. If this happens, you’ll need to transition from temporary to permanent work. It’s important to carefully consider this change — temporary and permanent employment are both great options, but selecting one over the other often means making sacrifices in other areas.

A variety of situations could occur during your tenure as a travel nurse. Perhaps you meet the love of your life while working an assignment and decide you want to stay to foster the relationship. Or maybe you’re given the opportunity of a lifetime at a facility that appreciates your work. No matter the reason you decide to change your employment terms, your next step will be to navigate the change in opportunity with your travel nurse agency.

Each contracting agency will operate differently during such a transition. Most companies include non-compete clauses with their travel contracts. For example, a common non-compete clause might require you to wait 90 days after ending a contract with a facility before you can work there on a permanent basis.

If you decide to stay at a facility, Health Providers Choice has ways of working with your contract to accommodate such a change. Most often, we ask travel nurses to extend their employment with us for another 13 weeks on a “temp-to-perm” contract that does not include a non-compete clause. This transition period allows you to earn straight taxable hourly rates like you would as a staff member at the facility during the term duration, then transition to a member of your desired facility afterward.

Take advantage of the skills gained as a travel nurse

Whether you decide to switch from a travel nurse to a permanent member of a facility’s staff or not, remember that a career as a travel nurse ultimately gives you a level of experience other nurses may not get.

Transitional-type jobs actually build a lot of great skills that can help you achieve a successful career at the right facility one day. If you are just starting out in the nursing field, working as a travel nurse can help you build a diverse skill set and allow you to travel and explore new experiences before putting down roots. And you may still have the option to extend your contract at a particular location if you’re not ready to leave.

If you are interested in becoming a travel nurse to experience a variety of locations and skill-building opportunities, contact Health Providers Choice and learn about what makes our team so great.