Travel nursing anxiety isn’t usually crippling, but it often affects nurses right before the start of a new assignment. Trepidation can make starting a new assignment feel more complicated or overwhelming than it is.

If you find yourself nearing the end of a miserable assignment, it’s important not to dwell. Instead, lift your head up and look to the future. Your next assignment is right around the corner, and it’s bound to be better. Process the lessons of an unpleasant assignment, and use them to grow as a professional. Remember, for every poor assignment, there’s an equal — likely greater — number of wonderful experiences waiting for you down the road.

The more we learn about COVID-19, the more it becomes increasingly apparent that healthcare workers face a much higher risk of exposure — even with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Travel nurses and other medical professionals need to stay diligent in their self-evaluations and make sure they’re not coming to work if they’re showing symptoms of the virus. Travel nurses must safeguard their own health before they can deliver life-saving care to others. Sometimes, that’s as simple as staying home when symptomatic.

One of the best things about travel nursing is having control over your assignments. You can pick where you want to go and when you take an assignment. It’s important for nurses to think about how they want to approach their travel nursing career. Do you want to take a string of assignments one after the other and stay busy? Or, do you need some time in between to digest and get ready for the next one? Neither option is wrong, and both are worth considering.

Nurses need to take care of their health for the sake of themselves, their patients, and their coworkers. That means bed rest until the contagion has passed and your health is back in good standing. Most nurses can take sick leave, paid time off (PTO), or personal days to recover — but travel nurses don’t always have these options. What can you do if you become seriously ill while on assignment?

Few people in the healthcare profession have ever dealt with anything as chaotic or demanding as a pandemic outbreak. For many nurses, it’s simply overwhelming. It’s important for nurses to find stability and treat themselves right during these unprecedented circumstances — for their own health and the health of their patients. Here are a few things any nurse can practice to help stay balanced, focused, and healthy as we fight to #FlattenTheCurve.

HIPAA laws are a foundational part of every nurse’s education and training. Yet, although keeping patient information private is a simple concept, social media complicates things. Nurses today need to be mindful of what they’re posting on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — HIPAA laws must come first and foremost, even on social. The simple practice of being mindful of HIPAA laws on social media could prevent suspension or job loss.

No matter how prepared you are for your next assignment, there’s still going to be a transitional period. You need to learn how they do things and what the expectations are. Instead of fearing the unknown, embrace it ― adapt to your assignment and have confidence in your skills to carry you through. You’ll quickly settle in and become comfortable doing what you do best: helping patients.

Getting off on the right foot at your new facility is a great way to set the tone for a positive travel nursing experience. But with a lot of unknowns in front of you, anxiety may take over. The key in presenting yourself as a cool, confident, friendly individual is to approach your assignment with optimism. That approach and these 10 tips can help put you in positive position with your new co-workers.

At some point in your travel nursing career, illness or personal emergency will likely require you to call off from work. However, in the travel healthcare industry, missing a shift has different repercussions than it does at a permanent job. There are certain factors you want to take into account before calling off a shift as a travel nurse.