Make Sure Your Licensure is Current Before Traveling

I get a lot of questions regarding licensure and traveling. It is vital that your licensure is current before taking an assignment.

Currently, I don’t know of any companies that will send you on a travel assignment with elapsed time on your resume. I know it seems like those five years of experience should count for more. Granted, they do help your resume look better when being considered for a travel contract. However, the rule that everyone follows is that a nurse must have at least one year recent experience in the specialty he or she wishes to travel in.

The hospitals are actually the one that make this requirement to assure that the nurses submitted to them are highly skilled and up to date. A traveling nurse must be experienced and flexible at the same time. They must know when to do it “their way” or do it the way it needs to be done. Travelers must draw on recent knowledge to make decisions and work with ever changing technology.

It can be hard to wait on your travels when you know you want to go now. Yet, it is the best thing for everyone in the long run. A year will go by in no time. Meanwhile, you can spend time deciding where you would like to go and what company you would like to work for. You will also need to get several pages of documentation together in order to travel such as your immunizations and more. You can also spend a good deal of time researching the companies out there you would like to work for.