Should I Accept Company-Provided Housing or Should I Find my Own?

As with most things, there are pros and cons with both. If you select the company-provided housing, you have the advantage of not having to do anything. Your travel nurse company will do all the work for you, including arranging for furniture delivery and getting the utilities set up in advance. They even pay the rent directly. All you have to do is show up and unpack! Most company-provided housing consists of a one or two-bedroom condo or apartment in a housing community that’s within an easy commute of your workplace.

On the other hand, if you want more control over where you live and you don’t mind making the effort to find your own place, you can go ahead and look for something that’s ideally suited to what you want. Or, if you have friends or family that live in the area and they have the extra room, you can stay with them and still get the housing subsidy.

Also, in most cities, you will find people who want to rent out their homes. They often see traveling nurses as professionals and would rather rent to them than perhaps the general population.

If you go to http://www.travelnursingcentral.com/housing_ads.php, you will find several houses listed throughout the United States. These people are looking specifically to rent their houses to travelers.

The travel company can tell you how much they are willing to pay in a housing allowance. You can then see if you can stay within that budget and find housing that suits your needs. The disadvantage of finding your own housing is that you may have to deal with a landlord. The choice is yours, though, and you are free to do whatever you think is best for your situation.

What is it Like to Work in Different Areas? Are the Patients Different?

Yes, as you travel from region to region as a travel nurse, you will notice that some things are the same and some things are different. For example, a broken bone is a broken bone, a telemetry patient is a telemetry patient, but depending on where you are working, you may notice some changes in the patient population and the kinds of illnesses that are most prevalent.

Patients will vary depending on the surrounding population. For example, the region where I am currently working has a really high TB population. Also, due to the local diet, diabetes is very common in the local population. Depending on the air quality of where you work, you may see more asthma patients.

If you are in a high recreation area, you may have more trauma and accidents than in another area. Perhaps the city or region where you are working has a large retirement population and that will determine what kinds of patients and illnesses you see.

This is a very good question to ask when you interview with the facility you are thinking about working at as a travel nurse. Ask the nurse manager what type of patient population they tend to have. They will think you are really looking at the big picture. That shows critical thinking which is what hiring managers look for in nurses.