The list of endangered careers continues to grow as the economy slowly rebuilds and technology continues its takeover. Careers ranging from administrative assistants to computer operators are quickly becoming obsolete. As a result, everyone from college graduates to 50-somethings returning to the workforce must scramble to find a solid career that “they” just can’t take away from them. That solid career can be found in the healthcare industry.
Yes, it’s true. One of the most solid industries for job growth today is the healthcare industry. Healthcare jobs overall account for 26 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. today. At 2.6 million, registered nurses (RN) make up the largest group of healthcare professionals in the nation. This nearly 3 million strong workforce is expected to grow by 22 percent between now and 2018, adding more than half a million new jobs to talent pool. This figure represents the largest number of new jobs for any occupation in the nation.
Within this lucky throng of health professionals are travel nurses. This area of nursing is expected to expand by 33 percent for the 2008-2018 decade. According to Vice President of Recruitment for American Traveler, Mary Kay Hull, the reason travel nurses are so attractive to healthcare employers is simple:
her company has more healthcare employers turning to healthcare staffing agencies to fill open positions as reform mandates put the squeeze on employer operating budgets. This means that as more healthcare jobs come available, establishing a strong relationship with a high-level agency can potentially move qualified candidates to the head of the line, especially at agencies with preferred vendor status at high-volume facilities.
Besides Hull’s Boca Raton, Florida based travel nurse agency, there are more than 300 travel nursing agencies in the U.S. today and just about every hospital, home health care service, retirement community, nursing home, and mental health facilities use travel nurses. Because the demand for travel nurses has resulted in an increase in the number of agencies available across the nation, agencies are in fierce competition when it comes to recruiting. This competition continues to drive travel nurse salaries and benefits up.
Travel nurses typically earn 15 percent more than home-based nurses. It is not uncommon for an agency to pay thousands of dollars for a single assignment that lasts only several weeks. Travel nurses earn an average salary of $83,200 per year. Median annual wages of home-based registered nurses is around $62,450 per year. Most travel nurse agencies offer signing bonuses, referral bonuses, and bonuses upon completion of an assignment.
Other travel nurse perks include the opportunity to visit different parts of any given state or different parts of the country every few weeks, a free private apartment or accommodations while traveling, a travel allowance or reimbursement for travel (tax free), and free health, life, and dental insurance. Many agencies also offer licensure reimbursement, AAA Membership, and unlimited free CEU credits while on assignment.
It is important to note that some hospitals may hire travel nurses directly. In these cases the travel nurse will report to the HR department of the hospital to receive his or her assignment as frequently as is required. In some cases, the assignment may change daily, in others it may change weekly or monthly. Agency travel nurses may report to the travel nurse agency on a daily, weekly, monthly or bi-monthly basis, depending on the length of the assignment. The length of assignment varies greatly by agency and geographic location, but many travel nurses report that their average assignment is 13 weeks.
To keep up with the latest news and trends in travel nursing visit www.travelnursing.com.
