Welcome to the Travel Nurse Data Bank
A travel nurse is a registered nurse, nurse practitioner or any other certified nurse with at least 18 months experience that travels from hospital to hospital around the United States working on an assignment to assignment basis. They are a temporary, short term nurse for hospitals in need of staff. Travel nurses are able to choose where they wish to work out of all 50 states. Travel nurses do not have to sign a contract because they work assignments which can be as short as 4 weeks or as long as 15 weeks each. Most assignments send travel nurses to hospitals that are understaffed or in need of extra help. Travel nurse positions are always in high demand.
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Health Care Career – Medical Billing and Coding
Medical billing and coding is related to claiming accident coverage and medical expenses from the insurance companies. With these two coverage’s, the policy holder can benefit a lot. Most of the people who work for these insurance companies needs to provide Medical billing and coding certification and can expect more money from their employers. Since medical coders can earn lot of money, most of the students are planning to pursue their career in medical coding and billing. The certification is very much required for the person who is seeking job in this field. The certificate not only helps you to get the job and also boosts our career with additional benefits.
With the help of Medical billing and coding certification you can easily expect the high salary job from some of the reputed hospitals and medical organizations. These certifications give the guarantee to recruiter that the candidate is perfectly trained and is eligible to get this job. Having certification is an extra potential to your career. In order to get this certificate, first you need to take up the exam and clear the exam with high percentage. The coding exam includes everything about coding like HCPCS, ICD-9 and many other procedures. Once you are done with exam, the next step is to undergo formal training for some days about medical billing and coding. There are two options in undergoing training. Either you can join any training institute or you can take online training, if you don’t have time to go for regular classes. Training institutions with these two training options are available.
There is a lot of demand for medical professional with Medical billing and coding certification because of huge demand for both public and private medical care clinics. According to recent survey, the medical billing and coding jobs are expected to double and medical field sees steady growth over next few decades. With good number of certifications you can get good position with good salary in medical billing. Get certified from authorized training and grow in your career. Medical coding training requires knowledge of technical aspects and hence it is good to have the grasp of procedures and protocols in medical coding and billing.
A Career As A Travel Nurse
Travel nursing is a career option that most registered nurses, dialysis nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse manages, radiologic technologists and even physical therapists can take on. If you’ve had at least a year to a year and a half experience in any of these fields you are eligible to secure a position as a travel nurse.
Travel nurses can usually expect to earn between $30 and $40 per hour. This pay rate does not include bonuses, the cost of free housing that is provided, 401(k) retirement plans, referral bonuses or the discounts that most programs offer for things such as luggage, cell phones and roadside assistance.
As a travel nurse you will receive a sign on bonus that can be as much as $6,000. If you refer other qualified individuals to join the travel nurse program that you are in you can also earn up to $500 per referral that completes their first assignment. These bonuses really add up and make for a great income. Coupled with the $30 to $40 an hour you will be earning while working assignments you can really pull in a substantial income.
If you are interested in being a travel nurse you can choose the location you want to work in as well. There are jobs available in all 50 states so you can choose to travel somewhere you’d love to visit or pick up a local job and stay close to home. Becoming a travel nurse also comes with insurance benefits as well. This includes affordable medical and dental insurance as well as free basic life insurance. Most travel nurse programs offer these benefits.
You will also be provided free housing. These are usually fully furnished, quality homes and include appliances as well. This is provided entirely free of charge. Any expenses you may have traveling to and from your assignment location will be reimbursed, too. So you really won’t have many expenses to have to worry about at all while you’re working an assignment as a travel nurse.
To do go about choosing a travel nursing program to join you should get as much information on each program as possible. Find out about their benefits, the pay they offer, what sort of housing you receive, if there are retirement plans, what sort of insurance they provide, if there are any loyalty programs and any other information you want to know. This is an important part of becoming a travel nurse so be sure to choose the program you want to join wisely.
There are no lengthy contracts that you have to sign when becoming a travel nurse, either. You work assignment to assignment and have no obligation to stay with a particular program after your assignment if you are not happy with it. It’s usually pretty easy to change programs if you are not satisfied with the one joined.
All in all, being a travel nurse can be an exciting career. You get paid well, are provided with many free accommodations, the benefits are great and you get to travel wherever you please to work.
Picking The Right Travel Nurse Assignment
Once you have completed all the prerequisites for becoming a travel nurse you need to select jobs that are best fitted for you. This can be an annoying and stressful task if you don’t know what you are doing. Lucky for you, this article explains, in detail, how to go about choosing travel nurse jobs that are best for you.
The first thing you need to do is find a travel nurse company that will best fit your needs and wants. Sift through the Yellow Pages of your phone book or head online and do a search on either Google or Yahoo for travel nurse companies. Find about three or four that look decent and write down their contact information. Order the list from your favorite to least favorite.
If the companies have information about what they do, what jobs they provide and their benefits, be sure to read through it all. For every company you will want to know how much they pay travel nurses per assignment, if they provide health insurance, if they provide housing for the time you are working and several other important bits of information. If this info is on their site, great. If not, you will want to call them and ask for yourself.
A few other things you should ask about are where jobs are that they offer, how long the duration of each assignment is and what they require for nurses entering their program. Most companies require a year or more experience in your specialty nursing field before being accepted into travel nursing. You will also have to be licensed in any state you work in but this is usually paid for by the travel nursing company you choose to work with.
Once you are satisfied with information you have for each company you should proceed to select one company to work with. You will have to fill out an extensive amount of paperwork with this particular company so be prepared. They will require that you give them your personal information as well as other things such as verification that you are certified as a nurse, records proving that you have had all necessary vaccinations and even information showing that you have had a TB shot. These are all necessary measures that must be taken with most medical positions. If you are unable to comply with these rules you will not be accepted for a job. It’s as plain and simple as that.
After you have completed all of the required paperwork and have secured the job you will need to select a hospital to work in. There are hospitals all across the 50 states that are in major need of any assistance they can get and work with travel nurse companies to get the help they need. This is why you are able to choose where you want to work. There are so many locations that need traveling nurses to fill the gaps. Just pick where you would like to work and you are done. Now it’s time to get to work!
Who Makes A Good Travel Nurse?
Being a traveling nurse is a great gig, sure, but is it for everyone? Probably not. For one thing, there are requirements for becoming a travel nurse. Not to mention the fact that if you’re not too keen on moving around frequently, travel nursing probably isn’t going to be the best option for you, either. Let’s talk about who makes for a good candidate for becoming a travel nurse.
First of all, one of the main aspects of the travel nurse position is, well, travelling. Not many people like to uproot and move from place to place frequently and if that’s you, you may want to consider a different position. Travel nurses have to relocate quite often. Some assignments may have you working for a specific hospital for two or three months but there are cases where you will work for a hospital for as little as one month as well. Do you want to go through packing and unpacking all of your stuff every couple of months? Are you willing to commit to moving around as needed for your job? If you answered no to either of those questions you may not be suited for becoming a travel nurse.
Secondly, there are requirements for becoming a travel nurse that you may not yet adhere to. You must be a registered nurse, LPN, LVN or an Allied Health professional to apply for a travel nurse position. This is consistent with each and every travel nurse recruiting agency out there. Every travel nurse company has slightly different requirements but for the most part all of them require that you have at least 12 to 18 months experience in your nursing field as well. And all companies require that you be licensed in the state you are employed in. Some companies will reimburse you for any money you have to spend for becoming licensed but not all. If you do not have the necessary experience required you will be rejected from the program.
If you find that you fit the description of a good candidate then you may choose to pursue a position as a travel nurse. There are many travel nurse companies that you can choose to work with to get placed in a hospital of your choice. If you wish to work in a specific state you should contact the travel nursing agency to discuss it with them and find out if there are positions available for you. If so, you should proceed to sign on with a company. This process involves massive amounts of paperwork to be filled out including personal information, license and certification verification, assessments of your skills as a nurse in your specialty, verification of immunizations as well as several other things. While you only need to complete this paperwork once, it can make for a load of work.
Once you have signed on with a company they will being searching temporary positions to match you with. You will be allowed to select one and sign a short term contract and begin working as soon as possible. So, if you feel you can deal with everything mentioned and are still interested, get out there and apply to be a travel nurse.
The Pros and Cons of Travel Nursing
So you are looking into the field of travel nursing but you want to know more about it, right? Every job has it benefits and flaws and it’s always best to educate yourself with the information before you make a career move. That being said, let’s discuss the pros and cons of becoming a travel nurse.
Pros
One of the biggest reasons nurses of all sorts pursue the travel nurse position is simply because of the traveling aspect of the job. Many people want to see the world but hold down a job at the same time. Securing a position as a travel nurse gives you the best of both worlds. As a travel nurse you get to select where it is you wish to work. Most travel nursing programs have positions available in all 50 states of the U.S. You can also choose to work closer to home at local hospital but you have the option to work wherever you please.
Another pro for becoming a travel nurse is the competitive pay. In most cases travel nurses are paid $30 to $40 per hour for each assignment they work. You can also receive a hefty bonus just for signing on to an assignment. These bonuses can be as much as $6,000. Not to mention your housing provided for you at absolutely no cost. And you also get affordable health insurance at discounted rates.
One other pro is the experience and great addition that being a travel nurse is for your resume. Becoming a travel nurse shows that you are dedicated enough to your job that you are willing to move around for it. This looks great to employers and if you ever decide to apply for a permanent position it will help you get your foot in the door much more easily.
Yet another pro is that there will always be jobs available for those who want to pursue becoming a travel nurse. There are loads of jobs available all over the country for medical related positions. Even with unemployment rates skyrocketing and few businesses hiring there are still a ton of jobs for nurses.
Cons
There aren’t many cons to becoming a travel nurse. Moving around a lot could be considered a con but at the same time that is the point of the position. Other cons could be the hours you have to work and the amount of work you have to complete. The hours are long and the work can be a lot but pretty much anyone going into any nursing position knows that this is just how it is.
In conclusion, the pros of becoming a travel nurse out number the cons by a long shot. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort for each assignment you will be paid competitive rates, supplied living arrangements and have the opportunity to receive hefty bonuses. If traveling around is something you want to do you should apply to become a travel nurse.
Finding The Right Travel Nurse Company
So, you have decided that you want to be a travel nurse and you now want to know how to find a great travel nursing company to work for, correct? Choosing a travel nursing company to work for can be a very stressful task. There are literally hundreds of different companies to choose from and every one of them is a bit unique in what they offer to travel nurses.
The first thing you need to do is write up a list of potential companies to work with. To do this you can try to locate them in the Yellow Pages of your local phone book or, a much easier way to go about it, is going online and doing a Google search for the phrase “travel nursing company”. This will turn up loads of results. You will need to write down the names and contact information for at least three or four different companies.
If these travel nursing companies provide information about their service online then you should proceed to read more about it. If not, it’s time to call each one up. Once on the phone you are going to want to ask things like where they have jobs available, how much they pay travel nurses, how long each assignment is and also about any benefits they provide to travel nurses. Be sure to ask if there is a sign on bonus as well. There usually is and these can be quite nice. Also ask if there are referral bonuses. Some companies will actually pay you up to $500 per person you refer to them which can add up quickly.
The next thing you should inquire about is housing. Some travel nursing companies will provide you with housing completely free of charge while others may not provide it all. And the type of housing varies from company to company as well so make sure you get as much information as possible in regards to housing arrangements. Some provide luxury homes for you to live in during the length of your assignments while other companies may offer shoddy homes or no housing at all.
After you have gotten a good bit of information about each travel nursing company you need to sit down and compare them all. Look at the different salaries, benefits, bonuses and housing to determine which companies provide the best for what you want. Really think about benefits and pay. Some people really want health insurance to be included and, unfortunately, not every travel nursing company provides insurance. Other perks should be though about, too, such as free cell phone service.
If you find that there are two travel nursing companies that you really like you should call each one back and find out which provides a job in an area you prefer. Most companies offer jobs in all 50 states but some are limited to certain areas of the United States so be sure to find a company that has positions all over for you to choose from.
Travel Nurse Salary Range
Travel nursing is a lucrative career choice that has many great financial benefits. So you are looking into becoming a travel nurse and you want to know what the salary of a travel nurse is, right? This article explains, in detail, the typical pay that travel nurses receive.
On average a travel nurse can expect to bring in $80,000 to $90,000 per year depending on the location and experience of the nurse. Almost any assignment you work as a travel nurse will pay you around $40 an hour for the length of time that you work. This does not, however, include all of the benefits and bonuses that travel nurses receive on top of salary.
There are several benefits that travel nurses receive that make for great reason to pursue this job. The competitive salary is great but the benefits are amazing as well. If you sign up with the right travel nurse recruitment agency you can score serious benefits including free, luxury housing, free health insurance, reimbursement of all travel expenses and even discounted commodities such as free cell phone service and roadside assistance.
Health insurance alone can cost a single person around $200 or more per month. So, having it provided for free adds up to over $2,000 a year. Then you have the free housing which is usually a rather nice home that could easily go for $1,500 or more per month which adds somewhere around another $18,000 per year in benefits. Not having to pay for any travel expenses is great, too. And the free cell phone service plus roadside assistance puts another $1,200 in benefits in your pocket.
Other great benefits of becoming a travel nurse include bonuses. Bonuses are usually paid at the time a travel nurse signs on with a recruitment agency as well as when they refer others to sign on with the agency. The initial bonus for signing up with a recruitment agency varies but can be as great as $5,000 or more. Referral bonuses vary but are usually around $500 per referral. So if you have a load of friends or colleagues that are looking for jobs as well you can easily pocket some serious cash referring them to travel nurse recruitment agencies as well.
So, all in all, with the $80,000 to $90,000 salary plus all of the great benefits you receive as a travel nurse your total pay per year will fall somewhere between $100,000 to $110,000. That is a six figure income just for working as a travel nurse. Anyone will tell you that that is an incredible salary for a nurse of any type. And, as mentioned, travel nurse positions are in high demand due to hospitals being in dire need of extra hands. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of hospitals around the United States that are struggling due to low number of staff and they work hand in hand with recruitment agencies to find travel nurses to fill the gaps.
Who Makes a Good Travel Nurse?
Being a traveling nurse is a great gig, sure, but is it for everyone? Probably not. For one thing, there are requirements for becoming a travel nurse. Not to mention the fact that if you’re not too keen on moving around frequently, travel nursing probably isn’t going to be the best option for you, either. Let’s talk about who makes for a good candidate for becoming a travel nurse.
First of all, one of the main aspects of the travel nurse position is, well, travelling. Not many people like to uproot and move from place to place frequently and if that’s you, you may want to consider a different position. Travel nurses have to relocate quite often. Some assignments may have you working for a specific hospital for two or three months but there are cases where you will work for a hospital for as little as one month as well. Do you want to go through packing and unpacking all of your stuff every couple of months? Are you willing to commit to moving around as needed for your job? If you answered no to either of those questions you may not be suited for becoming a travel nurse.
Secondly, there are requirements for becoming a travel nurse that you may not yet adhere to. You must be a registered nurse, LPN, LVN or an Allied Health professional to apply for a travel nurse position. This is consistent with each and every travel nurse recruiting agency out there. Every travel nurse company has slightly different requirements but for the most part all of them require that you have at least 12 to 18 months experience in your nursing field as well. And all companies require that you be licensed in the state you are employed in. Some companies will reimburse you for any money you have to spend for becoming licensed but not all. If you do not have the necessary experience required you will be rejected from the program.
If you find that you fit the description of a good candidate then you may choose to pursue a position as a travel nurse. There are many travel nurse companies that you can choose to work with to get placed in a hospital of your choice. If you wish to work in a specific state you should contact the travel nursing agency to discuss it with them and find out if there are positions available for you. If so, you should proceed to sign on with a company. This process involves massive amounts of paperwork to be filled out including personal information, license and certification verification, assessments of your skills as a nurse in your specialty, verification of immunizations as well as several other things. While you only need to complete this paperwork once, it can make for a load of work.
Once you have signed on with a company they will being searching temporary positions to match you with. You will be allowed to select one and sign a short term contract and begin working as soon as possible. So, if you feel you can deal with everything mentioned and are still interested, get out there and apply to be a travel nurse.
What is a Travel Nurse?
In the medical field there are tons of different careers that are related to nursing. These include registered nurses, certified nurse assistants, public health nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, home health nurses and many more. Pretty much all of these positions are well known and understood but there is one field of nursing that isn’t as popular and many people don’t know much about it at all. It’s called travel nursing.
A travel nurse is a registered nurse, nurse practitioner or any other certified nurse (
You now can get a Masters in nursing online) with at least 18 months experience that travels from hospital to hospital around the United States working on an assignment to assignment basis. They are a temporary, short term nurse for hospitals in need of staff. Travel nurses are able to choose where they wish to work out of all 50 states. Travel nurses do not have to sign a contract because they work assignments which can be as short as 4 weeks or as long as 15 weeks each. Most assignments send travel nurses to hospitals that are understaffed or in need of extra help. Travel nurse positions are always in high demand.
Travel nurses are paid well. Most make around $30 to $40 an hour. And usually assignments add up to close to $90,000 a year for a travel nurse. For any location that a travel nurses chooses to work in, housing is provided for free. They are also provided with generous benefits and even bonuses. Benefits include great, affordable life insurance as well as dental and vision insurance, discounted services such as cell phones and roadside assistance and even reimbursement for all traveling costs.
Most hospitals are in need of registered nurses that specialize in specific areas such as operating room, emergency room, intensive care, post-anesthesia, labor, delivery and postpartum care as well. There are shortages of nurses capable of working these types of positions all over the nation. Travel nurses help to fill these needs in such hospitals. If you’ve ever wanted to be able to travel a good bit and be working a great job with great pay, travel nursing just may be the best position you can secure.
To become a travel nurse you need to talk to a recruitment agency to get setup with hospitals that are looking for traveling nurses. There are hundreds of recruitment agencies to choose from so selecting the right one for yourself is a matter of researching the pay and benefits of each one. Be sure to check the details of what each provides as far as housing, benefits and other perks. Some agencies offer high end housing and great insurance while others may not offer them at all. Do as much research on each agency as possible to make sure that you will be happy with your selection.
Travel nurses are in high demand, are paid very well and are provided with significant benefits. These positions are always available and provide a great help to hospitals in need of extra staff.