Having a profile on one or more social networks is essential to staying in touch with family & friends back at home. Keep in touch with colleagues from each of your assignments, even after you leave and move on to another. Being a travel nurse is an amazing way to network with countless other professionals in your field, giving you the opportunity to sharpen your skills and acquire job recommendations.

Today's social media outlets make it easier than ever to stay connected while on a travel nursing assignment. Rather than spending all of your free time calling or texting friends and family members, just sign up for an account on Facebook, Twitter or Live Journal and have everyone connect to you. You can then send out daily messages from your computer or smart phone, as well as photos or videos, and reach everyone at once. This is also a great way to stay in touch with fellow nurses you meet as you hop around from state to state.

Travel nursing assignments allow you to choose how long you want to stay in one position. Jobs are offered in contract form, and the length of contracts will vary. You can choose to work for just a few months a year, or perhaps select a contract that will keep you working all year.

Typical travel nurse jobs are 13 weeks, which has become the standard for the industry. This time frame, representing a quarter of a year, works best as it gives the nurse the time to acclimate to the hospital / unit and bridge the gap between the hire of a permanent RN or a temporary spike in census. Often times, hospital's will look to renew a nurse's contract for another 13 weeks as early as a month into his or her assignment if they anticipate a longer need for their services. Some hospitals may hire temporary nurse staff on a shorter than 13-week basis, however travel nursing agencies may not always be able to provide all the standard perks such as free private housing and benefits in such cases.

Auto Club Membership: Many travel nurse agencies offer a discount or free membership to an auto club. Travel nurses will have access to roadside assistance, hotel discounts, rental cars, free trip routing with detailed directions and maps, emergency check cashing, and no fee travelers checks.

Membership to an auto-club is essentially the VIP level of travel nursing benefits. Some companies may offer such plans, while others don't. Many will offer it to nurses as part of a loyalty package for completing X number of assignments. Regardless, it does not hurt to ask your travel nurse recruiter if auto-club membership is an option, as well as any other perks you may have heard from your colleagues.

Although men comprise less than 10 percent of the nurse workforce in the U.S., travel nursing remains a high-paying alternative for men seeking the adrenaline and personal fulfillment of other civil service and emergency jobs and want to stay close to home.

Whereas the median salary for firemen and EMTs is somewhere between 30K and 50K a year, travel nurses can earn between $70,000 and $100,000 depending on assignment.

While a man's choice of career may often come down to personal preference or educational requirements, this statistic is glowing recommendation for more males to consider a career as a registered nurse.

With the U.S. experiencing an acute shortage of qualified nurses for the past several of years, travel nursing companies are appearing in large numbers. Within the United States, these travel nursing companies search for qualified nurses and send them to medical centers and hospitals that are in need of and lack healthcare professionals.

As the number of travel nursing agencies continues to increase, it is important for travel nursing candidates to properly research each company before they consider pursuing employment. A couple of factors to consider are:

- How long has the travel nursing agency been in business?
- Is the company certified by the Joint Commission?
- How many open positions does the company have?
- Do the company offer a full suite of benefits to it's travel nurses?

Compare these elements as you review each travel nursing agency and you will begin to find the more reputable ones who will provide you with the best assignments, best benefits and best customer service.

While having a contract terminated can be a horrible thing to happen, it is not the end of the world. Talk to your recruiter immediately and find out your options. There are too many different things that can happen when a contract is terminated to cover every given situation (in my book, I devote about eleven pages to this single subject). The key is open communication with everyone involved to see what can be done. You might never have the unfortunate situation of having a contract cancelled, but hopefully you now have a few ideas on where to start should it happen to you.

Cancels may occur do to a change in census, hospital budget cuts, or nurses returning from absences. While they are not commonplace, they do occur in some situations know matter how good of a job you are doing on your travel nursing assignment. As stated above, the number one thing to do is to contact your agency and let your recruiter present you with the options available to you. It may be possible to start another assignment in a nearby facility or work per diem within the area if you are not yet ready to leave. In any case, your travel nurse recruiter will walk you through the process to ensure your next paycheck is not far off.

Before you accept a travel nurse position in a hospital it will pay to do a little research on that facility. All hospitals are not created equal when it comes to a good working environment. Your research can consist of simply asking other nurses who have worked at the facility you are thinking about going to, or doing an online search for it. There are numerous online nusing and travel forums available that will discuss in detail different hospitals and even differeny departments within a hospital. You can always ask your recruiter for the names and numbers of nurses they have placed there previously to get an idea of what the work environment may be like.

The importance of properly researching a hospital cannot be stressed enough to travel RNs. First time travelers should try to find a facility that frequently employs travel nurses, so they will be properly trained and given the guidance and support to make the best out of their assignment. More experienced RNs may opt for larger, busier hospitals that may be offering higher pay rates to nurses who can hit the ground running in a fast paced environment.

Friends who work together as travel nurse can also save money by sharing living expenses. Not only can the friends split the cost of the monthly rent, the pair can also split the utilities and the cost of groceries. When you are going to be living together tell your nursing agency and let them know that you will be sharing the housing, this could mean that the agency looks for a bigger space.

Nurses looking to travel together should contact their travel nurse agency and inquire about hospitals with multiple needs. In addition to the shared living expenses, travel nurse pairs can also save money on transportation costs. And most importantly, traveling with a friend means you will have someone with you to talk about your day with and explore the the sights and attractions of a new city with.

To apply for a nursing travel agency, you will have to fill some forms and present some required paper documents. The required documents include licenses' verifications, reports of previous experience, sub-specialty skill assessments, verifications of immunization status, tuberculin skin test results, chest radiology report and a doctor's statement approving health fitness for the job. Although the required paper work might seem burdensome, it is only required once per agency application.

Since most travel nursing agencies are certified by the Joint Commission, it is important that they have all the proper paperwork before sending a candidate out on assignment. Your travel nurse recruiter will usually provide you with a list of requirements weeks prior to the start of your assignment so you will have plenty of time to become compliant with the hospital's standards. Here is a list of standard travel nurse compliance forms required by most staffing agencies.