The nursing field is currently experiencing a shortage that is expected to increase: studies show 100,000 nurses have left the field since 2020, and more than half a million plan to go by 2027.1, 2 Fortunately, travel nurses are working to fill these gaps and are reaping the benefits of higher pay and better work-life balance.
Learn the steps to become a travel nurse and explore how the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences School of Nursing can help you achieve your career dreams.
What Is a Travel Nurse?3
A travel nurse works a temporary contract to fill gaps in coverage in underserved areas.3 For example, you might fill in for a nurse in a pediatrics office who is on maternity leave for ten weeks, or you might work in an ER for two weeks while they hire a full-time employee after a suddenly vacant position. These temporary jobs are also common in underserved locations, such as urban or rural areas, or areas with significant patient fluctuation, such as tourist areas.
You can opt to renew your contract or move on to another position at the end of your contract. If you love the job and facility, you may be able to sign on full-time.3
What Do Travel Nurses Do?4
A travel nurse should exhibit the same qualities as a staff nurse at the facility. Travel nurse responsibilities vary based on the particular type of nursing job, but in general, you can expect to:4
- Care for the patients on your caseload
- Interact with patients and their families
- Administer medication
- Collaborate with other members of a patient’s care team
As a travel nurse, you’ll be expected to fully engage from day one. You’ll have to adapt quickly to new systems, technology and expectations. As part of your travel nurse job description, you’ll report to the lead nurse, just like every other nurse on the team.
How to Become a Travel Nurse3
If you’re wondering what the steps are to become a travel nurse, here are the seven steps to follow:
1. Earn a BSN Degree
Travel nurse education requirements start with a degree in nursing. One of the main qualifications for travel nurse opportunities is an associate’s degree (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). This process can take two to four years, depending on the travel nurse degree and program.
2. Prepare to Sit for the NCLEX-RN Exam
Apply for licensure or registration to your state’s nursing regulatory body (NRB) to start the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) registration process.5 Once you meet these travel nurse qualifications, you have one year to register to take the test with Pearson VUE and pay your testing fee.
3. Take and Pass the NCLEX-RN Exam
Next, take the NCLEX-RN. The exam, which is one of the key travel nurse requirements, covers the management of care, pharmacological and parenteral therapies and basic comfort and care, and you’ll take it online.
4. Obtain RN Licensure
Next in the steps to become a travel nurse is to apply for RN licensure. If you only want to practice in your state, you can apply through your state board of nursing. If you want to practice in multiple states, apply for a multistate license from the Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC), which includes 43 member jurisdictions.6
To apply, you’ll pay a fee, pass a background check and submit evidence of degree completion and your NCLEX-RN scores.
5. Gain Field Experience
As most nurses need to be able to hit the ground running, one of the requirements to be a travel nurse is to gain at least one-two years of field experience.3 Most nurse staffing agencies have travel nurse requirements of at least one year of experience in your specialty, but some may require more.
Common travel nurse specialties include:7
- Emergency Room (ER)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
- Neonatal
- Labor and Delivery (L&D)
- Pediatric
6. Level Up Your Travel Nurse Degree
To maximize your success as a travel nurse, earn an advanced travel nurse degree or a post-graduate nursing certificate in your role specialty. A travel nurse certification or advanced degree may qualify you for more positions.
There are two types of advanced travel nurse degrees: Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
You can earn an MSN degree with various role specialties, including Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and *Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP). If you want to pursue jobs in nursing leadership, consider travel nurse schooling that earns you an MSN with a specialization in Nurse Executive or *Nurse Educator.
As the terminal degree for nurses, the DNP includes training in system leadership, evidence-based practices and healthcare policy. This level of travel nurse schooling prepares you for leadership roles in the nursing field.
Earning an advanced nursing degree will also help you maximize your travel nurse qualifications, which can increase your earning potential. For example, an RN makes an average base salary of $91,000, but an RN with a master’s degree earns $106,000 and a DNP earns $115,000.8, 9, 10
7. Find a Nurse Staffing Agency
One of the last steps to become a travel nurse is to find a nurse staffing agency. These agencies work with healthcare providers to find travel nurses to fill short-term positions in exchange for a percentage of your contract.3
While you can find travel nurse positions on your own, it’s a time-consuming process. Nurse staffing agencies make this much more manageable. They may also provide health insurance and retirement benefits you wouldn’t receive working a short-term job.
Once you’ve signed up with a nurse staffing agency, they’ll send you job opportunities and serve as the go-between for you and the facility that needs you. They can help you find housing and advocate on your behalf if any problems arise in your contract.
Five Benefits of Being a Travel Nurse
The steps to become a travel nurse include challenges. However, once you have the job, it has several key benefits that make it a promising career option for many nurses.
1. Opportunity to Travel
Many people can’t travel because of work obligations, but when traveling is part of travel nurse requirements, it makes it easy to see the world.11 Whether you’re staying in your home state, crossing state lines or seeing the world, you’ll be able to pack in a lot of adventure as a travel nurse.
As you’ll be living in the area, you can explore on your time off. Hit the beach, visit historical sites and meet new people as you eat like a local.
2. Higher Salary
Many travel nurses are filling vacancies at places with a desperate need for nurses to maintain required nurse-to-patient ratios.12 As a result of this high demand, many facilities will pay more for professionals with travel nurse qualifications. In addition, you’ll be able to work where pay is naturally higher due to a higher cost of living, although you’ll likely have to pay more for housing.
For example, a nurse in California, with a projected shortage of about 45,500 nurses, would likely make more than a nurse in Florida since there are more jobs than nurses in California.13
3. Housing Stipends
Nurse staffing agencies recognize that you’ll need money for a place to live while fulfilling your contract, so in addition to your take-home pay, you’ll receive a living stipend.11 These stipends are untaxed, so whatever you don’t spend on housing is yours to keep.
4. More Bonuses and Incentives
In addition to a housing stipend, some contracts will include untaxed stipends for travel or food. Some agencies also provide a bonus when you complete a contract or a referral fee when you refer another travel nurse.14 Depending on where you travel, the agency may also cover your travel nurse certification and licensing fees so you can practice in a new state.14
5. Job Satisfaction
Burnout in nursing is real, with 45.1% of nurses reporting that they feel burned out at least a few times a week.2 Travel nurses have more flexibility in when and where they work, which can increase your work-life balance and decrease burnout. For example, you can choose to take two weeks off between every contract to decompress or catch up on other aspects of your life.
As a travel nurse, you can also avoid office politics since you’ll only be there for a few weeks or months.11 Plus, if you are unhappy at your site, you can rest easy knowing it isn’t a permanent position, and you’ll be able to leave when your contract ends.
FAQ
Are you trying to determine if travel nurse requirements and responsibilities are the right fit for you? Here’s some more information that might help you make your decision.
What Will My Workdays Look Like?
Because there are so many different specialties and settings for travel nurses, it’s difficult to say what your workday will look like. However, you can expect to report to the lead nurse and perform similar duties as the staff nurses:4
- Overseeing patient care
- Examining patients
- Completing paperwork
- Educating patients and their families
- Coordinating care with other team members
- Taking vitals
- Administering medication
How Much Do Travel Nurses Make?
The average hourly wage for a travel nurse is $40.06.15
However, how much you earn can vary widely depending on:
- Where you work
- Your level of travel nurse education
- Your specialty
- Your travel nurse qualifications
- How many weeks you work
- The travel nurse degree you hold
Do Travel Nurses Get Paid More Than Staff Nurses?
Most travel nurses make a similar take-home hourly wage as staff nurses. However, travel nurses also earn travel, housing and food stipends. These stipends are tax-free, and whatever they don’t spend, they can keep. Also, they can earn additional bonuses or incentives.
How Many Years Does It Take to Become a Travel Nurse?
Typically, it takes four to six years to complete the steps to become a travel nurse. You’ll need two to four years to complete your travel nurse degree, plus at least one to two years of field experience.3
How Do I Find a Nurse Staffing Agency?
You can find nurse staffing agencies using networking sites like Indeed and LinkedIn or through recommendations from other travel nurses. Once you discover a nurse staffing agency, do your due diligence to ensure they are the right fit for you. Before you submit your travel nurse qualifications to an agency, learn the following:
- Health insurance and retirement benefits
- Partner facilities
- If they have jobs for your specialty
- Where they are located
- How much they charge
Finally, read reviews and talk to travel nurses who have worked with the nurse staffing agency in the past.
Choose USAHS for Your Travel Nurse Education
Whether you are already a travel nurse or are just getting started, expand your opportunities by completing your travel nurse education requirements with the USAHS School of Nursing. Our MSN and DNP pathways and Post-Graduate Nursing Certificate program with role specialties in Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and we’ve been a leader in graduate education for health sciences for over 40 years.
Apply now to take advantage of our flexible start dates and innovative blended learning traveling nurse programs.
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) offers a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Post-Graduate Nursing Certificates designed for working nurses. Our degrees are offered online, with optional on-campus immersions.** Role specialties include Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)*** and Nurse Executive. The MSN and DNP have options to accelerate your time to degree completion. Earn your advanced nursing degree while keeping your work and life in balance.
*Not currently enrolling.
**The FNP role specialty includes one required hands-on clinical intensive as part of the curriculum.
***The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner role specialty is not available for the DNP program.
The RN-MSN (FNP, PMHNP, and AGNP) degree program is designed specifically for registered nurses with an associate degree in nursing and an active, unencumbered RN license. The program strengthens the leadership abilities of nurses who have foundational professional experience. Students enrolled in this degree path complete four bridge courses before proceeding to the role specialty courses to achieve a Master of Science in Nursing with a chosen nursing role specialty. The initial four bridge courses within the RN-MSN program focus on concepts applicable to acute and primary care settings, such as team-based care delivery, quality and safety, leadership and ethics, which provide the foundation for the advanced practice role specialty tracks.
The information provided on this website is based on self-reported data and is intended for general informational purposes only. Payscale is a limited data source that relies on voluntary submissions from individuals and employers.
Please be aware that the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the data may vary due to its voluntary nature and limited scope. While efforts are made to maintain the data’s accuracy, we cannot guarantee its absolute correctness or currency.
Salary data may not reflect starting pay for recent graduates.
Sources:
- American Hospital Association, “Study Projects Nursing Shortage Crisis Will Continue Without Concerted Actions,” AHA, April 13, 2023, https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2023-04-13-study-projects-nursing-shortage-crisis-will-continue-without-concerted-action.
- Brendan Martin, Nicole Kaminki-Ozturk, et al., “Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Burnout and Stress Among U.S. Nurses,” Journal of Nursing Regulation, April 5, 2023, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37035777/.
- “How to Become a Travel Nurse,” American Nursing Association (ANA) Nursing Resources Hub, May 18 2023, https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/nursing-resources/how-to-become-travel-nurse.
- Davidson, A., “What Is a Travel Nurse?,” NurseJournal, August 28, 2024, https://nursejournal.org/careers/travel-nurse/.
- NCLEX, “Registration Process,” NCLEX, 2025, https://www.nclex.com/register.page.
- NCSBN “Nurse Licensure Compact,” Nurse Compact, 2025, https://www.nursecompact.com/.
- Travel Nursing. “Top 10 Highest-Paying Travel Nurse Specialties,” Travel Nursing.org, July 25, 2023, https://www.travelnursing.org/nursing-specialties/.
- Payscale, “Salary for Certification: Registered Nurse (RN),” Payscale, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=Registered_Nurse_(RN)/Salary.
- Payscale, “Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Degree,” Payscale, 2025, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Master_of_Science_in_Nursing_(MSN)/Salary.
- Payscale, “Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Degree,” Payscale, 2025, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctor_of_Nursing_Practice_(DNP)/Salary.
- Jennifer Schlette, “13 Pros and Cons of Being a Travel Nurse,” NursingProcess.org, 2025, https://www.nursingprocess.org/travel-nurse-pros-and-cons.html.
- Alexa Davidson, “Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratio Laws and Regulations by State,” Nurse Journal, March 21, 2023, https://nursejournal.org/articles/nurse-to-patient-staffing-ratio-laws-by-state/.
- Catherine Burger, “The States With the Largest Nursing Shortages,” Registered Nursing.org, February 12, 2025, https://www.registerednursing.org/articles/largest-nursing-shortages/.
- Walker, A., How to Make the Most Money as a Travel Nurse,” Nurse.org, March 8, 2025, https://nurse.org/articles/how-to-make-the-most-money-as-a-travel-nurse/.
- Payscale, “Average Travel Nurse (RN) Hourly Pay,” Payscale, February 28, 2025, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Travel_Nurse_(RN)/Hourly_Rate.
