Paperwork is an on-going part of the travel nurse lifestyle. From receipts to contracts to tax forms and more, the life of a travel nurse can often overwhelm newcomers with paper. But, a few simple tips can make things much more organized and less stressful.

For each job you work, you should have one document or folder with the following:

• Start date and end date
• Hospital name, address, phone number and floor worked on
• Nurse manager’s name and phone number
• Charge nurse name(s)
• Name of the agency and recruiter who assigned you to the travel nurse position
• Contact info (address, phone, fax, email) for the recruiter AND the agency
• Name of the apartment you stayed in as well as the address
• Contact info for the leasing agent’s name and property manager (address, phone, fax, email)
• Your hourly rate for the travel nurse assignment
• Your travel reimbursement and housing reimbursement/stipend
• Paperwork for any starting bonus or bonus for completing the assignment
• Round-trip mileage documentation from apartment to work as well as total mileage to the assignment from your home or previous assignment, whichever applies

Also, make a folder for each state you are licensed in and write down all the expiration dates in your day planner or calendar with a reminder well in advance, so you don’t let any of your licenses expire. There’s nothing worse than finding a great travel nurse opportunity in a different state only to find that you license has expired in that state.

In part II of this post, I’ll look at managing your continuing education units (CEUs), school information, receipts and tips for using your day planner.