While the nursing shortage will affect the 1.8 million nurses who work primarily in hospitals invariably, ALL healthcare settings where a nurse is employed will be affected. The shortage will require many short and long term strategies in order to avert the crisis. One thing that’s for certain is that this shortage will increase the value of travel nurses and open up many more opportunities for the travel nurse profession.

Travel nursing has been a popular career option for nurses since the nursing shortage of the 1980s. As nursing shortages continue across the U.S., travel nurses find themselves in higher demand than ever. For hospitals that have had difficulty recruiting and hiring permanent staff, travel nurses have played a valuable role of filling that gap, allowing hospitals to fill beds, and provide services. Industry analysts are reporting that 15,000 to 20,000 traveling nurses are used each week in U.S. hospitals.

Travel nurses are drawn into the lifestyle by the opportunity to travel and the possibility of earning higher salaries. A good agency’s travel nurse compensation package can include housing and traveling expenses, healthcare benefits, and even a retirement program. Salaries are affected by a number of factors, including experience, the location of the assignment, and required specialties, but generally travel nurse salaries are between $22 and $35 an hour. This works out to $44,000 to $70,000 per year for a travel nurse who works 40 hours per week 50 weeks a year. Some states have overtime laws that generally work in favor of a travel nurse. For example, a travel nurse working in California could earn over $100,000 a year with overtime. By ultimately, the biggest benefit to travel nurses is that they have the ability to pick and choose where and when they want to work.