Disadvantages of Being a Travel Nurse 

Travel nursing seems like an exciting career, getting to explore new parts of the country while earning a generous housing stipend and escaping the politics of any one hospital. However, the life of a traveling nurse also comes with significant downsides. Travel nurses face major disadvantages when it comes to job stability, housing, taxes, insurance, scheduling, and more.

While the high pay and demand for nurses induced by nursing shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled interest, travel nursing is not for everyone. Before embarking on a travel nursing career, licensed practical nurses and experienced nurses should weigh the cons associated with essentially living like you’re on a perpetual business trip. 

This article outlines key disadvantages to consider before becoming a traveling nurse.

What is Travel Nursing?

Travel nursing has grown increasingly popular over the last decade, offering nurses short-term work contracts around the country. Under these arrangements, nurses can land temporary gigs, usually 13 weeks in length, at healthcare facilities dealing with staffing shortages.

The appeal is clear. Instead of being stuck working at the same hospital year after year, travel nurses have flexibility and variety. Travel nurses obtain licensing to practice across state lines, allowing them to pack up and move to exciting new destinations a few times a year.

In addition to adventure, travel nursing offers enhanced pay. Compensation packages include rewarding salaries on par with permanent staff as well as stipends and reimbursements for costs like housing, meals, and licensing fees.

With hospitals across America struggling with nurse vacancies due to pandemic burnout, lucrative travel nursing opportunities abound in all specialties – from ER and ICU to L&D and Psych.

What Are the Cons of Travel Nursing?

While no nursing path is stress-free, travel nurses face distinctive challenges on their career journey, including:

• Lack of job security
• Inability to control work hours/schedules
• Pay uncertainty
• No paid time off accrual
• Frequent feelings of being the “new kid”
• State licensing barriers
• Unstable housing logistics
• Increased tax headaches
• Isolation and homesickness
• Repetitive first-day jitters
• Burdensome housing coordination
• Difficulty finding a trustworthy recruiter
• Lack of schedule predictability
• Fear over canceled contracts
• Hassles obtaining individual health insurance
• Frequent floating reassignments
• Forfeited sick leave and vacation losses

Let’s explore each of these disadvantages of travel nurse jobs in depth.

Travel Nurses Lack Job Security

The biggest disadvantage for travel nurses compared to permanent nurses is job instability. Permanent nurses have long-term roles in hospital systems. Travel nurses work as temporary contractors, usually for 13 weeks.

When a travel nurse’s contract ends, it may or may not be extended. This creates uncertainty and anxiety about finding the next job. Travel nurses must continually hunt for the next contract and move to new locations.

Sometimes, contracts get canceled before they end, leaving nurses stranded. This disrupts financial plans and housing. Permanent nurses have job security and stable benefits.

You Can’t Choose Your Hours

Travel nurses don’t have control over their work schedules. The contracting hospital decides the hours.

Staffing shortages are worst on weekends, nights, and holidays when regular nurses use vacation time. So, travel nurses often work those less desirable shifts that permanent staff avoid.

Travel nurses may have to work nights one week and days the next. Irregular schedules disrupt sleep patterns.

If you need a routine and have trouble adjusting sleep, travel nursing may not be a good fit. Travel nurses must adapt to changing shift schedules quickly.

The Pay Varies

A major appeal of travel nursing is higher pay. During staffing crises, travel nurses can earn 3-4 times more than staff nurses.

However, these very lucrative crisis pay rates don’t last forever. Travel nursing pay packages fluctuate a lot between contracts.

While travel nurses typically earn more than staff, wages swing wildly from assignment to assignment. Pay considers the cost of living. Big cities pay more than rural areas.

Nurses must budget for longer pay periods between more lucrative contracts. Variable income keeps finances unpredictable.

If you want steady, predictable wages, travel nursing may bring too many financial surprises.

You Won’t Have Paid Time Off

Permanent staff nurses get paid vacation time, but travel nurses usually don’t. Most travel nursing contracts only offer unpaid personal leave.

Taking unpaid leave means smaller paychecks. Nurses lose daily bonuses and hourly wages when they take time off. This discourages travel nurses from calling out sick.

Instead of resting and recharging, some travel nurses work when they need breaks to avoid less pay. This leads to more fatigue and burnout.

You Will Always Be the New One

Travel nurses feel like the “new kid” at every hospital they go to. It’s like the first day of school over and over.

Travel nurses have to constantly prove their skills and likeability without ever progressing past that awkward day-one phase.

Hospitals take advantage of travel nurses’ lack of familiarity. Travel nurses get more undesirable tasks like solo nights or patient transports. They have less seniority.

Introverts who dislike making repeat first impressions struggle the most. Travel nurses rarely feel settled in.

Licensing Can Be a Struggle

Travel nurses need licenses to legally work in every state they go to. Each state has different licensing rules through nursing boards. What worked for a license in one state may not work in another. Getting licenses in multiple states is complicated. 

Being disorganized with paperwork leads to last-minute licensing issues. Trying to finalize credentials once on assignment is stressful. Stay on top of timelines and rules to smoothly transition between states.

The Housing Situation is Complicated

Finding short-term furnished housing in different cities is a huge challenge for travel nurses. Contracts include housing stipends, but finding nice places quickly in unfamiliar areas is hard.

Expect high rents, sketchy locations, weird landlords, and misrepresented amenities. Corporate travelers get their first pick of inventory. New travel nurses often end up with subpar housing because they don’t understand short-term pricing and taxes.

Do your research on potential cities ahead of time to find good housing. Being selective with contracts helps get ideal housing in safe areas. Don’t wait until the last minute to figure out where to live.

You Will Dread Tax Season

Filing taxes as a travel nurse is way more complicated than for permanent nurses. With income from multiple states, travel nurses must file returns in every state in which they work.

With federal, city, and state taxes, the number of returns adds up fast. Filing incorrectly risks IRS penalties and interest on late payments. Getting help from tax professionals is recommended.

You Will Miss Home

Being away from family and friends for long periods becomes depressing over time. What seems fun at first turns sad from missing events like weddings, births, and get-togethers.

Holidays feel less special without family traditions. Video calls aren’t enough after months away. Visits help temporarily before going back to a transient life.

Finding Housing is Challenging

Finding short-term housing in different cities is very challenging for travel nurses. Contracts include a housing stipend, but finding nice places fast in unfamiliar areas is hard.

Expect high rent, sketchy locations, weird landlords, and misrepresented amenities. Corporate travelers get the best places first. New travel nurses often end up with subpar housing because they don’t understand short-term pricing and taxes.

Research potential cities ahead of time to find good housing. Being selective with contracts helps get ideal housing in safe areas. Don’t wait until the last minute to figure out where to live.

Finding a Recruiter You Trust is Overwhelming

Finding travel nursing career jobs seems easy with endless online postings, but choosing the right recruiter is key.

Recruiters match nurses to short-staffed hospitals nationwide. They control which jobs you see, pay rates, stipends, cancellations, and actual duties. Bad recruiters overhype jobs that don’t exist.

With thousands of staffing agencies and workplace politics, filtering through them is tough. Recruiters who ignore you after agreements are frustrating. Thoroughly vet agencies for ethical practices and nurse advocacy.

Not Being Able to Plan Out Your Schedule in Advance

Traveling nurse jobs destroy stability and routine. Pre-planned coordination isn’t possible with unpredictable weekly schedules.

Staffing shortages change constantly, requiring schedule adjustments as locations change.

Nurses who adapt well to last-minute moves and shift changes do best. But the unpredictability makes concrete long-term plans with friends involving tickets or firm dates difficult.

Fear of Your Contract Getting Canceled

Last-minute contract cancellations quickly ruin the excitement. Cancellations threaten income and disrupt housing arrangements made far from home.

Hospitals can cancel contracts if patient numbers drop, even if staffing seemed fine before. Always have a backup income plan when primary contracts fall through.

Using Private Health Insurance

Travel nurses lose employer health insurance and must buy individual plans. They pay near-full premiums without company discounts. Individual plans have worse coverage with higher copays and prescription costs.

Buying more expensive private insurance with lower deductibles prevents paying a lot for care at each location. Extra supplemental insurance helps fill coverage gaps.

Being First to Float

Hospitals see travel nurses as temporary, not regular staff. So, travel nurses miss out on seniority benefits like less floating.

Floating reassigns nurses between units based on patient numbers. Travelers float first from ER to post-op or psych when numbers change, disrupting workflows. Constantly changing unit tests, even experienced nurses unfamiliar with new areas.

No Sick Leave/PTO Accrual

Permanent staff nurses get paid vacation time, but travel nurses usually don’t. Most travel contracts only offer unpaid personal leave.

Taking unpaid leave means smaller paychecks. Nurses lose daily bonuses and hourly wages when they take time off. This discourages calling out sick.

Instead of resting, some travel nurses work when they need breaks to avoid less pay. This leads to more fatigue and burnout.

Tips for becoming a travel nurse

Before committing to travel nursing, implement strategies to handle the demanding lifestyle. Consider these tips:

• Earn specialty certificates to qualify for premium contracts. Extra credentials help secure contracts for specialized, high-reimbursing skills like ER, ICU, and NICU.

• Use cloud folders to organize licensing/records easily. Store licenses, resumes, and contracts in structured cloud-based folders for anytime, anywhere access.

• Perfect efficient packing skills to live simply. Master the art of living out of a suitcase with versatile mix-and-match capsule wardrobe techniques.

• Lean on fellow traveler nurses for empathetic support. Find support and share intel with other nomadic nurses through online forums.

Cons of Being a Travel Nurse

Travel nursing seems glamorous, with promises to explore new places and meet new people while earning impressive paychecks. And it can be an incredibly rewarding path. But the inconsistent lifestyle packed with uncertainties about money, housing, jobs, taxes, insurance, and schedules burns many out quickly. Going in informed about the cons outlined here makes long-term success more likely.

Before pursuing travel nursing’s temptations, reflect honestly on suitability for almost nomadic living. Nurses valuing routine, work-life balance, and job permanency float best, avoiding travel turbulence. But those thriving on flexibility, financial, and professional risks/rewards appreciate the liberating independence contracts across America offer. 

What Next?

A career as a travel nurse offers nurses the opportunity to take short-term travel assignments across the United States while earning a higher salary than in permanent positions. Experienced travel nurses typically work 13-week contracts before taking time off between assignments. The higher salary for a travel nurse allows nurses to pay off student loans faster and save for retirement benefits and healthcare. 

However, the nature of travel nursing also comes with disadvantages like job uncertainty, being away from family members, and difficulties establishing relationships and combatting the sting of loneliness. Travel nurses need to be flexible since housing for travel nurses is often provided in temporary housing. Hospitals hire travel nurses to fill urgent staffing needs and vacancies. Travel nursing provides a bridge for the nationwide nursing shortage while allowing nurses professional growth and an opportunity to experience new places. 

Experienced travel nurses can choose assignments across the country, including in compact states where they can file just one multi-state RN license. While travel nursing has tradeoffs, many nurses enjoy the flexibility to explore new places and advance their careers. The demand for registered nurses is expected to grow in the future, leading to ample travel nursing positions across the United States.