Hiring a Travel Nurse: Job Description, Interview Questions

Historically, travel nurses were recruited to healthcare facilities in times of crisis to supplement staffing shortages. Today, because of a range of factors, including the aging population and ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing nursing shortage that has made travel nursing more prevalent than ever. Travel nurses accounted for over 23 percent of all hospital nursing hours in January 2022, up 18 percent from January 2019.

For healthcare facilities looking to hire travel nurses for the first time or to expand their travel nursing roster, it can feel like the candidate pool is more competitive. Therefore, crafting a compelling job description is imperative to hire the best-fit nursing candidates for your needs. Let’s take a look at the skills, qualifications, and other high-level details needed when hiring a travel nurse.

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Travel Nurses Can Help Curb Staffing Shortages—For Now

What was once considered a fail-safe option for many facilities, travel nurses have become commonplace in many healthcare rosters. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, systemic factors are driving this shift, including:

From 2020-2021, the total supply of RNs dropped by 100,000, the most significant drop in four decades. A majority of nurses leaving the workforce were under the age of 35.
There is a growing need for all RNs, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting nearly 200,000 new nurse openings in the United States by 2031.
The need for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), such as nurse anesthetists or nurse practitioners, is expected to grow by 40 percent between 2021 and 2031. Yet the Institute of Medicine announced that the workforce needed at least 80 percent more baccalaureate-prepared nurses to ensure proper patient safety.
Current nursing teams are feeling burnout coming out of the pandemic, with over 50 percent of nurses in a COVID impact survey noting they plan to leave their current position due to insufficient staffing and negative working conditions.

To face these systemic issues, many teams are turning to travel nurses.

Travel nurses can help curb staffing shortages and help healthcare facilities combat burnout in the following ways:

They can be a more cost-effective hiring option when teams are short-staffed, because they can be deployed quickly without extensive new-hire onboarding or permanent employee benefits.
Travel nurses can fill experience or knowledge gaps in current workforces. It can be difficult, especially in more rural healthcare settings, to find specialized nursing candidates.
These nurses allow facilities to draw from a larger pool of applicants than their local talent has available.
Travel nurses offer additional flexibility with scheduling to relieve current staff of burnout, plan around busy seasons, and alleviate temporary shortages without sacrificing patient care.

What Skills Does a Successful Travel Nurse Need?

Travel nurse candidates need a set of skills that suit the unique nature of the job. Ideally, look for candidates that possess a combination of the following soft and technical skills:

Adaptability to new environments, processes, and people
Advanced emotional intelligence to be able to support patients in new healthcare settings
Strong verbal and nonverbal communication skills to connect with patients and peers across various facilities
Critical thinking skills to solve complex medical problems swiftly and effectively
Open-mindedness to new processes and ways of working
Appreciation for traveling and new experiences
A team player who works collaboratively to solve problems and takes accountability for their actions

Qualifications to Look for in This Role

Travel nurses require the same background and training as registered nurses. When hiring a travel nurse candidate, most employers seek out individuals with an associate or bachelor’s degree in nursing or a related healthcare field who are licensed in the state where they practice. Facilities may seek out candidates with specialties, including critical care nursing, pediatrics, or labor and delivery.

It’s imperative to make sure a travel nurse working in your facility is licensed to work within your state. You can find more information here.

How Much to Pay a Travel Nurse

Rates for travel nurses can vary depending on the length of their contract, the specialty of care required, and other hospital-specific factors. The average travel nurse assignment lasts 13 weeks but can range from 4 weeks to 6 months or longer.

With that in mind, the average annual salary for travel nurses in 2023 is $124,100, according to data from Nursing Process. Travel nurses contracted monthly make an average of $10,340, and the average hourly rate for travel nurses spans from $39.83 for entry-level workers to $86.68 for more experienced individuals.

Get Started Hiring Your Next Travel Nurse

It is a competitive time to hire experienced travel nurses. Taking time to understand the market is critical to ensuring hospitals and other healthcare facilities find candidates with the hard and soft skills they’re looking for.

If you need assistance broadening your travel nurse candidate pool and hiring the best-fit candidate, reach out to an Insight Global specialist today.