Travel Nursing Statistics

Interesting Travel Nursing Stats


I travel to...

Has compact licensure made life easier?

What are travelers making financially nowadays?

Why do nurses travel?

How do traveling nurses feel they are treated by permanent staff?

What do travelers do during the holidays

Do nurses feel that their first orientation was a good experience or awful?


I travel to...

We investigated the reasons nurses travel and found that making more money and seeing new places were the main reasons.

  • Make more money 25%
  • Learn new skills 8%
  • Visit new places 31%
  • Meet new people 17%
  • Explore places to move to someday 14%
  • Other 3%

What are the average rates for travelers nowadays?(2008)

Let's see....Travelers out there, how much money are you making on your current assignment per hour (not including what you make in housing reimbursement or other benefits)?

  • 15-20 (0) 0%
  • 21-26 (7) 10%
  • 27-32 (22) 31%
  • 33-38 (22) 31%
  • 39-44 (5) 7%
  • 40+ (14) 20%

Looking at these results, it would be safe to say that over half the travelers (61%) are making anywhere from 27 to 38 dollars an hour with another 20% making more than 40 dollars an hour. This doesn't include all the extra pay they get for their housing and travel expenses. Not to mention the tax benefits.

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Why do nurses travel

Why travel nursing. Travel nursing is very popular now and is being recognized as a profession in and of itself. Many of you areconsidering travel nursing right now. Even if you know you want to travel......itis important to know why you want to travel. Let me ask you this......If you were asked right now to choose between working in the Virgin Islands for 17 dollarsan hour or in Philadelphia for 27 dollars an hour which would you choose? Theseare the kinds of decisions you will face as a traveler. This is an obvious choicebetween adventure and money which are the two leading reasons nurses travel. Recently,we did a sample survey and the results show the top three reasons health professionalstravel are adventure, money, and independence. Reason for travel:

  • adventure (12) 38%
  • money (9) 28%
  • independence (5) 16%
  • career development (2) 6%
  • prevent burnout (2) 6%
  • avoid politics (1) 3%
  • relocate (1) 3%
  • empty nest syndrome (0) 0%

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How do traveling nurses feel they are treated by permanent staff?

In general, how receptive do you feel permanent hospital staff are toward travelers?

  • very receptive (friendly) (5) 28%
  • cautious (3) 17%
  • they tolerate travelers, but keep them on the outside (8) 44%
  • rude at times (1) 6%
  • mostly resentful and unfriendly (1) 6%

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Visiting Family During the Holidays

As a travel nurse, what's your plan to see family during the holidays this year?

  • Take an assignment near family (5) 25%
  • Opt not to travel during the holidays (6) 30%
  • Have time off written in your travel contract (5) 25%
  • See family during non-holiday times (2) 10%
  • Not see family at all (2) 10%
  • Other (0) 0%

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Compact licensure really makes it easier to travel as far as licensing transition goes

  • Strongly disagree (11) 19%
  • Disgree (0) 0%
  • Neutral (1) 2%
  • Agree (6) 10%
  • Strongly Agree (40) 69%

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First Nursing Experience

50% of nurses say their orientation was too short, non-existent, or poorly planned. How do you feel about your very first nursing experience as a new graduate nurse?

  • I strongly agree that my orientation was poor as well. (7) 33%
  • I slightly agree. (1) 5%
    I am neutral. (0) 0%
  • I slightly disagree (1) 5%
  • I strongly disagree, my orientation was a great experience. (12) 57%

Looks like more nurses, overall, felt great about their orientation. If they didn't feel great, they felt really aweful about the orientation.There isn't much in between.

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