Advancing Education While on a Travel Nurse Assignment

Question: Hello I am interested in becoming a travel nurse. Right now I am working on my nursing degree and I want to be a pediatric nurse. I want to continue my education so I can become a pediatrician. If I was working as a travel nurse, would I be able to continue my education? Would the travel nursing agency have courses related to my career goals in pediatrics?

Response: With travel nursing, you have so many options. If you get involved with a large travel nursing agency, they may provide continuing education opportunities. As far as education beyond continuing education, many travelers are now advancing their education online while they travel.

Several colleges offer classes online now. The classes are a little more expensive than if you were attending the classes in person; however, many feel that the advantages out way the cost. I know a traveler with her associates in nursing who decided that she really wanted her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). She took the online classes and then when it came to clinicals, she chose a hospital in Sacramento, California (close to where she was currently on assignment) and got their permission to do her clinicals there. The college provided all her objective she had to meet and the facility assisted her in meeting those. She now has her BSN.

At some point along the way, you may or may not have to stop traveling to complete some of your schooling. However, traveling is not an all or nothing event. Some people only travel in the summers. Your travel commitment is usually for 3 months at a time and sometimes you can find assignments that are less than 3 months in length.

Furthermore, traveling is a great way to get to a new place for schooling. For example, when I decided to go back to school for my Masters Degree in Nursing, I decided I wanted to go to one of the best schools in San Antonio, Texas. Normally the move (from New Jersey where I was on assignment) would have been expensive and I would have had to take time to find work once I got there. With travel nursing, I found a travel assignment in San Antonio and the company paid for all my travel expenses and housing. I also had a job right when I got there. After the assignment ended, I signed on with the hospital in a permanent part-time position that would work with my class schedule.