ABOUT TRAVEL NURSING - HISTORY

The 21st Century is providing career opportunities for registered nurses that couldn’t be imagined in earlier times in the form of travel nursing. Thanks to wireless technology, which allows you to receive calls on a consistent phone number while working as a travel nurse, and Internet technology, which enables you to do your banking and pay your bills from virtually anywhere in the world, the opportunity to become a travel nurse has never been more appealing.

History of Travel Nursing

According to Healthcare Traveler magazine, the birth of the travel nursing industry occurred in 1978, when the city of New Orleans experienced a short-term population burst during Mardi Gras, and a contract nurse arrived at a hospital to help with the surge of partygoers. This set a precedent, which became a viable solution when a serious countrywide nursing shortage occurred in the 1980s.

Hiring highly skilled and competent nurses for short-term assignments was a convenient and cost-efficient way for healthcare facilities to handle their short-terms needs. Hence, the travel nursing industry was born.

Travel Nursing Opportunities

The most successful people see opportunity where and when it arises, and they’ll seize those moments to ensure a bright future. By choosing to become a travel nurse, you’re taking advantage of a great opportunity, and turning it into a prosperous career path that allows you to see your country and get paid for it in the process.

The Demand for Travel Nurses

Nursing is the nation’s top profession in terms of projected growth. However, there aren’t enough nurses to provide service to the population. The nursing shortage in the U.S. could reach 500,000 by 2025 and, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2016.

In addition, enrollment in nursing schools isn’t growing quickly enough to meet projected demand over the next 10 years. And it doesn’t matter much because a faculty shortage at nursing schools is restricting program growth. The average age of RNs is climbing and, as they retire, there won’t be enough young nurses to fill their capable shoes. Add these facts to the needs that will be created when baby boomers retire en masse, and the need for healthcare professionals becomes even more urgent. Thus, the need for travel nurses to fill these evident vacancies will continue to grow as the shortage does.

The field of travel nursing is one that will offer expanding opportunities during the next half century. By becoming a travel nurse, you can take advantage of all the possibilities that the field has to offer.