How To Become An Agency Nurse: What It Is and Career Path

What is an agency nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Marcus Binns MSN-NE, RN

The average agency nurse salary is $73,620. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an nursing major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become an agency nurse. Agency nurses with a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an Agency Nurse?

Marcus Binns MSN-NE, RN

Assistant Professor, Harding University

With technologies like AI becoming more prominent, nursing is a field that will stand out because it requires human intervention to provide hands-on care, perform skills, and critically think. That being said, I think nurses will become increasingly exposed to AI decision-making tools being utilized in medicine. What I think will be most important is utilizing those tools to streamline your tasks and decision-making, while at the same time being aware that your human interventions are still vital to notice things the algorithm misses while also providing compassionate care.

ScoreAgency NurseUS Average

Salary

5.8

Avg. Salary $73,620

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.87%

Black or African American 12.23%

Hispanic or Latino 8.85%

Unknown 4.25%

White 65.36%

Gender

female 83.74%

male 16.26%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become an agency nurse

Explore agency nurse education requirements

Most common agency nurse degrees

Bachelor's

42.5 %

Associate

37.5 %

Diploma

8.8 %

Start to develop specific agency nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	30.49%
ICU	5.58%
Medical Surgical	5.51%
IV	5.10%
Medication Administration	5.00%

Complete relevant agency nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New agency nurses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an agency nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real agency nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming an licensed agency nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed agency nurse in most of states. 43 states require agency nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License Url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Licensed Practical
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Vocational Nurse
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse

Gain additional agency nurse certifications

Agency nurse certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific agency nurse certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for agency nurses include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP).

More About Certifications

Research agency nurse duties and responsibilities

Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Work as an agency nurse at various hospitals (medical surgical and ICU), primarily with patient care.
Participate in admission assessments as well as discharge education for patients that are transitioning home post surgery or falls.
Hone nursing skills on a med/surg and post-surgical acute floor.

Prepare your agency nurse resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your agency nurse resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an agency nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Agency Nurse Resume templates

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