How to hire a Traveling Nurse

How to hire a traveling nurse, step by step

Here's a step-by-step traveling nurse hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a traveling nurse job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new traveling nurse
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a Traveling Nurse do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the traveling nurse you need to hire. Certain traveling nurse roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine Employee vs Contractor Status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a traveling nurse to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a traveling nurse that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of traveling nurses and their corresponding salaries.

   Type Of Traveling Nurse	Description	Hourly Rate
   Traveling Nurse	Registered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.	$25-63
   Registered Nurse Charge Nurse	A registered charge nurse is responsible for supervising nurses' workflow in a particular department or area, ensuring every patient gets the proper care that they need. A registered charge nurse has the discretion to direct tasks, arrange schedules, and monitor patients, such as in the aspects of admission and discharge... Show More	$22-52
   Nurse Extern	The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies... Show More	$13-22

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common Skills:

   • Patients
   • Acute Care
   • Healthcare
   • Acls
   • Surgery
   • Telemetry
   • Med/Surg
   • ICU
   • PACU
   • Oncology
   • Patient Education
   • Catheter
   • Picu
   • CVICU

   Check All Skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage critically ill patient as a result of trauma, including vent management, ICP monitoring, and CRRT.
   • Manage and further help stabilize elective and/or urgent surgical patient in their post-operative, post PACU admission to the floor.
   • Manage bedside care per MD orders, administering medications, ensuring patient safety, assisting in ADL care, etc.
   • Monitor chemotherapy and administration of oral chemo medication, obtain laboratory specimens to manage client status via central lines.
   • Travel nurse who provide care to patients in SICU, MICU, CCU, and CVICU.
   • Work in both MICU and SICU

   More Traveling Nurse duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the traveling nurse job description is a good way to get more applicants. A traveling nurse salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a traveling nurse in Alaska may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level traveling nurse. Additionally, a traveling nurse with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average traveling nurse salary

   $83,961yearly

   $40.37 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level traveling nurse salary

   $53,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 15, 2025

   Average traveling nurse salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
   1	Michigan	$109,298	$53
   2	Washington	$108,135	$52
   3	Massachusetts	$105,669	$51
   4	District of Columbia	$104,672	$50
   5	California	$100,488	$48
   6	Colorado	$98,649	$47
   7	Maryland	$94,522	$45
   8	Indiana	$93,333	$45
   9	Pennsylvania	$92,583	$45
   10	Maine	$92,244	$44
   11	Illinois	$90,733	$44
   12	North Carolina	$87,245	$42
   13	Georgia	$87,037	$42
   14	Missouri	$86,532	$42
   15	Tennessee	$85,589	$41
   16	Oregon	$85,585	$41
   17	Texas	$81,375	$39
   18	New Mexico	$80,790	$39
   19	Arkansas	$80,188	$39
   20	South Carolina	$78,527	$38

   Average traveling nurse salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
   1	Maxim Healthcare Group	$113,095	$54.37	1,555
   2	RNnetwork	$111,079	$53.40
   3	Senior Living Properties	$110,974	$53.35
   4	Soliant	$108,291	$52.06	28
   5	The Arora Group	$105,630	$50.78	65
   6	MAS Medical Staffing	$102,756	$49.40	1,080
   7	Aya Healthcare	$101,349	$48.73	170
   8	Nomad Health	$98,625	$47.42	667
   9	Southern Health Partners	$95,866	$46.09	616
   10	Wellpath	$95,664	$45.99	993
   11	Tenet Healthcare	$95,484	$45.91	1,283
   12	DaVita Kidney Care	$94,458	$45.41	2,307
   13	Prestige Care	$94,273	$45.32	41
   14	Kindred at Home	$91,551	$44.01	643
   15	Systems	$90,319	$43.42
   16	Ascension Michigan	$89,599	$43.08	1,192
   17	Nanny	$89,569	$43.06	1
   18	UCHealth	$89,293	$42.93	207
   19	Kamana	$89,223	$42.90
   20	Signify Health	$89,054	$42.81	5

4. Writing a Traveling Nurse Job Description

   A job description for a traveling nurse role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a traveling nurse job description:

   Traveling Nurse job description example

   We are looking for a Travel Nurse to care for our patients and facilitate their speedy recovery. You will also be responsible for educating them and their families on prevention and healthy habits. The ideal candidate will be a responsible and well-trained professional able to give the best nursing care with little supervision. You will be compassionate and cool-tempered. You will also be able to follow health and safety guidelines.
   
   Job Responsibilities of the Travel Nurse:
   

   • Monitor patient s condition and assess their needs to provide the best possible care.
   • Observe and interpret patient s symptoms and communicate them to physicians.
   • Collaborate with physicians and nurses to devise individualized care plans for patients.
   • Perform routine procedures (blood pressure measurements, administering injections etc.) and fill in patients charts.
   • Adjust and administer patient s medication and provide treatments according to physician s orders.
   • Foster a supportive and compassionate environment to care for patients and their families.

   Requirements and skills of the Travel Nurse:

   • Proven experience as a RN or LPN.
   • Excellent knowledge of nursing care methods and procedures.
   • In-depth knowledge of health and safety guidelines and procedures (sanitation, decontamination etc.) and willingness to always follow them.
   • A team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
   • Responsible and compassionate.
   • Outstanding organizational and multi-tasking skills.
   • Patient with excellent problem-solving skills.
   • Valid nursing license.

   ABOUT THE ARORA GROUP:
   The Arora Group is an award-winning, Joint Commission-certified nationwide healthcare services company that, for over 30 years, has helped put skilled clinicians to work where it is needed most. Our mission is to give healthcare professionals opportunities to improve their skills, learn from the best, and provide outstanding care. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability.
   

   Copy This Example

   

5. Post your job

   To find traveling nurses for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any traveling nurses they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level traveling nurses with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your traveling nurse job on Zippia to find and recruit traveling nurse candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit traveling nurses, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new traveling nurse

   Once you have selected a candidate for the traveling nurse position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a traveling nurse?