The number of travel nurses and doctors in the healthcare industry has increased dramatically. In the last several years, statistics show that travel nursing has grown by a staggering 600%. With a combination of good advertising from agencies and nurses and doctors plastering their improved lifestyles and trying to steer people away from the national health system, the industry has become massive. Granted, more nurses are taking the role than doctors, but there are travel doctor careers for the taking.
Read on to learn about this new phenomenon.
The Trend of Travel Healthcare Professionals
Travel nurses and doctors are now a massive part of the US health system. To put it simply – people are more interested in working abroad or for an agency than the national and private health system.
Traveling healthcare roles were meant to cover temporary gaps because of vacations or seasonal peaks. However, the pandemic has intensified this demand even more, meaning hospitals with overwhelming patient flow due to critical shortages among workers have increasingly depended on travel nurses and doctors.
Burnout among permanent healthcare staff is another significant cause. Many nurses and physicians have changed jobs simply because they can find better hours and quality of life.
Flexibility and Work-Life Balance
The freedom in travel nursing or doctoring makes it attractive to many individuals. Unlike other traditional medical occupations that require particular locations and time frames, traveling positions give one the ability to choose when they want to work where they like working in terms of geographical location. The same goes for a physician recruiting firm, which more doctors turn to than travel nursing.
By picking these career options, doctors and nurses prioritize their personal lives and engage themselves in things other than medicine – it really isn’t a bad thing. Does it mean they don’t love their jobs? Absolutely not!
A travel nurse who lives far away and goes on assignments could live across regions, exploring new towns and cultures while doing her job. You can literally do it across the world.
Competitive Payment Packages Plus Benefits
The salaries given to travel nurses and doctors are usually higher. We should have started with that to make you consider a role. Agencies have different budgets and can pay more…a lot more. There’s more of a willingness of health facilities to pay a premium for stop-gap measures. And it’s not only higher basic salaries – housing allowances, travel reimbursements, and full coverage of medical expenses are among the financial incentives that come with these jobs.
Given the present cost of living (crisis), these remunerations have made travel nursing and doctoring far more attractive.
Professional Development and Skill-Building
Being a travel nurse or doctor opens up infinite avenues for professional development and skill building. You’d find yourself working in so many interesting places. More exposure makes you more capable of handling different patients’ needs under diverse conditions using clinical skills and experience.
For example, an assignment worked on by a travel nurse could be in a high-tech city hospital, while another one could take place in a rural community health center. Each setting has its challenges and lessons. Equally important is for travel doctors, who gain experience in various medical specialties and become specialists, making them more flexible physicians.
Travel nurses and doctors have exciting careers. Everyone can envy them to some degree. But why envy them? There are still jobs for the taking or at least more flexible roles than shift work.
