Becoming a nurse is one of the most altruistic and challenging callings you can have in our modern world. On one hand, your job will be to care for people and help them in their hour of need. On the other, this job is one of the most accountable ones – you’re in charge of people’s well-being.
It can be really expensive to put yourself through school, and many nurses nowadays leave school with a lot of student debt. Travel nursing is known to be well compensated. But how much depends on your specialization and where you work.
Here at Ventura MedStaff, we have numerous open positions across the U.S. with different compensations based on the specializations. These are some of the best-paid ones.
Intensive Care Unit Travel Nurses
Intensive care travel nurses are always highly valued and sought-after because this specialization requires a lot of knowledge and additional certifications. The responsibilities of ICU nurses include providing life-saving care for critical patients who depend on 24/7 support. ICU nurses must make split-second decisions, meaning that they have to be able to think on their feet and respond to emergencies in a timely manner.
ICU nurses are primarily found working in the ICU, but they can get floated to other departments depending on need due to their training and versatility.
Emergency Room Travel Nurses
The ER is a high-paced and challenging environment to work in. Not only do you not know what kind of patient may come through the door, but you can also be certain that your shift will always be dynamic and full of work.
To this end, ER nurses must be knowledgeable about a wide array of medical fields and be able to assist their patients with a variety of injuries, illnesses, and other problems. Long hours and a stressful work environment are not ideal and can make people less likely to want to specialize in ER care. Due to this, these positions are well compensated.
Labor and Delivery Travel Nurses
As births moved into hospitals in the 20th century, specialized nurses and midwives became a necessity. As the technology involved in maternity wards has progressed, so has the necessary education and knowledge of labor and delivery nurses.
These nurses are one of the most important members of the maternity ward in a hospital. They are here to care for the mother and the newborn. Apart from the knowledge of their profession, these nurses need to have a lot of empathy and be composed as they have to deal with the families and new mothers as well as newborn children.
PICU Nurses
PICU nurses are intensive care unit nurses for pediatric patients. Younger patients can be particularly volatile and fragile, with their status changing quickly from one moment to the next. The PICU can be a particularly intense environment to work in and requires nurses with a strong resolve to handle the emotional toll that working with severely ill children can take. Therefore, it is one of the highest-paying travel nursing specialties.
OR Travel Nurses
An OR nurse, or an operating room nurse, can be a general term for nurses that help patients before surgery, during surgery, after surgery, or throughout the entire process. These nurses are well known for their ability to focus and remain calm in stressful situations. They also are good communicators having to share surgery details with family members and report back to physicians and surgeons.
These nurses are highly trained, and the increased knowledge and skills required in the operating room make OR travel nurses one of the highest-paying specialties you can have as a travel nurse.
There are other high-paying jobs and specialties you can have as a travel nurse, but these are some of the most common and well-paid ones around. If you are ready to tackle the challenge of being a travel nurse, reach out to us, and we will find you the contract of your dreams.
