What Travel Nursing Specialties Are in Demand in 2020?
By Anita Wong, contributor
RNs with a spirit of adventure are using their nursing expertise to care for patients across the country. As the need for qualified nurses in the workforce continues to grow, travel nursing is a becoming an increasingly lucrative career option. You can meet new people, work in diverse healthcare settings and grow your clinical experience. Here's a look at what nursing specialties are in demand.
Emergency room nursing
Emergency rooms need skilled nurses to handle illnesses, infections, drug overdoses, accidents, heart attacks and trauma. It's a hectic environment that requires independence and fast, smart decision-making.
The need for qualified ER nurses is driven by increasing numbers of ER visits in the United States. An article in the Journal of Emergency Medicine reports that emergency room visits increased from 128.9 million in 2010 to 138.7 million in 2014, and that trend has continued.
If you're confident in your skills, consider jumping in to fill a staffing gap in one of the many ERs seeking nurses. Emergency rooms are particularly busy in Texas, Florida, Illinois, California and New York. The country's five most populous states represent 36% of all emergency department visits.
Intensive care unit
Working with a range of specialists, nurses in the ICU focus on patients with life-threatening conditions due to organ failure, trauma, infection and illness. ICU nurses need top-notch technical skills to operate complex equipment such as breathing machines, feeding tubes, resuscitation devices and life support. You must also have the ability to adapt and respond to a sudden deterioration in a patient's condition.
Because of the stressful, high stakes environment, nurses in intensive care are particularly prone to burnout. The flexibility of travel nursing lets you work in a specialty you love and to change settings from time to time to keep you fresh and sharp. While you can live and work in any location you like, you can also take a short break between assignments to re-energize.
Explore some of the travel assignments where you can make a difference to critically ill ICU patients.
Medical-surgical nursing
RNs in this specialty care for adult patients recovering from wide-ranging conditions such as pneumonia, heart attacks, hip replacements, surgeries and chronic diseases. According to the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, this is the single largest nursing specialty in the United States.
Because of the diverse nature of a general ward, a medical-surgical nurse must have excellent clinical skills and a strong knowledge of diseases and body systems. Med-surg is an ideal specialty for RNs who enjoy taking on a variety of cases and making a positive impact on patients during their hospital stay.
Progressive care nursing
With the cost of critical care in the U.S. estimated at 1% of GDP, more healthcare facilities are introducing progressive care units as a transition between an ICU and a medical-surgical ward. This unit is also known as a step-down, intermediate care or observation unit.
While patients in a PCU are more stable than those in an ICU, they're still acutely ill and not ready for a medical-surgical floor. Nurses in a PCU care for patients at risk of deterioration and must monitor them closely to ensure a quick medical response if required.
Telemetry nursing
Telemetry nurses fall under progressive care and are trained to monitor patients using special equipment that tracks heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and other vitals. Telemetry nurses interpret data and perform traditional nursing duties such as assessing changes in the patient's condition, administering medications and communicating with doctors.
Both progressive care and telemetry nurses can find travel assignments that are professionally and personally rewarding.
Operating room nursing
Perioperative nurses care for patients undergoing or recovering from surgery. This is a rich and varied nursing experience, as each shift may comprise a broad spectrum of surgeries and patients.
The complex, sometimes tense environment of an operating room requires an organized, detail-oriented nurse. You must monitor the patient, assist the surgeon and communicate with the surgical team. This challenging but highly rewarding role lets you care for patients when they're at their most vulnerable and immediately improve or save their lives.
If you're interested in a travel nurse job, learn more about getting started. If you'd like to see what travel nursing specialties are in demand right now, search current opportunities for a full listing, and discover where your nursing skills might take you.