How to find your travel nurse specialty

If you're a travel nurse or becoming a travel nurse you're probably wondering what your options are based on position responsibilities and education and what that means for your paycheck. That's where nursing specialties come in. Nursing Specialties allow nurses to work in a field that they're interested in and prefer. For every unique nurse, there is a nursing specialty to match your personality and passions.‍

What are travel nursing specialties?

Travel nursing specializations are nursing positions that require varying knowledge, education, or experience to practice. These specializations have evolved as the nursing profession has grown and allow nurses to build expertise in different areas of nursing. Travel nurse specialties can be separated by patient age, demographic, location, type of care, salary, education, and more.

How to choose a travel nurse specialty

Choosing a travel nursing specialty can help you build a life that aligns your professional work with your passions and interests. If you don't have an area of medical care that you're particularly interested in you can support a specific demographic or follow high demand (and likely high salaries).

Reflect on past clinical rotations and ask yourself what the day-to-day care, workflow, and patient populations looked like. Think about what kind of work environment you enjoyed, fast-paced or more relaxed and chatty? It's also important to consider professional growth - will this specialty satisfy me professionally by challenging me and providing mental problem-solving? It may help to create a pros and cons list. Consider the following: education requirements, career advancement, certifications, salary, specialty responsibilities, common diagnoses, care setting, and location.

What travel nurse specialties does Nomad Health have?

Nomad currently offers travel nurse jobs in a variety of unique specialty options, including:

• Allergy and Immunology
• Behavioral
• Bone Marrow Transplantation
• Cardiac Care Unit
• Cardiac ICU
• Cardiovascular OR
• Case Management
• Cath Lab
• Chemotherapy
• Critical Care
• Dialysis
• Emergency Room
• Endoscopy
• HIV/AIDS
• Home Health
• Hospice and Palliative Care
• IV Therapy
• Infusion Therapy
• Intermediate Care
• Interventional Radiology
• Labor and Delivery
• Long Term Acute Care
• Long Term Care
• Medical ICU (MICU)
• Medical Surgical - Telemetry
• Medical Surgical
• Mother/Baby
• Neonatal ICU (NICU)
• Neuro ICU
• Nursery
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Occupational Health
• Oncology
• Operating Room
• Operating Room - Circulating
• Operating Room - First Assistant
• Operating Room - Scrub
• Orthopaedics
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Outpatient Clinic
• Pediatric ER
• Pediatric ICU (PICU)
• Pediatrics
• PACU
• Postpartum
• Pre-Op
• Psychiatry
• RN First Assistant
• Radiology
• Rehabilitation
• Special Care Unit
• Step-Down
• Surgical ICU (SICU)
• Telemetry
• Transitional Care Unit
• Urgent Care
• Urology
• Wound Care

How to change travel nurse specialties

Changing travel nurse specialties can be scary, but finding a new nursing passion is an exciting opportunity. A great way to find out if a new travel nurse specialty is right for you is to ask the hiring manager or supervisor at your facility if you can try out a few shifts as an extra in a new department. This way you can test out a role before committing to a full assignment.

Network

Another great way to learn more about positions you're interested in is to network with fellow nurses. Look for opportunities where different departments intersect in your facility and get involved. This is an easy way to talk to nurses with different specialties and gain a better sense of what to expect and experience in that role.

Research

Many travel nurse specialties have social media groups where you can learn a lot about their everyday life from questions, comments, and support. You can also look through job listings to find different specializations and read each job's specific responsibilities.

Continue your education

If you're interested in changing your travel nurse specialty, you may need more education. For nursing specialties such as a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist, you will need to invest in learning. When choosing a specialty it is important to consider how an online or in-person program will fit into your life and study habits. Nomad wants to encourage nurses to continue their education and will reimburse any licensing or certification required for Nomad jobs

Revisit your resume

Lastly, it's time to update your resume. Even if you don't have all the qualifications for the specialty you're interested in, it is still crucial to update and focus your resume. Think about updating your listed skills to better highlight positions you're interested in and include things like how you're a quick learner, flexible, and open to trying new things.