Your highly specialized skills are needed in premier intensive care units across the country. Nomad Health pairs skilled critical care nurses with exceptional travel contracts nationwide. Register today to begin your next professional adventure, or browse our extensive list of Critical Care RN opportunities below.
We are dedicated to taking complete care of our clinicians. For this reason, every critical care assignment through Nomad includes a robust benefits package—featuring medical, dental, and vision coverage, along with malpractice insurance and a 401(k) with employer matching. We also take care of the essentials: providing housing and meal stipends, and covering the cost of your scrubs, state licenses, and certifications. Getting started is simple: build your Nomad profile and apply to jobs in just a few clicks.
Taking on a role as a critical care travel nurse provides a unique chance to elevate your nursing career through fantastic financial rewards and clinical advancement, all while enjoying the stability of a highly sought-after specialty. It grants you the flexibility to practice in high-acuity environments alongside top-tier interdisciplinary teams, empowering you to confidently take the next leap in your intensive care career.
Competitive Pay – Critical care travel assignments regularly provide substantially higher compensation than traditional staff nursing roles. You can maximize your income based on your specific critical care experience—such as cross-training in the CVICU or MICU—with average earnings around $2,400 per week, and top-tier assignments paying upwards of $3,800 per week.*
Continuous Learning and Skill Mastery – Travel nursing accelerates your mastery of complex life-support systems and high-risk patient management. You'll gain hands-on experience treating diverse and critically ill populations—from those suffering from multi-organ dysfunction to severe cardiac issues—while operating advanced hemodynamic monitoring devices like CVP and PAOP. You will also broaden your clinical expertise by navigating different high-stakes settings, from expansive urban teaching hospitals to critical access facilities in rural areas.
Location Freedom – A major advantage of travel nursing is having the autonomy to select your ideal work destination and facility type. Taking on contracts in fresh locations lets you interact with varied hospital protocols and patient demographics that you wouldn't experience in a permanent position, granting you complete authority over your lifestyle, schedule preferences, and assignment duration.
*Average pay of Nomad Health Critical Care travel nurse job postings on May 12, 2023.
To launch a career as a critical care travel nurse, you generally start by obtaining a nursing degree, either a BSN or ADN, and successfully passing the NCLEX-RN to secure your Registered Nurse license. After getting licensed, prospective travel nurses need to acquire direct clinical experience in an intensive care environment to refine skills like interpreting ECGs, titrating high-risk medications, and managing patients on ventilators or dialysis. Many clinicians further enhance their expertise and marketability by earning specialized credentials, such as the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification through the AACN, along with standard BLS and ACLS.
Once equipped with the necessary background—usually a minimum of 12 months of full-time experience in an intensive care setting—and credentials, nurses can team up with a travel agency like Nomad to discover contracts that align with their personal and professional ambitions.
Learn more about travel nursing as a critical care nurse in Nomad's Critical Care Travel Nurse Career Guide.