Nursing FAQs

Opportunities are abundant for travel nurses in many specialties and healthcare facilities across the country. Whether you are an OR travel nurse, ER travel nurse, or anything in between, we can work together to find the right opportunities for your skill set. The best way to get the most up-to-date information about our available jobs is to contact a member of our Sunbelt team. When you’re ready to explore what’s next in your career journey as a travel LPN or RN, a Sunbelt hiring manager will be there to help you thrive in every step of your professional journey.

Just a few of our Sunbelt nursing positions include:

• Cath Lab Nurse Jobs
• ER Nurse Jobs
• Home Health Nurse Jobs
• ICU Nurse Jobs
• Long-Term Care Nurse Jobs
• Medical-Surgical Nurse Jobs
• Operating Room Nurse Jobs
• Psychiatric Nurse Jobs
• Surgical Technologist Jobs
• Telemetry Nurse Jobs

If you are already an RN or LPN, becoming a travel nurse doesn’t typically require advanced degrees or specific travel specializations beyond your required state license. But, building upon your existing education and experience as an RN or LPN will open more opportunities for you in specialized areas. If you have a passion for a particular specialty, you can pursue additional certifications that will allow you to reach more patients and have more options. If you are looking for more information on the education requirements and certifications required to start your travel nursing career, check out our resource on how to become a travel nurse.

The demand for nurses is growing across the country, and nurses are needed no matter the time of year. From January to December, we have travel nursing positions available all year-round.

Nursing specialties of all kinds are in demand nationwide for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. But you’ll find that factors like location, time of year, and population can impact the demand for travel nursing. The need for specialties like ICU, Telemetry, and Emergency Room nurses are continuing to grow.

A typical travel assignment requires one to two years of current experience in the setting that the assignment is in. However, this can vary based on the needs of the healthcare facility. As you search for travel jobs, you’ll find that even new graduate nurses have opportunities to start their careers as travel nurses. If you are wondering if your current skill level and experience are a good match for a travel position, connect with us today. We are here to help match you with the hospital or facility that needs your skills and support.

When you connect with a Sunbelt recruiter about working as a travel nurse, they will look at your existing travel nurse resume. They will let you know if there are any additions or edits you can make to ensure that it's optimized for the jobs you are seeking. If you are looking for a more in-depth resource on how to write and format your resume, check out this Travel Nurse Resume Guide to learn more.

As a travel nurse with Sunbelt, you will have consistent support throughout your entire assignment and continued guidance throughout your career journey. When you work with a Sunbelt hiring manager, you will have their phone number to text or call whenever you need them. They will be there to help solve any urgent problems and answer any questions you have before, during, and after your travel nurse assignment.

No, your travel nurse application doesn’t commit you to anything. Applying for one of our jobs simply opens the door for communication between you and a hiring manager. When you first connect with us, this is your opportunity to discuss your experience, and to hear about available jobs, all without obligation. Your commitment doesn’t begin until you’ve formally accepted a position with us.

No fees here! Our travel nurses never pay fees for our career and job search support.

Travel nurse assignment lengths are typically 13 to 26 weeks. But this can vary based on what you are looking for in a role as well as what the hospital or healthcare facility needs. In addition, you may have opportunities to extend the length of an assignment or options to look for other nearby opportunities. Often, the longer the travel assignment, the more earning potential you will have.

We partner with facilities across the country, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and psychiatric facilities in underserved or rural areas of the country to major metropolitan areas. We’ll be your advocates throughout the travel nursing process to ensure you're matched with the right opportunity in your desired destination.

We understand the nature of your work as a travel nurse and know how important it is for you to have your next assignment lined up so you can continue working. That’s why we begin looking for your next travel nursing assignment six to eight weeks before you end your current one. You can trust that we’ll be transparent with you each step of the way, so you know what to expect and how to prepare. Plus, if you like where you are, we will be your advocate and communicate with the facility about the possibility of extending.

We offer nursing assignments throughout the United States, from coast to coast. Whether you’re looking for the bustle of a metropolitan area or hoping to bring your in-demand skillset to a more rural mountain landscape, you can trust Sunbelt to find the role that fits you best. If you are interested in staying a bit closer to home, you can also work as a contract nurse in your current location or within driving distance from your area.

While you don’t need a specific travel nurse license, you do have to be licensed to work in the state where the assignment is located. If you aren’t licensed in the state you want to work - we can help! We’ve been working with travel nurses for over 30 years, so we understand the requirements and can help direct you towards the next steps in getting licensed in the state you want to work. Often, this includes directing you to the appropriate Board of Nursing and going over timelines to help you know when you’ll be ready to explore your next destination.

It all starts with a phone call or an application from our site. When you connect with a hiring manager, they will spend time with you to assess your knowledge, review your skills and clinical strengths, and confirm your preferred pay and location. This process helps pinpoint the assignment that best aligns with your personal and professional goals. Upon finding a job that matches your needs, your hiring manager will discuss the work duties, shift, location, and salary with you. Once you have heard all the details and if you're interested in the job, we will submit you to the facility as a candidate for the travel job opening. After reviewing your information, the facility manager will reach out to Sunbelt to schedule a phone or video call interview with you. Our team will let you know if there is an offer after the interview, and you will have the option to accept or decline the position.

A phone or video call interview is very similar to a face-to-face interview. The interview is an opportunity for the facility hiring manager to assess your skills and experience. Plus, it's an opportunity for you to get to know the facility, its policies, and its expectations. Since you have already discussed your needs for pay and benefits with your hiring manager you don’t have to worry about having those conversations on this interview. Your hiring manager will prepare you and make sure you know details about the job, talk with the facility about your expectations, and ensure you know what to expect.

As soon as you accept a travel job with Sunbelt, the onboarding process will begin! Your hiring manager and our credentialing team will send you the needed paperwork and verify that you meet all the requirements for both Sunbelt and the facility where you’ll work. Ensuring compliance is very important to us at Sunbelt, so you will be required to have all documentation completed before you begin work. If you have questions about your travel nursing position, please contact your hiring manager.

Since we have a variety of facilities that we staff, orientation will differ from place to place. In small, rural hospitals or long-term care facilities the orientation may be as short as one day, whereas the orientation in a university system may be as long as seven days. On average, the typical RN orientation lasts from three to five days. Your nursing orientation will introduce you to the facility and the area where you will be working.

If you have problems while on a travel assignment, your hiring manager will be your main point of contact. You will have their phone number to text or call when you need them. Your dedicated Sunbelt team member will see to it that your problem is routed to anyone at the facility that needs to be aware. We will do our best to ensure that any problems are resolved within 24 hours, and we’ll be transparent with you during each step.

Each travel nurse situation is unique and factors like location and distance from your home can all have an impact on the cost of housing on a travel assignment. But, you don’t have to navigate that process on your own. Your hiring manager at Sunbelt will go through your needs and wants and will support you through the housing and relocation process for your travel nursing assignment.

You may be eligible for a tax-free housing subsidy if you don’t need housing for a travel assignment or if you prefer to find your own and you work more than 50 miles from your permanent residence in accordance with federal tax regulations. The amount of the subsidy will vary based on the location of the assignment and other federal tax policies. We encourage you to talk with your Sunbelt hiring manager about your needs for housing to create a plan that works best for you.

We understand how much you love your pets and will help you find options that work for you and them. Travel nursing with pets may require you to pay pet deposits or monthly pet fees.

You can speak with your Sunbelt hiring manager about your specific housing needs if you are looking to get into travel nursing with a family.

We do our best to offset costs for our traveling nurses and to be transparent about any additional costs that may be required. We encourage you to talk to a Sunbelt hiring manager today to find out how we can assist with relocation on your next assignment.

You have a passion for delivering exceptional care to your patients. You'll discover that helping patients receive the care they deserve is not only your calling - it's our calling, too. So, when you're ready to explore what's next in your career as a travel nurse, let's work together so you can see work in a whole new light.