Why Travel Nursing Builds Leadership
Travel nursing is often seen as a short-term adventure, but it is one of the fastest ways to build leadership skills that open doors to management or other advanced roles. If you’re a travel nurse looking for career growth, consider a nursing leadership role. Or, if you’re interested in travel nursing, consider how it can advance your career. Believe it or not, travel nurse experience can give you exceptional leadership skills.
Travel nurses are highly skilled in adapting to new environments and workflows. Being adaptable is a must for any nursing leader. Healthcare is a field that is constantly changing. A good leader knows how to change with it and keeps their employees engaged.
Constant workflow changes can make it difficult for staff nurses to stay resilient. Travel nursing helps you learn to be adaptable and build resilience. As a leader, this confidence will set an example for your employees, keeping them resilient. Not only will your employees thrive under your leadership, but higher management will appreciate your ability to quickly adapt to new healthcare requirements and flawlessly execute new patient care strategies.
Travel nurses also have extensive knowledge of patient care. Working in different healthcare systems and learning different processes from other hospitals gives travel nurses an advantage in leadership roles. They are great at leading projects to improve patient care with all the knowledge gained from other hospitals. For example, hospitals with excellent patient outcomes may have unique patient care protocols. Travelers who’ve worked at these excellent healthcare systems can bring this knowledge to other hospitals that may be struggling with poor patient outcomes. In a leadership role, travel nurses can rely on their vast knowledge to improve patient care.
Key Leadership Skills Gained Through Travel Nursing
Travel nursing continuously builds leadership skills. Here are examples of just a few of these:
- Communication:Travel nurses are exceptional at building trust and relationships with other nurses. This skill is crucial for any nursing leader. If staff nurses trust your leadership, you’re more likely to retain staff and create a happy work environment for nurses.
- Cultural competence:Nurses who’ve worked in different regions of the country have cared for diverse patient populations and worked alongside nurses with diverse backgrounds. This cultural competence can help you better understand your employees and patients.
- Problem-solving:Patients’ diagnoses are the same from hospital to hospital, but the processes for patient care differ based on hospital protocols. When problems arise, travel nurse leaders have many experiences to reference.
- Flexibility:Travel nursing also requires a lot of flexibility. There are many times when travel nurses find themselves in less-than-ideal situations. Learning how to manage difficult situations helps travel nurses learn to be flexible and adapt to new situations quickly.
So, whether you’re already a travel nurse looking to move to a leadership role or a staff nurse with future aspirations to be a nursing leader, travel nursing can help you build the skill set needed to be an exceptional leader.
How Travel Nursing Skills Translate to Career Advancement
Building extensive knowledge of how other hospitals manage their units and gaining skills in quick decision-making and flexibility will set you apart from other candidates looking for leadership roles. For example, many advanced leadership roles involve overseeing several different types of units at once. Having a background in multiple areas will put you ahead.
You’ll also bring a great deal of unique stories and problem-solving examples to your interview. Employers will want to see what type of leadership style you have and how you will solve problems. Giving examples of how you will manage difficult situations and hearing ways you’ve handled issues in the past will let them know you’ll be a great asset to any leadership team.
Practical Steps to Leverage Travel Nursing Experience
If you’re looking to jump into traveling nursing or are a travel nurse ready to take the next steps toward leadership, these steps show you the best way to leverage your experience.
- Pump up your resume:When creating a resume, it’s essential to highlight your travel nurse leadership experience. A resume with several nursing jobs can be a red flag for employers because it may demonstrate a lack of commitment. Grouping your travel nursing jobs under one employer will show your experience as a travel nurse and provide longer stints of employment. For example, if you worked at three different hospitals for over a year but were with the same travel company, list your experience as one job with that company. Under the job description, list the different hospitals and leadership skills you performed.
- Nail the interview:Once you land a job interview, explain how your adaptability and time as a travel nurse have helped you gain leadership skills. Give examples of times you acted as a leader. This includes leading a team of nursing care techs and LPNs, describing the times you acted as a patient advocate, and detailing any charge nurse opportunities you’ve experienced.
- Use your recruiter:Nursing recruiters keep careful and detailed job performance notes on each of their travelers. Therefore, any good relationship you have with a recruiter can work for your benefit. They know how hospitals view your nursing skills and how reliable you are. They can speak to your leadership abilities.
Examples of Success
Having experience as a travel nurse gave me the upper hand when looking for a leadership role. In one situation, I applied for a staff position, but when the nurse manager saw my experience as a travel nurse, they wanted to transition me to a leadership role instead. I specifically remember him saying, “When I saw your experience as a traveler, I thought, ‘She must be very good at what she does.’” My travel experience spoke for itself.
In my current role as a simulation coordinator, my vast experience in different nursing settings has allowed me to realistically create any simulation setting and effectively work with various types of nursing and other healthcare disciplines. Travel nursing has not just helped me in one leadership role, but in several.
Looking Ahead
Nursing has always been a fast-paced career. In recent years, it has become even faster. Employers value nurses who they know will be able to adapt quickly. They need leaders who will bring innovative ideas to nursing care. Travelers who’ve been everywhere and seen everything can offer new perspectives and bring valuable information to any leadership role.
Travel nursing is not just a chapter in your nursing career but can launch you into the leadership role of your dreams. So, if you’re currently a travel nurse considering nursing career advancement or a staff nurse worried about traveling because you don’t think it will lead to a leadership role, don’t hold back. Travel nursing can lead you to your dream job by advancing your leadership skills.
The Health eCareers job board is the perfect place to look for travel nursing opportunities. With each assignment, you’ll be building the perfect resume for any advanced leadership role.
