How to Become a Travel Nurse Practitioner

Becoming a travel nurse practitioner is not the samecredentials and build new skills. At the end of your
as becoming a travel RN and LPN. Standard nursingassignment, you'll be ready for just about anything.
positions have less responsibility and an easier learningWhat to expect as a travel nurse practitioner
curve than they do, which means that RNs and LPNsThere are some slight differences between standard
can be plugged into these roles without too muchtravel nursing and locum tenen jobs for practitioners,
difficulty. In contrast, the practitioner roles requireincluding:
greater expertise and are often highly specialized, so· Your agency might ask you to be prepared to fill a
they can't be filled by just anyone. And because theseposition on short notice, which means that you'll have
positions often require extensive training, medicalto be ready to pick up and move across the country
facilities usually attempt to hire permanent employeesat any time.
rather than bringing in temporary ones.· Your terms are likely to be longer than those of
Travel nurse practitioner opportunitiesstandard travel nursing jobs. You can expect to stay in
While these opportunities are relatively few and fareach position for anywhere from three months to a
between, this doesn't mean that they don't exist. Inyear or more.
fact, an increasing number of temporary nursing· You might be asked to fill a position until the medical
agencies are recruiting so-called "locum tenen" (Latinfacility finds a permanent replacement. In this case, you
for "to substitute for") nurse practitioners to fillmight not know exactly how long you can expect to
temporary roles after existing practitioners quit orstay in the position. And when the facility does find a
retire. In effect, these temporary positions arepermanent replacement, they may ask you to provide
essentially the same as travel nursing positions, buttraining.
with some minor differences.· Because nurse practitioner positions are often quite
As a nurse practitioner, if you can manage to landdemanding, facilities usually give priority to more
traveling assignments through an agency, you'll benefitexperienced individuals. If you're just starting out as a
from all of the perks that go along with travel nursing,nurse practitioner, you may have trouble landing a
including increased pay, opportunities to work intravel job. We recommend working in a medical facility
different places, and paid housing. Plus, each of yourfor a few years and get the experience before you
assignments will give you the chance to add to yourapply.