Travel Nurse Aides are frontline care workers. They travel
to distant locations for performing nursing care services on a temporary basis.
If you are a CNA and not satisfied with your job position
and salary, you can also become a Travel Nurse Aide for work flexibility and
better compensation and benefits. You will also get an opportunity to visit
distant locations of your choice for performing nursing services. These jobs offer
work independence because you can decide your time and place of working, and
accept or decline offers. You will be hired for short duration assignments, and
after the tasks are over, you are free to apply for another employment in
another location as per your convenience.
The wages and benefits offered to travel nursing
professionals are always higher than compensations offered to permanent nurse
aides. They are also more skilful and knowledgeable because their employments in
various locations and different facilities expand their knowledge base.
History
Travel Nursing is a new phenomenon that began with the nursing
shortages in early 1980s. According to Healthcare Traveler, hospitals in the
city of New Orleans were facing nurses’ shortage during Mardi Gras celebration in
1978. The facility owners hired nurses on a contract basis for a short period
to ease the sudden influx of patients during celebrations. The benefits of
enlisting the services of nurses for a short-period also encouraged other facilities
to follow suit. The system got a boost during a nationwide nursing shortage of
1980s because these contract nurses greatly helped in minimizing nursing
shortage prevailing that time. The nurses, who travelled to distant locations
for short assignments became popular as Travelling Nurses, and the system came
to be known as Travel Nursing.
Both the employers and nursing professionals also found
these arrangements beneficial to each others because travel nursing offered
nursing professionals an opportunity to visit new destinations and receive
higher compensations and benefits for their short-term assignments. In the same
way, employers favoured travel nurses over permanent nurses because they were
able to save money by hiring them, which otherwise be spent hiring permanent
nursing employees for a longer period. The hiring of temporary nurses also
helped employers in easing nursing shortages or meeting their short-term
demands for nursing professionals during seasonal or peak periods.
Education
Requirements
A Travel Nurse Aide should complete state-approved CNA
training program that meet the national standard and OBRA-87 requirements. The
length of the program should be at least 75- hours that can be completed in
4-10 weeks depending upon the training institutes. However, there are also states
that have minimum training requirements of 100-150 hours. The program curriculum
features classroom knowledge instructions, lab training, and hands-on clinical
experience with patients in the local facilities. The course curriculum
includes both general and nursing courses. The program trains individuals in
basic nursing cares and activities of daily livings.
The successful completion of the training program provides
students eligibility for CNA exam that features Witten or Oral Test, and Skills
Tests. The competency evaluation tests are
state-approved and meet the OBRA requirements. The test also evaluates the
competencies of nurse aides for offering safe and competent nursing cares. The
candidates must pass both test segments to prove their nursing skills and for earning
Certification. The possession of Certification allows nurse aides to apply travel
nursing jobs.
Hiring Process
The certified nursing aides can apply to hiring agencies for
travel nursing jobs because employers from different locations place their
demands with these agencies. The placement agencies post their demand and
invite the job applications from nurse aides and other nurses. If the experience
and skills details provided by the nurse aides match the employer’s
requirements, hiring companies call the selected candidate for an interview.
The successful candidate gets a job offer, and if the salary, benefits, job location,
and task requirements suit the nurse aide, he/she will accept the offer.
Job Precautions
Travel CNAs must take certain precautions prior to accepting
travel nursing assignments. They must ask for a written and signed agreement from
these hiring agencies that explicitly record per hour wages, work duration,
payment modes, employment terms and conditions, work benefits, work leaves, and traveling and housing allowances. The
signed agreement becomes necessary when facility owners may ask travel nurse
aides to perform tasks that are beyond their job descriptions, or fail to pay
arranged compensations or benefits. In such scenario, the signed agreement with
details come handy when settling disputes between the placement agencies, facility
owners, and travel nurse aides.
The nurse aides must also ask the hiring agencies for the references
and contact details of past Travel CNAs placed by the agencies. The reason
being, these past travel nursing professionals can guide nurse aides in this
field, and inform them about the travel jobs and problems. They can also give
their opinion about the reliability of placement agencies, working conditions, pay
package, and benefits. These past employees can be the best helps for the nurse
aides in their travel nursing employments.
Job Outlook
Travel Nurse Aides have excellent job outlook because their
demand is rapidly increasing among the facility owners and home health agencies
in the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for
nurse aide employments will grow by 21 percent in 2012 to 2022 or 312,200 more
nurse aides will be required for performing direct care services. The demand
for travel nursing professionals will also be higher among the facility owners
because their short duration enlistments can help owners save money on long-term
workers, and assist them in coping nursing shortages.
Also, the clients are changing and demanding better service
standards. The travel nurse aides are better equipped to meet these demands due
to their past experiences in this field when they served different types of
patients in facilities located in different locations. These qualities are also
one of the basic reasons for their demand among different health care units
throughout the country.
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