nsw travel nurse

How Do I Become a Travel Nurse? | Healthcare Australia’s Best Tips

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The world is a magnificent place, with so many cultures to immerse yourself in and natural wonders to explore. From the ancient pyramids in Egypt to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, adventure awaits at every corner.

The price of travel can often be a deterrent for many people. It’s what stops us from getting out there and discovering all that our planet has to offer. But what if there was a way to travel and get paid for it?

Enter, the travel nurse.

Travel nursing is a unique and exciting career choice that allows you to explore different parts of the world while also getting paid to do what you love – help people! Here In Australia, there is a growing demand for travel nurses as our healthcare system continues to evolve. As a result, we offer some of the highest salaries in the world, as well as excellent working conditions and a high standard of living.

Healthcare Australia has helped countless nurses realise their travel dreams, and now, we’re on a mission to help YOU! Whether cuddly koalas in Australia are your thing or the Great Barrier Reef is more your style, we can help make your travel dreams a reality.

So, how do you become a travel nurse? Here are Healthcare Australia’s top tips.

What Is a Travel Nurse?

A travel nurse is a registered nurse who works in temporary positions around the country or world. Typically, travel nurses will work 13-week contracts in different hospitals or healthcare facilities.

This type of nursing is perfect for those who love to travel and want to see different parts of the world. It’s also a great way to gain new experiences and skills, as you’ll be working in different environments with different teams.

HCA Tip: One of the best things about being a travel nurse is that you can choose your own assignments! So, if you want to work in a particular city or state, we can make that happen. Or, if you’d prefer to work in a specific type of facility, such as a children’s hospital or trauma centre, we can help with that too.

How to Become a Travel Nurse

1. Earn a nursing degree

If you haven’t already, the first step to becoming a travel nurse is to earn your nursing degree. You’ll need at least an Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to qualify for most travel nursing positions. This is your most reliable way into the industry and will give you the best chance to find work both in Australia and overseas.

You may also be able to enter the nursing profession through other pathways, like related social work and psychology degrees. However, this may limit your job options and make working as a travel nurse challenging.

2. Take part in a placement

Once you’ve completed your degree, you’ll need to take part in a placement. This is a 12-month program that allows you to work as a registered nurse under the supervision of a more experienced nurse.

During your placement, you’ll develop your clinical skills and knowledge, as well as learn how to work in a team. You’ll also have the opportunity to complete additional training, like CPR and first aid.

HCA Tip: The best way to find an apprenticeship is through Healthcare Australia. We can connect you with the right opportunity to help you kick-start your career.

3. Complete extra courses

While you’re completing your degree or apprenticeship, you may also want to consider taking on some extra courses. These can help you stand out from the competition and make you more attractive to potential employers.

Some courses that travel nurses often take include:

• Advanced Life Support
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program
• Critical Care Nursing

HCA Tip: Many of our travel nursing assignments require specific qualifications or experience. So, if you have extra training in a particular area, be sure to let us know. We may be able to connect you with an assignment that’s the perfect match for your skill set.

4. Sign up with a recruitment agency

The final step to becoming a travel nurse is to sign up with a reputable recruitment agency, like Healthcare Australia. We can help you find the right assignment in the right location, whether you’re looking to stay in Australia or travel overseas.

When you sign up with Healthcare Australia , we’ll work with you to create a tailored job search. We’ll also provide you with information on the latest nursing trends and salary rates. This way, you can be sure you’re getting the most out of your travel nursing experience.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Contact Healthcare Australia today and let us help you find your dream travel nursing assignment.

If you would like to discuss your Aged Care Learning needs and how the HCA LMS might match your organisational requirements, contact us today.

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How to Work as a Travelling Nurse in Australia

What is a travel nurse.

Travel nurses are skilled professionals from various clinical backgrounds and are employed by nursing agencies. They are typically placed in healthcare organisations to fill nursing shortages and work across a variety of environments from urban locations to rural and remote areas. Travel nursing is the ideal working holiday for those interested in a registered nurse job in Australia, as well as a great way to experience unique and exciting destinations and new environments. Registered nurses wondering, "is travel nursing worth it?" - Read on to find out if travel nursing is right for you.

This article will detail everything you need to know about travel nursing, including the many benefits of working as a travel nurse in Australia.

• What is a travel nurse?
• What is travel nursing like?
• How to become a travelling nurse
• Travel nursing in Australia

A travel nurse is a registered nurse that works in a non-permanent or temporary nursing role to support and assist healthcare organisations facing staffing shortages. On average, work assignments in one specific location are around four to six weeks, however, can range anywhere from two to 26. Travel nursing allows health professionals to merge their patient care skills and their passion for travel to work across the country. Whether you're working in a rural, remote, or coastal location, a travel nurse position provides new opportunities to develop unique skills and experience the beauty of Australia.

What is Travel Nursing Like?

Travel nursing programs are a great way to connect with community members in other states and obtain valuable life experience. Working in different regions can also benefit your career, as you develop skills and knowledge in specialty areas that other nurses do not. Overall, the lives of travel nurses are often fast-paced and exciting with rewarding opportunities for personal and professional development.

How do I become a Travelling Nurse?

If you are interested in becoming a travel nurse, follow this guide from Indeed which outlines the necessary steps to take when pursuing this career path:

Qualification requirements for travel nurses

If you haven't already, obtaining a Bachelor of Nursing degree or its equivalent, is the first step in pursuing a nursing position. During these programs, students learn essential nursing theory and skills they will use throughout their careers. Topics covered in these courses typically include anatomy, mental health, microbiology, pharmacology, public health, and pathophysiology.

Develop Your Skills

To excel in a travel nurse role, you must have a vast skillset that includes both hard and soft skills. Although tertiary nursing programs help to teach theory and develop technical skills required in the nursing industry, soft skills can only be developed through practical experience.

Key soft skills for travel nurses include:

Communication

Travel nurses work with a different variety of people including other nurses, doctors, surgeons, patients, and their family and friends. Being able to communicate effectively with colleagues, as well as patients is essential and involves active listening and clear verbalisation.

Organisation

Like all nursing positions, travel nurses work across many different hospital or facility areas and oversee several patients at once. In addition to this, daily duties of travel nurses can vary as unforeseen obstacles arise. Being organised is a necessary skill to manage day-to-day tasks.

Along with communication, teamwork is an important skill for a travel nurse because they work with many different healthcare professionals. As travel nurses often work in one specific location for a short period of time, having strong relationship-building and teamwork skills are looked upon favourably by employers.

Attention-To-Detail

As nursing involves working with medication and care plans, travel nurses must be detail-oriented to ensure the highest possible standard of patient care.

Adaptability

Travel nurses move around frequently so being able to quickly adapt to new environments is essential. Building relationships with staff nurses in a location and working to understand the needs of each clinical environment can help travel nurses to work more effectively.

NMBA Registration

NMBA is the national board for registered nurses and midwives in Australia and operates as part of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Before beginning work as a travel nurse in Australia, all nurses must register with NMBA.

Gain Experience

A travel nurse position usually requires candidates have a minimum of two years' experience in the nursing sector. If you are new to nursing, undertaking a graduate program can be a great way to kickstart your professional career. As travel nursing involves temporary placements, having a wealth of experience allows travel nurses to work effectively without supervision on a short-term contract.

Focus on Professional Development

Accumulating critical care experience across different facilities helps prepare candidates for work in temporary positions as a travel nurse. Keep a lookout for professional development opportunities outside of your full-time position such as overtime work at a local hospital or healthcare facility.

Research a Nursing Agency

Many staffing agencies specialise in the placement of health professionals and offer contracts for travel nurses across the country. These agencies already have relationships in place with healthcare facilities and can save you time in researching for jobs.

AHP Aged Care , currently have travel nurse contracts available across the nation.

Travel Nursing in Australia

There are a number of benefits to being a travel nurse in Australia including pay advantages, the ability to travel, and the opportunity to expose yourself to new perspectives.

Travel Nurse Salary

Take home a higher pay for your time and commitment as a travel nurse. According to Indeed , the average annual travel nurse salary in Australia is $104,475, however salary expectations can vary depending on a variety of factors such as location, employers, and experience. Most travel nursing contracts also include that accommodation and housing costs are covered.

Experience Unique and Exciting Destinations

Travel nursing gives nurses the ability to work, whilst experiencing unique and exciting destinations. Often times, nursing agencies will cover these travel costs. In your free time, experience all the beauty Australia has to offer whether its swimming at one of our pristine beaches, visiting an iconic landmark, or spending a week exploring your placement destination with travel nursing.

Step Out of your Comfort Zone

As a travel nurse, you will be exposed to many different communities and cultures as you move around Australia. Each location has something new to offer whether it's a rural, remote, or metropolitan location. Temporarily living amongst these different communities and breaking out of your comfort zone can assist in significant growth, personally and professionally.

Interested in a travel nursing career?

AHP can offer you the opportunity to take your nursing career across the country with travel contracts available Australia-wide. If you are passionate about travelling and nursing, and want to:

• Increase your exposure to other clinical needs in new environments
• Learn from the best by working amongst other clinicians in a multidisciplinary setting
• Build your resume by highlighting your flexibility and ability to adapt to new clinical environments
• Enjoy earning higher rates for your time and commitment
• Connect with new people, visit new places, and enjoy an all-expenses paid trip around Australia

Consider a working holiday with AHP for an amazing introduction to the travelling nurse space.

If you are a nurse interested in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, contact our head office team on 1800 247 677 to learn more about our available travel contracts.

About AHP Aged Care

At AHP Aged Care , we provide temporary and permanent placements for allied health and nursing services within the aged care industry.

Unlike many recruiters, AHP Aged Care work alongside aged care providers across public and private health sectors, developing positive partnerships and aligning our innovative aged care services with their financial and clinical needs. Our team is composed of recruitment consultants who have spent years in the health and aged care space. Because of this, we fully recognise the challenges faced by the aged care industry and can leverage our knowledge in providing qualified and expert aged care staff that stimulate independence, dignity, comfort, and quality of life for all elderly patients.

Careers for Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, and Assistants in Nursing

Rewarding career opportunities in nursing are available now. Discover your nursing career today with Australian Health Professionals .

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Become a Flight Nurse

Enquiries are welcomed at any time from registered nurses/midwives and nursing students considering a career in flight nursing by contacting us .

Contact the senior flight nurse to experience firsthand New South Wales' most unique nursing specialty:

• Come and join us on an observer flight if you are a registered nurse/midwife.
• Final year nursing/midwifery students serious about becoming a Flight Nurse, clinical placements are offered with universities that have a Memorandum of Understanding with NSW Ambulance. Please check with the University’s Clinical Placement Coordinator in the first instance. Selections for clinical placement are made by the University.
• Information Sessions will be held three times a year. The first Friday in April, July and October. Anyone interested in a career in flight nursing is eligible to register interest.

Role of a Flight Nurse

Flight nurses are responsible for the nursing and clinical management of patients being transported by the NSW Ambulance Fixed Wing, between country and metropolitan hospitals/ health facilities within NSW and interstate. Responsibilities include triage, clinical care of patients prior to, during and after flights with some road transport, other ground based and administrative duties.

Flight nurses predominately work autonomously approximately 99% of the time. The other proportion is part of a larger retrieval team for complex high acuity patients. The crew on a standard flight include a flight nurse and Pilot who work in a Beechcraft Super KingAir 200 or 350. Flights are prioritised according to the patient acuity and assigned an appropriate response time.

The aircraft becomes an extension of an emergency department, hospital ward, intensive care or any specialty unit. A diverse range of broad based medical categories and diagnostic groups are transferred ranging from cardiac, high risk obstetrics, surgical, neonatal, trauma to aged care and palliative patients. Last year over 5,000 patients were transferred. Flights are based out of Sydney Airport. Ten crews depart daily. Every day and every flight is different. Some challenging, independent nursing practice in remote and regional NSW is guaranteed. Each crew and aircraft return to Sydney at the completion of a shift.

Selection Criteria

• Dual Nursing and midwifery registration on the Australian Health Professional Registration Agency, Registers.
• Qualification and/or extensive experience in Aviation Nursing or adult critical care fields limited to Emergency, Cardiac, Cardiothoracic or Intensive Care Nursing.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Demonstrated knowledge of NSW Health system and the role of Air Ambulance Service in relationship to the health system.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to swim and Class C Driver's License NSW or equivalent.
• Evidence of protection against infectious diseases. List will be provided at time of application.

Recruitment is competitive and based on a merit selection process.

Paid Flight Nurse's Orientation and Training Program

• Flight Nurses Orientation Program. Extensive orientation to the aviation environment is provided which is fully mentored.
• Flight Nurses Program. An extensive six months program is provided to develop as a Flight Nurse culminating in a unique opportunity to becoming an autonomous nurse. Endorsement for an independent scope of practice is through the NSW Ambulance, which includes pharmaceutical interventions, policies and procedures.
• Continuing education is provided for annual endorsement of advanced life support in adult, paediatric and neonatal and obstetrics onsite. Access to external courses is provided for ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics) and FONT (Foetal Obstetric, Neonatal Training). Continuing Professional Development is invested into Flight Nurses by the organisation in accordance to APHRA requirements. A full time Clinical Nurse Educator supports all the programs and ongoing education with realistic simulated practice and assessments.
• Aviation Safety Education is provided by experts in the aviation industry to the same standard as flight crew on a commercial flight. Safety of crew and patients is paramount on each flight.
• Clinical Placements are provided in a large range of specialty clinical areas such as anaesthetics for advanced airway management, midwifery units and regional or tertiary units. Nursing practices at NSW Ambulance are maintained at the same level as that of a tertiary unit in any capital city.
• Research in Aviation and Flight Nursing practice is fostered and supported. All research is nurse initiated and evidenced based.

Career Path Opportunities

• Flight nurse starting salaries $81,968 pa including salary annual leave loading and employer's contribution to superannuation. Salary packaging arrangements and additional benefits are also available. An industrial allowance, conditions and additional provisions are incorporated into the NSW Public Nurses and Midwives Award.
• Incumbent flight nurses will start at the level of year of Registered Nurse practice.
• Clinical Nurse Specialist Grade 1. Early progression is acknowledged based on your prior nursing experience.
• Clinical Nurse Specialist Grade 2. This grading is available when vacancies occur. Currently there are 11 funded positions within the establishment. These positions are open to external applicants with flight nursing experience and Aviation Nursing qualifications.
• Flight nurse/Midwifery educator.
• Nurse Unit Manager
• Nurse Manager 3 also known as the Senior flight nurse.

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Protect yourself when going overseas

Find everything you need to reduce your risk of illness during and after travel.

Research your destination and any health risks .

Speak to your GP or pharmacist about health risks and vaccination.

Get vaccinated before you leave .

Pack enough medication for your trip (in original packaging) in your carry-on. Carry a doctor’s note explaining what it’s for. Pack first aid and preventive supplies like mosquito repellents, sunscreens, hand sanitisers, and oral rehydration product.

Get travel insurance no matter where you're going.

Be prepared and have a plan

There are a number of ways to reduce your risk of becoming sick when overseas or on return.

Eat and drink safely

Reduce your risk of illness while travelling by following safe eating, drinking and hygiene behaviours.

Prevent mosquito bites

Mosquitoes can carry dieases. Your best protection is to avoid being bitten.

Stay up to date with vaccinations

Some diseases can be prevented by having a vaccine, either when you were a child or before you travel.

Be careful around animals

Being bitten, scratched or licked on an open wound can make you sick. There are steps to reduce your risk.

Practise safe sex

Take measures to reduce your risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Information for pharmacists

Information to support pharmacists providing vaccinations and general travel advice to travellers.

• Expansion of pharmacist vaccination program 2022 guidance
• Print and digital resources
• General information about the pharmacist vaccination program
• NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards
• NSW Pharmacist Vaccine Authority
• Application to register with the AIR
• NSW form to register as a vaccination provider
• Guidance for pharmacist immunisers – Applying for a Vaccine Account Number

For health professionals

• Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases

Further information

Find out what you need to do before you go overseas, while you are away, and when you return.

• Smartraveller.gov.au travel advice
• HealthDirect travel health advice
• Australian Government Travel Health Alerts
• Travelling with medicines or Devices
• Reciprocal Health Care Agreements between countries
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• Travel Health Pro UK