5 Tips to Build Your Career as Travel Nurses

There are many factors that affect one’s career in travel nursing. Here are just a few tips on how to build a career and help you climb that professional ladder with minimal fuss.

1. Treat your job like a business.
   Take it seriously and treat both your co-workers and patients as if you own the facility. This doesn’t mean bossing people around. This just means, if you fail at your job, you fail the facility and your livelihood. This means hard work, dedication, and emotional commitment from you. It means being accountable for your actions. Many people tend to just show up, do the minimal amount of work needed, and collect their paychecks. Nothing wrong with that, except that this way of thinking does not inspire excellence, both in yourself and in other around you. When you treat your job like a business, you elevate your expectations of yourself to a higher level. Your co-workers, patients and supervisors will see it and your work life will be that much richer for it.
2. Become a leader.
   Show leadership traits like being proactive, competent, and passionate. People are drawn to those who are passionate and self-confident. When there’s a challenge at hand, rise up to the occasion and show everyone what you’re made of.
3. Build up your network.
   There is that old cliché, “It’s not what you know but who you know”. Constantly develop professional relationships with everyone you come in contact with in your travel nursing assignments. What’s more, be sociable and join conferences. The more people you come in contact and get along with, the more opportunities you will have.
4. Find a mentor, then become one yourself.
   Having a mentor is a great way to build a promising career in nursing. A mentor can be your guiding hand and be someone who can help you when you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. Mentors will help you avoid the pitfalls and they might even be in the position to help you land a promotion later on once you’ve proven yourself. And then, once you gained enough experience, don’t be afraid to pay it forward and help young newcomers by showing them the ropes. One advantage of this to you is that teaching can help you know your subject thoroughly. Plus mentoring helps build your confidence.
5. Become reliable.
   Consistency is key here. You need to be able to show that people can count on you. This means showing up, working hard, and contributing on a regular basis.