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Types of Travel Nurse Jobs

Agency Nurse

This is a type of travel nurse job that most people don’t think about when they hear the world travel nurse. An agency nurse is a nurse who agrees to work on a casual basis.

The hourly wage for this type of nursing can be the highest of all the nursing jobs available in travel nursing. They contact their regional or local nursing agency on a regular basis and sign up for work on short notice (as little as right now!) up to a month in advance.

This type of casual nursing has several names ranging from agency nurse to per diem. The main difference between an agency nurse and a per diem employed by the hospital is the amount of money the nurse makes and the certainty of the work.

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Additionally, the agency nurse will work at several hospitals while a typical per diem will be employed at just one facility. The benefits of agency nursing can sometimes outweigh the disadvantages.

Registry Nurse

Technically, this nurse is an agency nurse. The primary difference between a registry nurse and an agency nurse is more one of regional employment vs. local employment.

Registries evolved in areas where there were several hospitals in need of casual nurses. You have a sick call or an expected hole in the schedule but you do not have steady employment or a complete FTE to hire into. Enter the registry. A registry can be managed by a nursing agency (the most common today) a single hospital or a consortium of facilities ranging from hospitals to clinics to home health agencies.

The registry is a list of nurses who have agreed to be available with in the local area. If you think about larger metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles or Seattle you can see how this works. It is still typically a per diem or casual working arrangement.

The benefits and disadvantages are essentially the same as Agency Nursing except the registry nurse can usually expect to stay closer to home.

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