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Travel Nurse Onboarding: Getting Ready to Submit for Your First Contract
This is where travel nursing starts to feel real.
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You’ve learned how travel nursing works. You’ve found an agency and recruiter. You’ve started thinking about where you want to go.
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Now it’s time to actually get ready to submit for jobs.
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That starts with onboarding with your travel nursing agency.
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And yes, there is paperwork.
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A lot of paperwork.
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What Is Travel Nurse Onboarding?
Onboarding is essentially the process of creating your profile with a travel nursing agency and giving them the information they need to represent you for jobs.
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If you’ve worked as a nurse before, much of this will feel familiar.
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Your agency will typically need things like:
Government-issued identification
Nursing licenses
BLS, ACLS, PALS, NRP, or other required certifications
Specialty certifications
Resume and work history
Professional references
Immunization and health records
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Different agencies and facilities may require different things, but the goal is the same:
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Build a complete traveler profile so you’re ready when the right job appears.
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Get Organized NOW
If there is one piece of advice we can give you before you start this process, it’s this:
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Create a digital home for your nursing documents.
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We learned very quickly that travel nursing creates an impressive collection of licenses, certifications, contracts, physicals, fit tests, titers, test results, and random pieces of paperwork.
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And inevitably, somebody is going to need the one document you haven’t looked at in six months.
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John keeps his organized digitally so he can access everything from his phone or computer wherever we happen to be.
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Create folders. Give files names that actually make sense. Keep copies of documents you submit and paperwork you receive.
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Future you will be very grateful.
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What Else Happens During Compliance?
Paperwork is only part of the process.
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Depending on the agency and facility, you may also need things like:
Drug screening
Background checks
Physical exams
Respiratory fit testing
Updated health requirements
Skills assessments or competency exams
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Some specialties may have additional testing related to things like telemetry, EKG interpretation, medications, or specialty-specific knowledge.
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It sounds like a lot when you see everything in one list.
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But remember, you’re already a nurse.
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Most of this process is about documenting and verifying the experience and qualifications you already have.
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Then It’s Time to Start Looking at Jobs
Once your profile is ready, things get much more exciting.
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You’ll tell your recruiter what you’re looking for, including things like:
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Where do you want to go?
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What shift do you want?
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What specialty or unit are you looking for?
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Your recruiter can then start matching those preferences with available jobs.
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When they find something that might be a fit, they’ll usually send you information about the assignment along with the pay package.
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If you like what you see, you can tell your recruiter you want to submit.
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Submitting is essentially applying for that travel nursing job.
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Only Submit to Jobs You’d Actually Take
This is important.
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Travel nursing jobs can move quickly, and it may be tempting to submit to everything remotely interesting just to see what happens.
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Don’t.
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Before submitting, look at the location, shift, specialty, dates, pay package, and anything else that matters to you.
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Ask your questions.
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Then decide:
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If they offered me this job, would I actually say yes?
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If the answer is no, you probably shouldn’t submit.
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Your first travel contract can take some patience. Facilities may prefer nurses who already have travel experience, which is frustrating when you’re trying to get that experience in the first place.
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Keep going.
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It only takes one yes to get started.
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Want the Full Story?
There are a lot of moving pieces between choosing an agency and submitting for your first travel nursing job.
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In this episode of Travel Healthcare 101, John walks through the onboarding and compliance process, shows how he organizes years of nursing documents, explains what assessments and screenings you might encounter, and walks through how a job goes from your recruiter’s database to an actual submission.
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Watch Travel Healthcare 101: Onboarding & Submitting for Travel Nursing Jobs
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And once you start submitting, something pretty exciting can happen.
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You get an offer.
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But before you immediately scream YES and start packing, there are some things you need to look at.
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Next, we’re talking about travel nursing offers, contracts, pay packages, and how to decide whether the job in front of you is actually a good one.
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Next: How to Evaluate a Travel Nursing Offer →
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