Every member of the medical profession takes part in continuing education, especially for travel nurses. The average US nurse needs to pursue 20-30 hours of continuing education every 2 years. In a stable position, this education may be structured into your job and yearly routine. As a travel nurse, however, it’s important to take charge of your continuing education to maintain your license and keep up with the latest innovations in the medical field.
Because travel nurses are often ambitious and energetic professionals, pursuing further credentials to grow their careers is fairly common. What is the best way to pursue your educational training, licensing, and certifications in a way that coincides with a travel nurse’s busy and changing schedule?
Fortunately, a nurse’s options for continuing education are more diverse than ever. Every travel nurse now has the opportunity to build a personalized system for continuing education.
When to Schedule Education for Travel Nurses
- Training in a target city
- Training in your home city
- Online training from anywhere
Integrating continuing education into your schedule as a travel nurse requires careful planning. Some travel nurses travel for part of the year and take classes when living and working in their home city. Others actively plan their next assignment as an ideal location for their next training program or recertification course. In the modern era, pursuing continuing education on your own time through a self-paced online platform is also possible.
The best approach depends on what is most approachable and empowering for you.
Portrait Of Smiling Female Nurse Or Doctor Wearing Scrubs With Digital Tablet
Online Learning vs. In-Person Training
Today, travel nurses can choose between online learning and in-person educational courses. While in-person training is traditional and offered in nearly every city, online learning is even more accessible because it can be completed from anywhere, often on any device that can access the internet.
Online Learning
Online learning allows travel nurses to complete continuing education on any schedule. Away from home, during breaks, and between shifts, studying can even occur in the morning line for coffee with mobile-friendly learning platforms. Online learning removes the requirement to choose a city, and coursework can continue even if a nurse’s assignment changes mid-lesson.
Self-paced online learning is ideal, but if personally guided courses are preferred, travel nurses can also find courses hosted by online educators with online lectures and webinars paired with take-home digital materials to study and assignments to fulfill.
In-Person Training
While online learning is convenient, in-person training can provide more established and immersive learning programs. Travel nurses can plan their assignments and educational courses in accordance with each other. Choosing a highly respected training program in a city where you accept an assignment may be possible. If the training schedule meshes well with your shifts, you can build a diverse educational history that will stand out in resumes.
You can also choose a favorite training program to pursue during cycles in which you are in your home city between assignments. You can take advantage of the stability of your at-home shifts or take time off for learning and personal pursuits before taking your next assignment.
Keeping Up with Certifications While on the Road
Certification renewal is among the most important items on any nurse’s schedule. This starts with your nursing license upkeep but will include any additional certifications you earn and maintain. A nursing license must be renewed every 2 years. Other certifications renew anywhere from annually to every 5 years, so you’ll want to keep an interactive schedule that provides reminders with plenty of lead time.
It will be vital to plan ahead so you have time to study and take the necessary tests to keep your license and certifications current.
This can be a challenge to balance with your travel schedule, but modern resources make it possible to keep track of all your priorities and demands on your time. You can also work with your travel nursing agency to align assignments with your educational and recertification needs.
Nurse, portrait or laptop in hospital research, wellness books study or education in medicine scholarship on mockup wall. Smile, happy or medical student on healthcare technology for woman internship
Exploring Scholarship and Funding Opportunities for Continuing Education
While some medical roles will sponsor continued education, this is not normally included in travel nursing positions. Therefore, travel nurses must either pay out of pocket or seek out scholarships, grants, and funding routes that support medical education.
The good news is that dozens of scholarships and grants are available at any given time for nurses seeking continued education. These funding sources are available to support the medical community and ensure that vital nursing staff not based in a sponsoring hospital can continue serving the community.
With each license and certification renewal cycle, you will want to make time for scholarship and grant applications if needed.
Planning Your Next Move with Education in Mind
Every travel nurse handles scheduling, assignments, and education plans in their own way. The single connecting thread is the need to consider both assignment selection and continuing education timing. Will you book assignments where you can secure a valuable educational course in the same city? Will you plan off-time between assignments to learn at home? Or will you make time in your busy travel nursing schedule to complete your studies online?
At AB Staffing, we will work with you to ensure your assignment and education schedule needs are perfectly aligned. No matter how you want to allocate your time in the upcoming year, we will help you find the perfect balance of assignments and study time to study and recertify.
You can begin building your adventure by exploring available travel nursing roles through AB Staffing.
- Medical Surgical Nursing – Tulsa, OK
- Director of Nursing – Grand Junction, CO
- LPN – Roanoke, VA
- Mental Health Nursing – Eden, TX
- Emergency Nurse – Bozeman, MT
Your next journey starts here. From selecting the right assignment to making time for continuing education, AB Staffing is here to help.
