Integrating Travel Nurses Into Your Team

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Travel nurses will be part of core team staffing for the foreseeable future in many healthcare settings. Managers should value the experience and adaptability that travelers bring to a group. A downside is that if not integrated into the team, nursing staff may get angry about travel pay, and the travel nurses could recruit your current staff. A successful experience for a travel nurse is contingent on good onboarding and ongoing communication about performance expectations. A good relationship with the nurse manager is an essential bridge to socializing travel nurses into the organization and a factor in the nurse’s decision-making to extend a contract if requested.

Some important DOs as travel nurses join your team include the following:

1. Embrace the traveler as a welcome addition to your unit – Choosing to be a travel nurse has tradeoffs. It can be lonely when you don’t feel anchored to one location. Your staff may not realize that travel contracts can be terminated with little notice and that the advertised pay is not what most receive.
2. Ensure traveler nurses are oriented– Orientation is needed even at this time with streamlined onboarding. Make sure your travel nurses know whom to go to with their questions.
3. Set role expectations – Leaders should set clinical role expectations with travel nurses. Additional expectations could include the traveler refraining from discussing their salaries with staff and not serving as a travel agency recruiter.
4. Check in with your travel nurses and seek feedback– Many nurses working on travel contracts are highly experienced and have worked in some of the country’s best healthcare systems. Why not use their expertise? Ask them what is going well in the unit and where improvement is needed. Seek information about best practices that have seen work in other settings.
5. Include your travel nurses in celebrations and parties– Many travel nurses will not be at home for holidays. Include the travel nurses in unit gatherings and nurse recognition celebrations. Too often, they are left out of these events, making it harder for them to feel like team members.
6. Make them net promoters – Some travel nurses regularly share their travel experiences with large audiences on social media sites like Instagram and TikTok. When experiences with a team and unit are good ones, their endorsement can be significant. Always ask great travelers what it would take to get them to join your team. Some are looking for a home and don’t plan on traveling for the rest of their careers.

Read to Lead

Hansen A, Tuttas C. Lived Travel Nurse, and Permanent Staff Nurse Pandemic Work Experiences as Influencers of Motivation, Happiness, Stress, and Career Decisions: A Qualitative Study. Nursing Administration Quarterly. 46(3). 245-254; 2022.