Traveling nurses are part pf a booming industry. With the rise in shortage of nurses in the United States and Canada, sending nurses to places in need or hospitals that lack the manpower is in demand. The slowing economy in North American has somehow helped the popularity of this industry.

This industry has mutual benefits for both hospitals and nurses. As a nurse, you may want to find companies that can give you medical allowances and other benefits. Your travel expenses are also covered. You should be provided with allowance for lodging and food. Your salary is rated according to your experience in the medical field, and you are usually paid by the hour. You can receive about 20 percent more as a traveling nurse compared to a staff at the same hospital. For hospitals on the other hand, given the shortage of nurses across the US, hiring traveling nurses has filled a void, no matter what the expense. Hospitals have actually tried to replenish their manpower by hiring traveling nurses as part of their staff, although it is not an easy process.

Although traveling nurses have been widely accepted to fill a need, many doctors have expressed concerns that services from traveling nurses tend to be impersonal. They may have the skills but they lack familiarity of the facilities and the culture. Given an emergency or disaster, these drawbacks could lead to chaos and deadly results. For example, if a nurse is not familiar with an area or hospital, precious time may be spent just trying to find a way to the emergency or disaster.