How to Start Travel Nursing in 2025: New Grad Guide

So you’ve got your license. You’ve survived night shifts, code browns, and that one preceptor who treated the supply closet like a personal panic room. Congratulations - you're officially a nurse.

Now what?

If you're even thinking about becoming a travel nurse (or traveling allied clinician), you’ve probably already spiraled through 17 open tabs that all say the same thing: "Get experience. Get licensed. Contact a recruiter." Cool. But vague. Thanks

This is not that guide.

• What actually matters when applying to your first travel gig (spoiler: it's not your GPA)
• What a "tax home" is, why it sounds like a scam, and how to not get nuked by the IRS
• Why the Nurse Licensure Compact is either your best friend or your worst geography quiz
• And how to tell if a “fully furnished” rental includes actual furniture or just emotional baggage

Whether you're a nurse, therapist, imaging tech, or walking anatomy encyclopedia in scrubs, if you're new, licensed, and want a contract with a view, this guide's for you.

Also, if you're looking for a new grad travel nurse guide that doesn't read like a legal brief, FlexCare’s 3-Step New Grad Article is your next click.

If hospitals had Yelp reviews, every new grad would leave one star for their first 90 days. It’s okay. Year one is a beautifully messy bootcamp where you learn 80% of your job through sheer panic, caffeine, and googling "what does this alarm mean."

Most travel contracts require at least 12 months of recent bedside experience in your specialty. That’s not a guess - it’s a hard line drawn by hiring managers who do not want to onboard someone who still thinks Levophed is a mood.

Pro tip: Float to other units. Keep a "skills flex list." Collect references.

Red flag: If you’ve only ever worked days on a super chill med-surg floor where your hardest patient was a chatty hip replacement ... you might want to broaden that scope.

💬 Nearing your one-year mark? Let’s talk contracts, not chaos.

Before you can even think about applying, you’ll need:

• A resume with actual dates
• BLS + specialty cards (ACLS, PALS, TNCC, NRP — the alphabet game never ends)
• Immunization records (yes, even the ones from that free clinic with the handwritten sticker)
• A recent physical
• Two professional references who actually answer their phones
• A completed skills checklist (this is like a dating profile but for IV starts and vent management)

FlexCare has Compliance Made Simple and a full compliance tips guide that breaks this down, and yes, you should absolutely hoard it like it’s your NCLEX cheat sheet. Agencies don’t care how nice your font is. They care whether your file clears.

For broader industry expectations, The Joint Commission staffing standards outline what makes a traveler "file complete."

Also, check your CDC immunization guidelines for healthcare personnel and make sure you're not missing anything. It's not fun getting sent home for missing a Hep B record.

RNs and LPNs: The Nurse Licensure Compact

This lets you practice in other member states with one license - like a magic passport for nurses. As of September 2025:

• 43 states are in
• Pennsylvania joined the party on July 7
• Connecticut is fashionably late  -  law effective Oct 1, but you still can’t use it until implementation finishes
• Massachusetts is that kid who bought the gym membership but hasn’t gone yet

Allied Clinicians: You’ve Got Compacts Too

• PTs: PT Compact is live and actually functional
• OTs: OT Compact is happening... slowly
• SLP/Audiology: ASLP-IC launches Sept 2025. It's real. It’s coming.
• Respiratory: Respiratory Care Interstate Compact exists in theory.

If you don't live in a compact state, it's not the end of the world. But it is paperwork hell. Start early.

📍 Not sure if your license can cross state lines? Use our compact cheat sheet to decode where you can work and when.

Agency-arranged housing is the fast-food option. It's quick, easy, and maybe a little bland. It's great if you don’t want to deal with sketchy landlords or interpret Craigslist photos.

Stipends give you more control - and more homework. You’ll be hunting on Furnished Finder or playing Zillow roulette. But if you do it right, you can pocket the difference and live somewhere nicer than your old dorm.

Just know: You need a “tax home” to qualify for tax-exempt stipends. The IRS has a whole rant about this in Publication 463. Read it. Or at least pretend to.

Use GSA per diem rates to get a baseline for how much is reasonable.

FlexCare Housing Tip: Check out our Travel Clinician Housing Guide and the 2025 Compact State Housing Cheat Sheet - they’re the CliffsNotes you wish you had before you got stuck in a place with no fridge and one working outlet.

🛏️ Stuck between stipend freedom and agency comfort? Our housing guide lays it all out without the fine print headache.

Start conversations about 3 to 6 months before you're ready. That gives you time to:

• Set up job alerts
• Get credentialed
• Make sure your references haven’t changed phone numbers

Good recruiter: Asks what you want, explains the process, gives you realistic options, doesn’t ghost.

Bad recruiter: Sends you to a night shift ICU in rural Alaska when you asked for outpatient peds in San Diego.

FlexCare recruiters live in the real world. They’ll also tell you when your resume looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint.

📲 Your recruiter shouldn’t sound like a robocall. Meet one who gets it.

If there’s one hill we’ll die on, it’s this: read your travel contract like it’s a prenup.

Look for:

• Guaranteed hours (or lack thereof )
• Cancelation clauses
• Overtime, holiday, float, call, charge - all the clauses that can make or break your paycheck

Screenshot the stuff that looks important. Then screenshot it again. Then send it to your mom.

Week 1:

• Find the charge nurse and be nice to them
• Locate code carts, ice machines, and bathrooms in that order
• Ask where people eat. This is more important than you think

Week 2:

• Volunteer to take the hard patient. You'll earn street cred fast
• Learn the float rules. Don’t assume you won’t be floated just because you’re new

Week 3:

• Give feedback to your recruiter. Good, bad, weird, all of it
• Log every new skill so your next contract looks even stronger

Use the FlexCare 360 app to log shifts, message your recruiter, and apply to your next job while eating leftovers in the break room.

Pro move: learn SBAR communication. It travels better than your stethoscope.

📌 Still feeling imposter syndrome? That’s normal. Browse real jobs that match your actual experience.

You made it through nursing school. You passed boards. You haven’t cried in a med room in weeks. You’re ready.

Travel nursing isn’t for the faint of heart, but neither is the quiet courage it takes to care, shift after shift, through the chaos of alarms, aching backs, and the strange poetry of patients who call you by the wrong name and still trust you with everything.

Build your file. Know your worth. Pack your scrubs. And for the love of all things caffeinated, don’t skip the housing checklist.

Want help making the leap?

Start by talking to a FlexCare recruiter who actually listens, or browse open travel nursing jobs by specialty and state.

No fluff. No jargon. Just contracts, compliance, and true individual support.

Preceptor

A seasoned nurse or allied clinician who trains and supervises students or new grads during clinical rotations or onboarding. Half mentor, half human safety net.

Tax Home

The place where you regularly live and earn income when not on assignment. You need one to legally qualify for tax-free stipends. No, your storage unit doesn’t count.

Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC)

A multi-state agreement that allows nurses to work in other compact states with one license. Currently includes 43 states as of September 2025. Like a passport, but for RNs and LPNs.

Guaranteed Hours

The minimum number of hours your contract promises to pay you for, even if you’re called off due to low census. Spoiler: not all contracts guarantee all 36 or 40 hours.

Float

Being reassigned to a different unit or department than your home unit. Often happens to travelers. Sometimes you're warned. Sometimes you're already there.

Skills Checklist

A self-evaluation tool listing clinical competencies. Used by agencies to match you with jobs and by facilities to screen you faster. Basically, your professional dating profile.

FlexCare 360

FlexCare’s online platform, where you manage your compliance docs, view jobs, log shifts, and text your recruiter when something weird happens mid-shift. Think: travel nurse command center.

Stipend

Money paid to you (often tax-exempt) to cover housing, meals, and incidentals while on assignment - if you have a legitimate tax home and duplicate expenses.

Agency Housing

Housing arranged by your travel agency. Usually furnished, often short-term leases, always less hassle - but typically not customizable.

Compact License (Allied)

Like the NLC, but for allied professions. It includes the PT Compact, OT Compact, ASLP-IC for SLPs and Audiologists, and a pending one for Respiratory Therapists. All are at various stages of implementation.

Cancelation Clause

The fine print that says what happens if your contract ends early, who cancels, how much notice is given, and whether you still get paid. Read this like it’s an email from Legal.