Nursing Specialties
We offer travel nurse positions in a wide variety of specialties. Job availability varies by specialty, location, and demand.
Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab)
A Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) is an examination room. Cath Lab nurses care for heart disease and heart attack patients. They may help administer interventional procedures, including cardiac catheterizations, angioplasties, pacemaker or defibrillator implantation, and other diagnostic or interventional procedures.
Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU)
Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) nurses provide care to patients that have just experienced a major cardiovascular procedure such as open heart surgery, heart transplants, an intra-aortic balloon pump, or a cardiac cauterization procedure, or been diagnosed with congenital heart disease or acquired heart disease. Patients in the CVICU require constant observation, high-acuity nursing care, and the use of specialized intensive care equipment.
Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR)
Cardiovascular Operating Room (CVOR) nurses provide care to patients having cardiovascular surgeries.
Critical Care/Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Critical Care/ Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses provide care to patients with serious, complex, and acute illnesses or injuries that require very close monitoring and extensive medication protocols and therapies. Critical care nurses often work in critical or intensive care hospital units. Typical patients include unconscious, head injury, spinal cord injury, head surgery, COPD, tracheostomy, pacemaker, respiratory failure, multi-system organ failure, and chest injury.
Emergency Room (ER) or Trauma nurses work in hospitals or stand-alone emergency departments, providing initial assessments and care for patients with life-threatening conditions. ER nurses must be experienced in the rapid assessment and treatment of patients when every second counts, particularly during the initial phase of acute illness and trauma. ER nurses possess both general and specific knowledge about health care to provide quality patient care for people of all ages. They must be ready to treat a wide variety of illnesses or injury situations, ranging from a fever to a heart attack. Some ER nurses may become qualified to serve as transport nurses, who provide medical care to patients who are transported by helicopter or airplane to the nearest medical facility. A Level I Trauma ER sees the most intense patients. Typical ER patients include laceration, orthopedic injury, respiratory failure, diabetic, CHF, cardiac arrest, renal failure, and head injury. Trauma patients include motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, and stab wounds.
Endoscopy/Gastrointestinal (GI)
Endoscopy/Gastrointestinal nurses assist with endoscopy procedures that examine the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum to detect gastrointestinal and digestive disorders.
Home Health Care nurses provide at-home nursing care for patients, often as follow-up care after discharge from a hospital or from a rehabilitation, long-term care, or skilled nursing facility.
Labor and Delivery (L&D) nurses perform screenings and check-ups during pregnancy. They provide support and monitor vital signs of the mother and baby during birth, deal with any potential problems, and provide immediate follow-up care. Typical patients include vaginal delivery, preterm, substance abuse, multiple gestation, hypertension, eclampsia, and caesarian section.
Medical/Surgical (Med/Surg) nurses provide health promotion and basic medical care to patients with various medical and surgical diagnoses. These nurses may have to care for larger numbers of patients and deal with a wider variety of patient conditions than do nurses in other specialties. Standard MS patients include GI Bleed, GI surgery, orthopedic surgery, shoulder repair, total hip replacement, total knee replacement, and diabetic.
Mother Baby nurses provide care to both the well newborn and the mother following the delivery.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses provide care for newborns who need close monitoring or specialized care due to premature birth, infection, birth defects, or other medical conditions requiring therapies or surgery. Nurses provide direct care to these infants, who require high-technology care, including ventilators or other special equipment, incubators, or surgery. A Level III NICU is the most intense level of a NICU.
Nursery nurses provide care to a well-newborn infant.
Operating Room (OR) nurses provide care to a patient while in surgery. An OR nurse can Circulate and/or Scrub. An OR Nurse who Circulates only will set up the OR with all of the proper tools and equipment and ensure the OR is sterile. An OR Nurse that can also Scrub, scrubs in on surgeries to actually assist the Surgeon as needed.
Pediatric (Peds) nurses provide care to pediatric patients, and many Peds nurses work in Children’s hospitals. A general Peds Floor is essentially like a Med/Surg floor for pediatric patients.
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Pediatric Intensive Care (PICU) nurses provide care to Pediatric Intensive Care patients. Similar to an adult ICU, these patients have serious, complex, life-threatening, and acute illnesses or injuries that require very close monitoring and extensive medication protocols and therapies.
Post-Anesthesia Care (PACU) nurses provide care for postoperative patients recovering from anesthesia, whether it is general anesthesia, regional anesthesia, or local anesthesia. PACU nurses monitor vital signs and treat patients according to their needs. The most commonly treated symptom in PACU is postoperative nausea. They also educate the patient on post-operative care.
Postpartum nurses provide care for women after delivery and may also care for the newborn. These nurses monitor the woman to ensure she is recovering properly, both physically and emotionally. Postpartum nurses are trained to recognize postpartum depression and can help the mother deal effectively with her emotions. The postpartum nurse also educates new mothers and fathers on how to care for their infant, including instruction on breastfeeding or bottle feeding, bathing, and monitoring the infant's health and well-being.
Registered Nurse First Assist (RNFA)/ Perioperative
Registered Nurse First Assist (RNFA) is considered a perioperative nurse, a nurse who works closely with surgeons in operating room environments. RNFAs directly assist the surgeon by controlling bleeding, providing wound exposure, suturing, and other surgical tasks. They also may provide other advanced assistance, such as mobilization of tissue, patient positioning, and directing other surgical team members with specific individual tasks.
Stepdown/DOU/PCU nurses often have some critical care experience. These patients are well enough to be removed from a critical care floor but still require close monitoring. Typical Stepdown patients include CHF, pacemaker insertion, cardiac monitoring, COPD, angina, fem-pop bypass, and acute MI.
Telemetry nurses provide care to patients who are at risk of abnormal heart activity. Such patients are outfitted with measuring, recording, and transmitting devices. Standard Telemetry patients include CHF, MI, COPD, and cardiac arrest.