8 Fast-growing Travel Nurse Specialties

This article is sourced from TravelNursing.com.

With a nursing shortage compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has driven thousands of nurses from the bedside, many travel nurse specialties are quickly growing, with strong demand and never enough nurses.

Travel nurses, who work short-term assignments, are filling vacancies across the country in a number of nursing specialties.

More than one in four registered nursing positions were vacant in November 2021 and unfilled, according to The Hospital + Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. Many vacancies began before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has had a profound effect on the nursing profession.

About 18 percent of the healthcare workforce quit during the pandemic and another 31 percent have considered leaving, reported the data and intelligence company Morning Consult.  

This has created opportunities for travel nurses as hospitals try to keep their units open and fully staffed. Demand for healthcare is also expected to continue building as the country’s population ages and needs more services for chronic conditions and age-related maladies.

8 in-demand travel nursing specialties

 1. Operating Room Nursing

“OR volume is increasing, due to COVID-related pent up demand and the growing number of ambulatory surgery centers which increases volume and the need for more surgical nurses,” said Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN, CEO/executive director of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). “OR nurses are retiring. And due to COVID, nurses are taking time off and others are seeking opportunities outside the perioperative setting.”

“Additionally, COVID, certainly, impacted all nursing specialties, but it is important to realize nursing students have little or no exposure to the OR in their education,” Groah continued. “The result is a shortage of nurses choosing the OR for their career. That is changing, however. AORN has recently partnered with Chamberlain University to incorporate ‘Introduction to Perioperative Nursing’ into its curriculum on four campuses with plans to expand throughout the system.”

AORN predicts the need for perioperative nurses will grow as surgical volumes increase and the nursing shortage worsens. Perioperative nurses work in the operating room and with patients before and after surgery, caring for patients of all ages.

“Perioperative nursing is a very rewarding specialty,” Groah said, noting that surgical patients are in a very vulnerable state and must depend on the team to provide safe care and to protect the patient from harm.

Find perioperative travel nursing jobs across the U.S.

 2. Med-surg Nursing

More nurses practice as medical-surgical specialists than any other specialty, according to the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. More than 600,000 strong, med-surg nurses care for a variety of patients suffering from a variety of conditions or recovering from surgery.

The Academy reported that med-surg nurses “have a broad knowledge base and are experts in their practice. Medical-surgical nurses have advanced organizational, prioritization, assessment and communication skills and are leaders in coordinating care among the inter-professional healthcare team.”

Find medical-surgical travel nursing jobs that fit your lifestyle.

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