Travel Nursing Interview Tips

Updated 4/6/22

Hi there! Welcome to (or back to) the blog!

Today I wanted to talk about a topic that I’m not sure how I went so long without writing about – travel nursing interviews. I remember during my first interviews for a travel nursing contract, I was so nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I just knew that my only other two nursing job interviews ever were very stressful.

Thankfully, I quickly found out that travel nursing interviews are rarely as anxiety provoking as staff job interviews. The manager already knows you have nursing experience and they’re not looking for a long term staff member that’s going to be a perfect fit for the unit. They just want to know you’re capable of taking care of the patients until they come up with a more permanent solution. In reality, the travel nursing interview is just as much about you interviewing the manager. Read on for my best tips on how to nail your travel nursing interviews along with a list of my top questions to ask!

PS – If you’re just starting out and wondering about all the logistics of landing your first contract, be sure to check out this post as well! It covers lots of things you’ll need to know about how to prepare for that first assignment. Okay, on to the stuff you came for (;

Travel Nursing Interview Logistics

Travel nursing interviews are different from staff interviews in many ways. One of the major differences is that they’re almost never scheduled, at least in my experience. I think I’ve only had one interview scheduled in my entire time as a travel nurse and I was very surprised. Typically once you submit for a contract, if the manager wants to interview you they’ll just pick up the phone and call you. If you answer your phone, they interview you. If you don’t they may just move on to the next person on their list. It’s SUPER important to be available to answer their calls and to be prepared to interview at any time of day. Missing the call can mean losing the contract. Don’t let this freak you out – I have called managers back before and still gotten the job. I’m just trying to stress the importance of being as available as possible and not screening your calls when you know you’re waiting on an interview.

Because you need to be ready at any time, I highly recommend doing some prep work before the interview. Have a list of questions you want to ask and have them ready/easily accessible all the time. Also have a computer or pen and paper accessible so that you can take notes. Sometimes you’ll get multiple interviews in a short period and you want to be able to keep track of everyone you’ve spoken to when it comes to deciding which contract to take. (Can y’all tell I’m an enneagram 6?)

Typically if the manager wants to hire you, you’ll get an offer the within a day. You’ll typically be expected to accept or decline the contract within 24 hours, so just be aware of that and make sure you ask all the questions you can think of while you have them on the phone. Don’t let this stress you out. Like I mentioned before, these interviews are much different than your staff nursing interviews so bear with me!

This Interview Will Be Easier!

I can say with utmost confidence that every single travel nursing interview I’ve had has been easier than my staff job interviews. I can also say that when I was a hiring manager my interviews with travel nurses were much simpler than those for staff.

Highlight Your Clinical Skills

You’ll quickly realize that hiring managers really aren’t interested in all the fluff questions that staff jobs require. They really don’t care that much how you’ll get along with the team and they certainly won’t ask about your 5 year plan and career goals. They just want to know you’ll be able to take care of their patients. Often times managers will start off the interview just telling you about their unit, including size, patient population, acuity, and what types of things are typically expected of a nurse working on that unit. During this time you’ll want to highlight your clinical skills to ensure the manager that you will be competent to care for their patients. I’ve literally had interviews where the only thing the hiring manager did was describe the unit and acuity and then ask if I felt comfortable with it. Of course I had follow up questions, but sometimes it really is that easy.

Use Your Resources

Remember, these interviews are over the phone and the person on the other end of the line can’t see what you’re doing. One thing that helped my nerves tremendously when first interviewing for travel nursing jobs was to keep a list of possible interview questions in front of me with some answers typed out that I could use in my interview. It was much easier to come up with answers to common interview questions on my own time when no one was pressuring me to answer. I rarely needed them in travel nursing interviews, but on the few occasions that I did it was really nice to have a quick reference with past scenarios written down that I could pull from. It’s so easy to forget great experiences or big moments when you’re under pressure. When you’re interviewing on the phone, you can have a list right in front of you and no one would ever know!

Asking Questions Is The Most Important Part

Remind me to tell y’all a story about how I almost shit my pants after learning (while already on contract) that a hospital had no anesthesiologist in house and they had a 30 minute window to arrive.

In my opinion, asking questions of the manager is absolutely the most crucial part of your travel nursing interview. It’s good to know the manager trusts your skills and wants to hire you, but you need to make sure you’re comfortable working on the unit as well. If there’s one thing travel nursing will teach you, it’s never take anything for granted and never assume anything. You will be amazed at the different operating procedures, policies, and resources from hospital to hospital. Remind me to tell y’all a story about how I almost shit my pants after learning (while already on contract) that a hospital had no anesthesiologist in house and they had a 30 minute window to arrive. That’s real fun when you’re looking at a stat c-section for fetal distress. I always ask about that now. Don’t be like me and learn the hard way.

You need to think of every possible thing that could be a deal breaker or feel unsafe for you, and then ask specifically about it during your interview. This is also the time to clarify logistical things like contract dates, shift, time off, etc. Below is a list of all of my recommended questions for managers. You can always add/remove/tweak this based on personal preference, but I feel like this is pretty comprehensive.

Oh, and by the way – I have these all put together in a neat little list with space to take notes! Just pop your email in the box below and I’ll send it your way.

Logistical Questions

• Contract start and end dates
• Shift (day/night/rotating) – if rotating make sure you ask how they schedule this, i.e. will you be 2 weeks days 2 weeks nights, or will you have to switch back and forth within the same week
• Weekend requirements
• Hours/week expectations (typical contracts are either 36 or 48)
• Call requirements (I’ve never had a contract require me to take call, but I always ask)
• Call off policy/guaranteed hours – this should be in your contract but I always like to verify
• Floating policy – many hospitals will require travelers to float first. Be sure you know what types of units you would be expected to float to. Some places even require floating to multiple facilities, so really be sure you hash out this question in detail
• Time off requests – this needs to be in your contract as well but you’ll want to verify that the hiring manager has seen and approved it.
• Will there be a charge for parking or any other expenses that you’ll be expected to pay once you arrive? (If yes, see if your agency will cover the cost)
• Do you need to buy scrubs or are they provided? If need to buy, what color? (if you have to buy them, ask your agency to reimburse this as well)
• Any other questions regarding dress code, PPE, etc. – If you have your own N95 or face shield you prefer to wear, make sure you ask about that here. I also like to ask about PPE requirements here and what’s provided. I had one contract that made is wear N95s at all times, including at the desk charting. It was miserable and I always ask those things now.
• Why are they hiring travelers? – Typically this will get you an answer about increasing volumes, adding practices, nurses out on maternity leave, etc. However, sometimes a manager will tell you things that give you good insight into reasons you may not want to work there. I once had a manager tell me that half her staff had recently left to work at another hospital and now 95% of the nurses on the unit were new grads. At the time it was only my second travel contract and I was still getting used to the flow of working in a completely foreign environment. I didn’t want to be the most experienced nurse on the unit on top of that. That being said, I took another contract down the road where I ended up one of the most experienced nurses and doing charge all the time. It just depends what you’re comfortable with, but it’s important that you know!

Clinical Questions

Many of these will be answered when the manager gives you an overview of the unit, but if they leave anything out be sure to ask.

• How many beds on the unit
• Examples of typical patients – diagnosis and acuity
• Nurse:Patient ratio (make sure you ask specifically about your shift – some hospitals increase ratios for night shift)
• Ancillary staff – Does the unit have PCTs, Tele monitor techs, secretaries, or other staff available on the unit or are nurses expected to assume these duties? This can be very unit/specialty specific, so be sure to think about all the people you would potentially get help from during a normal week and ask about any of those.
• Provider availability – is there a provider in house immediately available to respond to emergencies? If applicable, do you have specialty providers like anesthesia, neonatal response/NICU, pediatrics, etc. available?
• Is this a teaching hospital where you’ll have to work with residents? (Pro tip: don’t take a contract at a teaching hospital in July when all the residents are new and have no idea what they’re doing yet)
• Is the charge nurse open and available to help with nursing duties, or do they get a full patient assignment?
• Are there any special skills that I may have to perform on this unit that I wouldn’t on another similar unit? – you can tailor this question to be more specific to your specialty if there are certain things that you know are pertinent. For example, if you’re an ICU nurse, will you be expected to run ECMO or manage balloon pumps. If you’re in L&D, will you be expected to circulate and/or scrub in the OR? Will you be expected to manage the epidurals? Things like that. Some specialties won’t apply, but again every hospital is so different in their policies and protocols that you just never know.

You may have other questions you want to add based on your specialty. Use this list as a starting point and then add your own questions from there. You’ll learn as you go what kinds of things you need to clarify based on your experiences. The most important thing in my opinion is to think of any things that could be deal breakers for you and ask about those when you interview.

I hope this helps! If you think of other questions that might be helpful for others, drop them in the comments. And be sure to let me know how your first travel nursing interview goes. I’m rooting for you!

@AdventuresOfARealGirl 👇🏻