Being a travel nurse comes with a pretty wide range of different challenges.
And one of these challenges is simply the fact that you need to travel for work.
Sometimes, you’ll need to travel long distances and stay in different places for prolonged periods of time.
These work stays can even last for months at a time.
Therefore, it’s really important to think about how you’re going to pack when traveling as a nurse on the modern remote worker health care industry landscape.
In this post, you’re going to learn five tips to help you do exactly that.
Here are five packing tips that every travel nurse should take to heart as they prepare for their next remote work adventure in a faraway place.
Table of Contents
1. Don’t Forget Your Scrubs!
You’d be surprised how often traveling nurses pack up their bags, catch their flights, and leave—only to realize all too late that they actually forgot one of the most important items on their packing list.
Their scrubs.
Scrubs are one of those things that are so obvious to pack that they’re actually pretty easy to overlook.
So just make sure that you don’t forget this crucial part of your packing must-haves.
In fact, it’s always a good idea to bring a few more extra pairs than you think you’ll need, just in case you don’t get laundry done on time—or in case you run into something extra messy that requires you to change mid shift and fall behind on your scrub-wearing schedule.
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2. Bring A Full Range Of Personal Items
While corporate housing and short term rental lodging options will generally provide you with a furnished, fully outfitted place to live—that doesn’t mean that your personal items are going to be taken care of.
You’ll still want to make sure to bring all of your makeup, your personal toiletry items, your hair brushes, your jewelry—pretty much everything that you need that you use in your personal hygiene and fashion practices.
Forgetting this stuff can really be a pain.
Also, some new travel nurses actually forget about these things—because they think of them more as luxuries than as necessities.
But here’s the thing.
When you’re a travel nurse, you’re effectively traveling to live and work.
Therefore, having the stuff on hand is really important.
3. Bring An Insulated Cooler
You may be surprised at how useful an insulated cooler can be while you’re traveling and on the road.
This is especially true if you plan to drive, and it can save you a ton of money on food, can help you to access healthier dining options, and can just in general help you to keep your snacks and drinks ice cold and refreshing.
4. Bring Things To Make You Feel At Home
This could mean bringing a stuffed animal, some decorations for the walls, a centerpiece for the table, or even that knitted blanket your grandma made for you—whatever it takes to help you feel at home.
You might want to consider bringing these types of things when you become a traveling nurse and prepare for long stays away from home.
5. Try To Travel Light
Being a traveling nurse may require you to move at a fast pace in locations where hauling a bunch of luggage just isn’t convenient.
This is especially true if you plan to fly.
So while there are definitely plenty of important things to bring, it’s also in your best interest to try to pack as lightly as possible.
For best results, try to keep your luggage limited to a couple of bags. You probably won’t be able to get everyone into one carry-on—but if you could, that would obviously be ideal.
This will facilitate faster, more convenient travel—and will just in general tend to decrease your levels of stress.
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Conclusion
There you have it.
Five packing tips for travel nurses that you should definitely take to heart when you prepare for your next stay out in the field.
We love travel nurses, and we appreciate you.
It’s not an easy job, and you deserve to have a good experience.
So make sure to take care of yourself, and to try to live a life that’s as stress free as possible.
Take care of yourself out there.
