Travel Nurses: Work Opportunities in Dallas, Texas

Maybe you recently graduated nursing school with a pile of debt, a sense of purpose, and a hunger to help the sick. Or maybe you’re a seasoned nurse with tens of years of experience under your belt, looking to shake things up a little bit. These are only two of many reasons that someone might consider becoming a travel nurse. Being a travel nurse is like being a troubadour of health—you go from clinic to clinic, hospital to hospital, and help care for patients and their needs. Any kind of nursing professional can become a travel nurse. Whether you specialize in psychiatric care, midwifery, or surgical nursing, you can find your place in various hospitals around the United States.

There are plenty of reasons why it makes sense to go into travel nursing. For one, it’s lucrative; travel nurses get paid per hour and get per diems instead of a salary, depending on the particulars of the contract. For another, in this historical moment, with hospitals understaffed around the country, administrators are going out of their way to make their hospital or clinic a worthwhile place for a travel nurse to land. With that in mind and the availability of affordable furnished apartments in Dallas and other U.S. cities, it can be easy to make more money, see the country, and get some great experience on the way. If you’re looking at heading to the Lone Star State, here are some reasons why it’s worth your while to be a travel nurse in Dallas, TX.

Why head to Dallas?

If you’re interested in Southwest living, Dallas-Fort Worth is the place to start. This sprawling metropolis is more than the backdrop of a famous soap opera that took the nation by storm in the 80s. It’s a place of big business, delicious cuisine, sports and entertainment on a massive scale, and a whole range of exciting experiences. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States, following New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and it’s chock full of unique people and customs. If anything, you’ll want to come for the amazing barbecue.

Get experience in a wide array of areas

Dallas-Fort Worth is home to two of the best hospitals in the country: UT Southwestern Medical Center and Baylor University Medical Center. According to a recent survey, the former is ranked first in the state, and the latter isn’t far behind, coming in at number four. Both medical centers rank extremely high in diverse medical areas of practice, including cancer treatment, cardiology, and orthopedics. UT Southwestern also ranks high on a national scale in neurology, and Baylor University is high performing in urology and pulmonology. If you’re looking to work with some of the very best doctors and nurses in the nation in any of these areas, it makes sense to go where they are, and that’s Dallas.

Get an edge in academia

Both of the aforementioned hospitals are university-based, and there’s a reason. Dallas-Fort Worth is a proud university town, home to the University of Texas at Dallas and many other academic institutions. You may not be interested in the academic side of nursing, but if you’re considering either getting an advanced nursing degree or moving towards teaching, this is a great city in which to do so. Dallas may not immediately spring to mind when you think of major university towns, but it’s actually a great place to get a foot in the door of academia.

Being a travel nurse is a calling and an exciting one. It can be hard to be on the road a lot, but the advent of creative housing solutions makes it easier. At the end of the day, if you love helping people and have a hankering for travel, this is the way to go. Don’t skip the southwestern states—spend some time enjoying Dallas and all it has to offer.