Postpartum Travel Nursing Jobs

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for registered nurses, including Postpartum Nurses, was $73,300 as of May 2019. However, the average pay for Postpartum Nurses can vary based on several factors, including their level of experience, education, geographical location, and the size and type of the healthcare facility in which they work. For instance, nurses with specialized certifications or extensive experience may command higher salaries.

Postpartum travel nurses guide families through the transition process to home care, providing essential education on infant nutrition, post-delivery recovery, and overall infant care. By offering emotional support and expert guidance, highly skilled postpartum nurses help ensure a safe and positive experience for new mothers and their newborn baby.

Maternal newborn nursing involves caring for and educating new mothers about post-delivery care, including how to manage pain, help with breastfeeding and postpartum nursing, and care for their new infant. Mother baby nurses monitor vital signs of the mother and baby during the recovery period, watch for signs of postpartum depression, and provide emotional support and guidance. They also ensure the mother's and newborn's safe transition to home care, offering critical education on infant care, nutrition, and post-delivery recovery.

A postpartum travel nurse can find employment in a variety of medical facilities including hospitals, particularly those with a maternity unit or birthing center. Additionally, positions can be found in private obstetrician/gynecologist offices, family clinics, and outpatient care centers. Some post partum nurses may also work in community health services, providing essential education and care to patients in underserved areas.

Education & License Requirements

A registered nurse needs to complete their associate degree or bachelor's degree at an accredited school and take the National Council Licensure Exam NCLEX -RN Exam, which is a requirement to practice as a registered nurse in the United States. Once the NCLEX certification exam is passed, you meet the requirements by your state license board, and you obtain your RN license, then all that is left is to do is gain the necessary relevant experience and clinical practice.

After earning your RN license, gaining clinical experience in obstetric or neonatal nursing is highly recommended. From there, nurses can pursue further specialization and additional certifications in postpartum care. Gaining experience in a clinical setting is beneficial. It is recommended that travel nurses have 12-18 months of hospital-based RN experience in their field. Depending on the specialty or the specific requirements of the facility, the required job experience could be longer.

Certifications

Along with certifications like basic life support, postpartum or mother baby nurses often pursue specialized certifications to enhance their skills and knowledge in the field of maternal and newborn care. Inpatient Obstetric Nursing (RNC-OB), offered by the National Certification Corporation (NCC), validates a nurse's skills and proficiency in caring for women during their antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. Maternal Newborn Nursing (RNC-MNN), also offered by NCC, demonstrates a nurse's competence in providing care for newborns and their mothers just after birth. Certified Mother-Baby Nurse (C-MBN), provided by the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB), validates a nurse's knowledge and expertise in mother-baby nursing during the immediate postpartum period.

You can also pursue certification in the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), a globally recognized initiative designed to equip health care professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively handle emergency situations during the neonatal phase.

While compensation offers can vary greatly depending on the contract or agency offering, pay packages for a travel nurse typically have four major components: hourly taxable wages, meals and incidentals, housing, and travel.

Hourly Pay

Full-time nurses working at a healthcare facility receive a salary, but most travel registered nurses offer hourly wages at a competitive weekly rate. Every pay package for a travel nurse must include a taxable hourly wage, and the amount can vary depending on the shift, location, and specialty required of the assignment.

Housing

Housing payments can be included in a payment from a staffing agency. This is typically offered to a travel nurse in two ways. Either the company is providing housing, or the travel nurse is taking the housing stipend. It is more beneficial for the traveler to take the housing stipend for two primary reasons. First, they will have a choice in where they stay. Everyone’s definitions of comfortable and acceptable are different. The second reason the housing stipend is more beneficial for them is that it can be given as a nontaxable amount.

Meals and Incidentals

Also known as per diems, meal and incidental stipends provide a daily budget for daily living expenses for travel nursing professionals. These standards vary depending on the cost of living in cities and states across the country.

Travel Expenses

Travel is the last portion of the pay package. Many recruiters may not even offer travel and instead put that money into the per diems or housing for their travel nurse so they are receiving the benefits over the entire contract length, not just at the very beginning or end of the contract.

While a travel stipend can be used to cover the cost of a flight for the traveler, it is more often than not used to subsidize the traveler's expenses to and from an travel nursing assignment. Travel expenses can be offered as a reimbursement rate per mile, though many agencies will opt to offer a flat rate to and from an assignment.