Resources for Travel Nurses During COVID-19
Travel nursing opportunities have grown practically by the minute in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. NurseFly reports an increase in travel nurse job postings of over 300% in certain regions and 3,000 open needs in the past 2 weeks alone. Fortunately, plenty of businesses are offering resources for travel nurses, to give you the help you need to care for others.
We have seen job postings with weekly pay as high as $6,000 for California travel nursing positions, and as COVID-19 continues to spread, the need may be even higher. As the need continues to grow, more travel nurses will be displaced from their homes, which means that if you’re thinking about taking a travel nursing position to help on the frontlines of COVID-19, you’re going to need some help along the way too.
Interested in travel nursing in areas impacted by COVID-19? Start here.
Resources for travel nurses available right now:
An App to Stay Organized
You can download the HOLLIBLU app to help you keep track of all of your paperwork, certifications, and other necessary documentation that you need for your travel nursing jobs.
Help with Errands
If you’re a travel RN on the job, or just getting ready to head out for a COVID job and know you will need someone to help fill the errands you normally do, like walk your dog or drop off groceries to a parent, you can use the Hospital Hero site to connect with you willing volunteers in your area.
Lodging
Hotels for Hope
Organized by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Hotels for Hope has partnered with over 6,500 properties to connect healthcare workers and first responders to temporary housing. You can fill out a form to be connected with a room, but the process does take 2-3 days.
Better Hotels
Better Hotels is offering medical workers a free stay in Las Vegas and Indianapolis luxury vacation homes, with discounts up to 50% in other U.S. cities. The requirements are:
- Current hospital employee (Hospital ID verification required)
- Must check-out no later than May 15, 2020
- Must complete our guest verification process and sign our rental agreement
- All reservations (free or discounted) responsible for paying a one-time cleaning fee
Local Hotels
In hard-hit areas like New York, many hospitals are working directly with hotels and lodging facilities to procure rooms for workers and volunteers, but are not publishing which specific hotels those are out of privacy concerns for those staying in the hotels. That means that if you’re in need of a room, it may be best to work directly with your staffing agency to find housing placement.
Airbnb
If you prefer to book your own housing through Airbnb, the vacation rental agency is offering housing for 100,000 first responders and in some cases, waiving all fees through their site. You can learn more here.
Car Rentals
Hertz is offering free car rentals to any New York City healthcare workers through the entire month of April. You can reserve a car from any of NYC’s 19 Hertz rental offices. To reserve your car, you will need a valid medical ID, an email address with a healthcare domain, a driver’s license, and to be a member of the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® loyalty program. You can fill out this form to start your reservation process.
Free Bikes
If you’re working in NYC, the state’s mayor has been encouraging biking to reduce public transit loads, and the Citi Bike Critical Workforce Membership Program offers first responders, healthcare, and transit workers with a free month of Citi Bike membership.
To get your staffing agency enrolled, you can email HeroBikes@Lyft.com. If you’re in healthcare and recently purchased a membership or have an upcoming renewal, you’re also eligible for a free month.
Free Coffee
An obvious necessity for any travel nurse. Claim your tall brewed or iced coffee at any Starbucks location simply by flashing your ID badge.
Footwear
Beginning Thursday, April 2 at 12pm EST, healthcare workers can visit brooksrunning.com and sign up with their name, address, shoe size, and the name of their employer and Brooks will send them a free pair of shoes. Chances are, as a travel nurse, you’ll be doing a lot of running, so these will come in handy.
Clothing
If you’re a first responder (and yes, that includes travel nurses!), starting April 8th you can tag yourself on Ably’s Instagram page and the company will send you a free item from their website–some extra clothes might be just what you need if you weren’t able to bring a lot of your own clothes with you on assignment.
Food
UberEats just announced it will be providing free meals and rides to first responders and healthcare workers in the U.S. and Canada, in coordination with local and state and provincial governments. Interested officials and organizations can reach Uber to partner at social-impact-support@uber.com.
Telehealth
Neurocore Brain Performance, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is offering free telehealth counseling to all first responders and medical professionals in the U.S. through May 1st, 2020. As a travel nurse, you are not only diving headfirst into the first modern-day pandemic, but you are also often taking yourself away from family, friends, and into a whole new area, without the comforts of home. That can be very mentally challenging, so it’s important to care for your mental health too.
If you’re a MESSA member, you can get full telehealth services, which also includes mental health services, 100% free online through May 31st without any deductible or co-pays.
Headspace — this app provides science-backed guided meditation and mindfulness training and any healthcare worker in a public health setting can get a free membership right now.
Childcare/Elder Care/Pet Care
Care.com — if you’re a healthcare worker, you can get one month free on the platform, which allows you to find local care in your area, with filters and requirements you set.
