Step 1: check the experience requirement
Most agencies want 1-2 years of recent acute-care experience in your specialty before they'll submit you to a hospital. Two things in that sentence trip people up.
Recent means recent. Two years of ICU followed by three years in a clinic usually doesn't count; hospitals want someone who can take a full assignment on day two, and they judge that by what you've been doing lately, not what's on your license.
In your specialty means you travel in the unit you've been working. A med-surg nurse doesn't land an ICU travel contract by wanting one. If you plan to switch specialties, do it as staff first, then build time in the new unit.
If you're short of the mark, the fastest path to traveling is finishing your time as staff. Staff vs travel nursing covers whether the move is worth it for your situation at all.
Step 2: sort your license before you talk to anyone
If your home state is in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), your multistate license covers most states; you can take a contract in another compact state without applying for anything new. Check your state and your target states on the compact license map.
The big exception is California. It is not in the compact, so a California contract means a separate California license by endorsement; no shortcut. If California is your goal, start that application before you start talking to recruiters, not after you find a contract you want. More on the trade-offs in Nursing in California.
Working the other direction: if you hold a single-state license and want to travel widely, look at whether your permanent residence qualifies you for a multistate license. The license question shapes which contracts you can even consider, so settle it first.
Step 3: build the document packet once
Every agency asks for roughly the same packet. Assemble it once, keep it in one folder, and submissions take minutes instead of days:
- License: number and verification for every state you hold.
- Certifications: BLS at minimum; ACLS for most acute-care specialties; unit-specific cards (PALS, TNCC, NIHSS) depending on where you work.
- Skills checklist: a self-assessment of your specialty competencies. Agencies supply the form; fill it honestly, because it's what the hospital screens against.
- References: typically two from recent supervisors or charge nurses. Line these up before you apply; chasing references is the most common reason a submission stalls.
- Physical and titers: a recent physical, immunization records, and lab titers. Dig out your records now; replacing lost titers means blood draws and waiting.
None of this is hard. All of it is slow if you start from zero the week a contract opens.
Step 4: compare contracts, not recruiters
Agencies differ more than first-time travelers expect; the same hospital opening can pay differently depending on which agency holds it, and each agency's recruiters only show you their own inventory.
The traditional workaround is signing up with four or five agencies and fielding calls from all of them. The simpler one: this board lists contracts from Aya, AMN, Host Healthcare, Medical Solutions, Stability and others side by side on the travel page, around 55,000 active contracts as of August 2026, updated nightly. Compare across agencies in one place, then talk to the recruiter who actually holds the contract you want.
Before you fixate on a number, read how travel nurse pay actually works, the weekly figure on a listing is a package, not an hourly rate, and you need to understand the parts before you can compare two offers.
Step 5: ask these four things before you sign
Guaranteed hours. Does the contract guarantee your weekly hours, or can the hospital call you off? A contract without guaranteed hours can pay well on paper and poorly in practice.
Cancellation policy. What happens if the hospital cancels the contract early, and what happens if you have to? Get the terms in writing before you sign, not after something goes wrong.
Stipend breakdown. Ask for the taxable hourly rate and each stipend as separate line items. You need the split to understand your actual take-home and your overtime rate. Run the numbers through the travel pay calculator.
Extension terms. Many first contracts turn into extensions. Ask up front whether the rate holds, drops, or is renegotiated if you extend; it changes how much the first 13 weeks are really worth.
First-contract red flags
A single blended number with no breakdown. If a recruiter quotes one weekly figure and won't split it into taxable pay and stipends, walk. You can't evaluate what you can't see, and blended quotes are how weak packages get dressed up.
Below-market rates pitched as "easy to land." First-timers get steered toward low-paying contracts on the theory that they can't be picky. Know the market before that conversation: the national median is $2,172/week across roughly 38,700 priced contracts as of August 2026; with real spread by state (California's median is $2,505; Texas is $1,870). Check your target states in travel nurse pay by state so you know what a fair offer looks like.
Pressure to sign today. Contracts do move fast, but a recruiter who won't give you an evening to read the terms is telling you something about the terms.
For context on what the staff side pays at specific hospital systems; useful as a baseline when you weigh a contract, see the hospital pay scales.