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Your career as a licensed clinical social workers is vital, rewarding, and fulfilling, but if you're feeling the urge to make a larger impact or are ready to travel the country, it may be time to consider becoming a travel social worker. You can find travel licensed clinical social worker contracts in various settings like hospitals, outpatient clinics, and schools, while exploring the country and making memories that will last a lifetime. Working as a travel LCSW allows you to make a lasting impact on the community, grow your technical skills and professional network, and earn full time pay and benefits. 

While a rewarding career path, working in healthcare can also be incredibly challenging. It takes passion, dedication, hard work, and it helps to have a thick skin. Add the element of travel into your job title and it can be even more pressing, since you'll be moving from one assignment to the next; meeting and working with all different types of personalities. Some patients and coworkers will be encouraging, kind and caring, but others will be judgmental and harder to work with. Whether you're new to the world of travel therapy or allied travel, or you've been practicing all over the country for years, growing a thick skin will keep your spirits up and help you reach career milestones. Here are a few tips for taking harsh criticism working in travel healthcare: 

No matter what travel therapy or allied agency you work for, it's crucial that you work with a healthcare recruiter who truly understands you. Your recruiter is the point of contact for almost anything, you can ask questions about your contract, get help with benefits or timesheets, vent to them after a particularly rough shift, and so much more. Working with a recruiter whose personality meshes well with yours is an integral key to having a successful travel career. You need a recruiter who takes the time to get to know you, your job goals, personalizes your job search, and connects you with assignments in facilities and locations that are based on your wants or needs. These are 5 signs that you may need to switch healthcare recruiters: 

Almost every day we’re asked by travelers, “can I bring my pet on assignment with me?” And the answer is absolutely yes, but it may be a bit more difficult to find housing. Many rental apartments or houses don’t allow pets on the lease, so if you can’t find a pet-friendly rental you may feel like your options are out. But, working in travel healthcare with a pet is totally possible! Classifying your pet as an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) might just be the way to go! ESAs can live in no-pet buildings and aren’t subject to breed or weight restrictions. Keep in mind, this isn’t a cheat code so you can move four dogs into your apartment; ESAs are federally mandated and regulated to protect both pet owners and landlords. Our pets can play a huge role in our mental and emotional well-being, so we're going over how the ESA’s guidelines for qualifying your pet, the documentation you need for landlords, and how to find a therapist or doctor to help:

Whether you just got your first offer or you're looking to learn more about the travel healthcare process, you may be wondering what happens after you sign your first travel contract. This process may look slightly different from agency to agency, but you can expect something along these lines before you start every travel assignment. Here's a quick rundown of the process and what you can expect after you sign your travel healthcare contract: