Somewhere around year five or year ten, a lot of nurses hit the same wall. You still love the work. You just can’t do another twelve hour shift on a short-staffed unit, and you’re starting to wonder whether the only way out is out of nursing.
It isn’t. There’s a whole set of travel nursing jobs that don’t happen at the bedside, and Axis has been filling them for years. Most of them run on day shifts, most skip weekends and holidays, and every one of them still comes with the travel contract, the housing and the recruiter you’d get on an ICU assignment. Here’s what’s actually out there.
Corrections
Hold up, don’t touch that dial. We know what you’re thinking. Isn’t corrections nursing dangerous? Many nurses who’ve taken these contracts with us tell us they felt safer there than at the hospital they came from. Facilities run security procedures hospitals don’t have, and your recruiter will go over the specific facility’s protocols before you accept.
The workload is the other surprise. Sick call, med pass, chronic care and intake, on a schedule that doesn’t turn over every four hours. Most of our corrections travelers extend, and more than a few have gone permanent. We fill these contracts in Washington, Arizona, Georgia and across the country.
Interested in correctional nursing? Explore our Correctional Travel Nursing Hub, browse open correctional travel nurse jobs, or read our guide on how to become a correctional travel nurse.
Outpatient infusion
If you’ve got oncology or infusion experience, this is the one. Chemo, immunotherapy, biologics and blood products, in a chair-based clinic, four tens, Monday to Friday. Axis has been the primary staffing partner to one of the nation’s leading cancer centers since 2004, and infusion is the single largest category of nurse we place there. You need your chemo and immunotherapy card and recent experience. If you have those, we have contracts.
Browse open infusion travel nurse jobs or speak with a recruiter to see what’s open today.
Clinics
Primary care, specialty clinics, telephone triage, employee health, flu and vaccine clinics. Clinic contracts are built for nurses with a solid acute care background who want a normal week. Minimal weekends, minimal holidays, and a patient you can actually talk to. Most clinics focus on one specialty, so expect the work to be education, triage and coordination rather than codes.
A clinic contract usually isn’t structured like a hospital contract, and your recruiter will walk you through exactly what that looks like before you commit. For a lot of nurses the trade is worth it.
Clinical nurse coordinator and nurse navigator
These are the roles for the nurse who’s good at the whole picture. You coordinate care across a treatment plan, review records, triage by phone, and teach patients and families what comes next. Oncology clinics lean on these roles hard, and so do specialty clinics in pain, transplant and cardiology. Strong communication matters more than speed here. If you’ve been the charge nurse everyone goes to, this is your lane.
Ready to step into a coordinator role? Apply now to connect with a recruiter and explore open navigator and coordinator contracts.
Special procedures and procedure suite
ICU, ER or PACU background and tired of the unit? Endoscopy, GI and procedure suite contracts want exactly that experience. Conscious sedation, procedural assist, recovery and IV skills, on day shifts, usually 40 hours, usually no weekends. Some clients will cross-train the right nurse with three or more years of experience. We see these most often in Seattle and Atlanta and they come up in other cities through the year.
Ready to transition into procedure suite nursing? Submit a quick application to connect with a recruiter and see what’s open.
Radiation oncology
A radiation oncology RN assesses and educates patients through their treatment course and manages side effects, with sedation support in some settings. Clients want an ICU, ER or PCU background with sedation experience, and oncology experience puts you at the front of the line. Daytime, outpatient, and one of the most appreciated jobs in the building.
Interested in radiation oncology? Submit a quick application to connect with an Axis recruiter.
School nursing
School districts contract travel nurses for the school year, which means a schedule that follows the school calendar. Health office visits, medication administration, care plans for students with chronic conditions, and a lot of teaching. If you’ve got peds or community health in your background and you want evenings and summers back, this is the quietest reset in travel nursing.
Ready for a predictable schedule? Apply now to explore open school nursing contracts.
Clinical research
Research-integrated settings need nurses who can follow a protocol to the letter and document like a lawyer. Oncology research in particular is a steady source of these contracts. Recent oncology experience and any exposure to research protocols gets you considered.
Looking to transition into clinical research? Fill out our Apply Now form to learn about active research positions.
Change is exciting. Communication is the whole trick. Tell your Axis recruiter what you want your week to look like and what you’ve already done, and let them get creative. A good recruiter who knows your background can find you an assignment you didn’t know existed.
Questions nurses ask us about non-bedside travel jobs
Can you be a travel nurse without working in a hospital?
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Yes. Corrections, outpatient infusion, clinics, school districts and procedure suites all contract travel nurses, and Axis fills all of them. You still get a travel contract, housing and a recruiter. You just don’t get the night shift.
Which travel nursing jobs are the least stressful?
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It depends on the nurse, but the contracts our travelers describe as the biggest relief are corrections, outpatient infusion and clinic roles. Predictable schedules, day shifts, and patients you see more than once.
Do you need to give up travel pay to leave the bedside?
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Not necessarily. Some non-bedside contracts are structured differently than an ICU contract and some aren’t. Your recruiter will show you the full package before you decide, so there are no surprises.
How much experience do you need?
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Most clients want at least one to two years of recent experience in the specialty. Procedure suite and radiation oncology roles usually want an ICU, ER or PACU background on top of that. If you’re not sure where you fit, ask your recruiter, that’s what they’re for.
How do I get started?
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Fill out the form below, or call us at 888-299-2947. A recruiter will reach out, learn what you’re looking for, and tell you what’s open right now.
Ready to take a break from the bedside? Apply Today!
We're not your average corporate "big box" staffing company. We're not sleazy business people in bad suits pushing around resumes, lying or overselling positions. We're not a tiny, inexperienced company either, we have the same amount of nationwide travel nursing jobs as those giant, corporate staffing companies. We've been placing top talent in adventurous careers since 2004 and we can prove we're different from the rest.