Travel health nursing is an exciting specialty that is always growing - learn if it is right for you!

If you love to travel, but would prefer a steady, reliable paycheck, a travel clinic could be just the place! You will have the opportunity to learn about foreign countries and traveling the world all from the comfort of your office. Travel health nurses work very independently with individuals preparing for trips. Your patients may be traveling for work, a volunteer mission or vacation.

The main role of the travel health nurse is education. Resources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be helpful in obtaining the most recent health information for your patients. Travel health nurses also administer vaccines, write prescriptions and answer many questions.

Many patients visit a travel health nurse to learn what, if any, vaccines are needed for their trip. Depending on the country being visited, a vaccine could be required for entry. This is the case for the Yellow Fever vaccine. Other common vaccines include those protecting against contaminated food and water like Hepatitis A and Typhoid. Travelers should also be up to date on all of their childhood vaccines and Tetanus shots.

Travel health nurses teach patients how to stay healthy during their trip. If the destination is known for mosquito-borne diseases like Yellow Fever, Malaria or Zika virus, the nurse will advise the patient to take precautions like a quality insect repellant and mosquito netting.

Travel health nurses are also responsible for teaching patients about safe food and water. The nurse can make recommendations about bottled water and fully cooked food. If bottled water will not be available, the nurse will discuss options for purifying the water, such as boiling it or using water purification tablets. Finally, the nurse has the unique opportunity to discuss personal safety during the trip.

Patients usually have many questions when preparing for an international trip. It is important for the travel health nurse to stay up-to-date with recommendations, as they can change quickly. For example, the recommendations for controlling Zika virus are changing as the medical community learns more about the disease.

The travel health nurse position is not an entry-level role. Nurses should have a 4 year bachelor's degree. A master's degree in nursing or public health is also helpful. Nurses with a background in public health nursing are a good fit for travel health. Travel health nurses typically work in outpatient clinics, hospitals and public health departments. Travel health nurses can also work in any area of the world with organizations such as the United Nations.

A bachelor's degree is essential, because of the high level of autonomy travel health nurses enjoy. These nurses typically work independently and administer vaccinations under the overseeing physician's orders. Travel health nurses are responsible for determining which vaccines and medications are needed for each traveler. When a traveler has any condition or complication, such as pregnancy, diabetes or an autoimmune disease, the nurse will coordinate care with the travel health physician.

Travel health nursing is an exciting specialty that is always growing. To learn more about current job openings, visit the CDC and the American Travel Health Nurses Association.