If you made a list of the hardest working people today, travel nursing professionals would no doubt be right at the top. These are hardworking, caring and infinitely dedicated individuals who travel around the country and go where they’re needed the most. If this sounds like an ideal life to you and you’re thinking of pursuing a travel nursing job as they become available, there are a few key things you need to consider. There are ten traits in particular that a travel nurse should have above all else:

1. A travel nurse needs to be able to communicate effectively with everyone she comes into contact with. Nurses communicate with doctors, patients, family members and other travel nurses on a daily basis. Great communication skills aren’t recommended for travel nursing – they’re required.

2. Nurses in general aren’t prone to taking breaks – this is especially true for travel nurses. If you’re going to be a travel nurse, you need to have peak physical endurance at all times.

3. Travel nursing is a never ending job. There will always be sick people that need caring for or other people who need attention. You’ll also likely find yourself in environments that are understaffed, which means that you’ll be bearing a huge amount of responsibility on a daily basis.

4. Travel nurses need to be able to think unbelievably fast. If something isn’t right with a patient, they need to be able to process that information and relay it to the right people or make the right split-second decision.

5. Travel nurses need to be hugely adaptable. Remember that you’ll constantly be going into new environments that already have a set way of doing things. Without being adaptable, you’ll be playing “catch up” far too much to do your job in an effective way.

6. Travel nurses also need to be inherently empathetic, because they’ll be dealing with people who are scared or in pain on a regular basis. Travel nurses need to be able to put themselves into the shoes of their patients in order to provide them with the best possible care.

7. Being emotionally stable is one of the most important traits that a travel nurse can have in order to have a chance at surviving the emotional roller coaster that is working in a medical environment.

8. Travel nurses also need to be professional above all else. By their very nature, travel nurses are most often the “odd man out.” An easy-going, carefree attitude could be misinterpreted as lazy in the wrong environment.

9. Confidence is also key in the world of travel nursing jobs. Regardless of the ever-changing situation that a person finds themselves in, travel nursing professionals need the confidence that it takes to perform exceptionally well at all times.

10. Finally, travel nurses need to be fearless. They need to have the courage that it takes to go from hospital to hospital, never knowing quite what they might find but still being ready to tackle it all.