Travel nursing is a nursing assignment concept that developed in response to the nursing shortage in the United States in the 1970s. This business supplies nurses who travel to work in temporary nursing positions, mostly in hospitals. While travel nursing historically refers specifically to the nursing profession, it can also be used as a blanket term to refer to nursing and allied health professionals, physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, dentists and other support staff including certified nursing assistants.

Healthcare professional travel contracts exist throughout the world wherever there is a need and shortage of appropriate healthcare professionals in hospitals and facilities, disaster relief and global aid projects.

Reasons cited for pursuing travel nursing opportunities include higher pay in some cases, professional growth and development, and personal adventure. Travelers typically select from one or more recruitment agencies to act as intermediaries between the traveler and hospitals or other potential employers, but may also work as an independent contractor (IC). Agencies may submit applications for numerous positions concurrently on behalf of a traveler.

Florence Nightingale is a famous name in the history of nursing. She and a few other nurses traveled to Turkey during the Crimean War to help soldiers who were wounded in battle. Some consider them to be the first travel nurses, although the term "travel nursing" did not exist at that time.

The term "travel nursing" arose in 1978 during Mardi Gras week in New Orleans, Louisiana. This week of celebration and festivities resulted in many injuries, which unexpectedly overwhelmed local hospitals. They had to contract nurses from all over the U.S. to provide extra support. At that time the first travel nurses were recruited by entrepreneur Bruce Male's private agency, Travel Nursing Corps, later called "Travcorps". Since then, travel nursing has expanded and taken a whole new meaning.^{[clarification needed]}

In the U.S., the usual requirements for becoming a travel nurse within the private staffing industry are to have graduated from an accredited nursing program, and a minimum of 1.5 years of clinical experience with 1 year being preferred in one's specialty and licensure in the state of employment, often granted through reciprocity with the home state's board of nursing. Although most places do require at least 1 year of nursing experience, it can still be easy to get into travel nursing from the start.

Some travel agencies will reimburse travelers for the cost of the license or other required certifications. A travel nurse may receive a minimal orientation to the new hospital (and rarely no orientation at all).

If the nurse's home state has joined the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), the nurse can work in any other compact state as long as the home state license is in good standing, and the permanent residence is in a compact state. This facilitates the license reciprocity process and potentially speeds up the time to employment. There are currently 26 states participating in the NLC, including states such as Florida, Texas, or Arizona.