Many people are asking the question: “What are travel nurse jobs, and why are they needed?” Travel nursing is not a completely new idea as this type of nursing was started as far back as 1971. Travel nursing was created to fill a need. Sometimes hospitals were in need of help due to vacations, maternity leave, injuries, or other reasons that could lead to them being short handed. Paid vacation was especially hard on many hospitals when several nurses took time off at the same time, or temporary needs could go up because of travel. One example would be elderly who went from summer climates in the south to spending hot months in the north, then travel back to the south to avoid cold winters. This could lead to busy seasons for hospitals which were then overstaffed when there were less people around. Travel nurses could help solve this issue.