Locum tenens suits nurse practitioners who want flexibility, variety and control over when they work. Here is what the work is really like, what facilities expect, what it tends to pay, and how to land your first assignment.
You step into a clinic, hospital service or urgent care that needs an NP for a set period, from a few days to several months. You usually practice in your own specialty with a defined schedule, a patient panel or service to cover, and a short orientation to the charting system and local workflows.
Settings vary a lot. A rural primary care clinic, a hospitalist service and an emergency department can each be a locum NP job, with very different pace, supervision and call. Ask who the collaborating or supervising clinician is, how many patients you will see, and whether you cover nights or weekends.
Facilities typically want board certification in your population focus, recent experience in the specialty you will cover, and a clean work history. Expect credentialing steps such as license verification, certifications, references, background checks and health clearance, plus hospital privileging for inpatient roles.
Keep your documents current and in one place. Work history, references and immunization records are what most often slow a start date, and our guide to how credentialing works walks through the sequence.
Posted locum NP hourly rates commonly fall somewhere between the $70s and $150, with primary care at the lower end and acute, emergency and procedural work higher. Rates shift with specialty, setting, call and how urgently the site needs coverage, so treat any single number as a rough guide.
Compare offers on the full picture: hourly rate, guaranteed hours, call pay, and whether travel and lodging are covered. Locum work is usually contract rather than employee work, so benefits and taxes work differently than in a staff job. Ask a tax professional how that affects your take-home pay.
Nurse practitioner employment is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations over the next decade, with tens of thousands of openings a year. Clinics and hospitals use locum NPs to cover vacancies, leave, growth and seasonal volume, especially in primary care, urgent care, hospital medicine and emergency settings.
Breadth and procedural comfort get you placed faster. NPs who can work independently, handle a full schedule and adapt quickly to a new charting system have the most choices, and acute care, emergency and psychiatric experience are in steady demand.
Tell a recruiter exactly what you have done: population focus, settings, procedures and how independently you worked. Keep your documents organized and be flexible on start date. To compare options, see what to ask before accepting an assignment, read about how a weekly package is built, and browse the full jobs overview.
They range from a few days to several months. Many run 13 weeks, and some sites offer extensions if the need continues and you want to stay.
Both are temporary, but locum tenens usually refers to physicians and advanced practice clinicians covering clinical practice, often with a different pay structure and contract terms than a travel RN package.
It depends on the agency and the assignment. Ask in writing which applies, since it changes how benefits and taxes work.
Most facilities want recent experience in the specialty because you are expected to start seeing patients quickly. Tell your recruiter what you have done independently.
No. Placement is free to you. The facility pays our fee.
Two minutes now saves a dozen irrelevant calls later. We only get in touch when something genuinely matches your specialty, your states and the schedule you actually want.
Tell us your population focus, settings and the states you will work. We only reach out when a role matches.