Imani Kealoha Travel Registered Nurse, Telemetry and Step-Down Boise, 83702, United States [email protected] · (208) 555-1396
11 September 2026
Ms. Renata Almanza Telemetry Unit, Nurse Manager Bandera Falls Regional Medical Center Reno, United States
Application for the 13-week telemetry contract, Bandera Falls Regional Medical Center
Dear Ms. Almanza,
I am applying for the 13-week telemetry contract at Bandera Falls Regional Medical Center starting 19 October. I hold a multistate registered nurse license, my BLS, ACLS and NIH Stroke Scale cards are current through March 2028, and my full compliance file is with my agency and ready to submit today.
My last contract was 26 weeks on a 36-bed telemetry unit in a 310-bed regional hospital, nights, four to five patients, on Epic, extended once from the original 13 at the facility's request. Across seven years of contracts I have finished every assignment to term, taken full assignment after two days of unit orientation each time, and charted in Epic, Cerner and Meditech in production rather than training.
Your posting lists step-down float, which suits me: I averaged 15 to 20 float shifts a contract last year to medical-surgical, step-down and observation, and would rather be told where the census is than protected from it. I also supported two electronic record go-lives as a unit resource, so if a conversion overlaps this contract I am useful during it rather than slowed by it.
I can start on 19 October and would be glad to take a phone screen at any time this week. Thank you for considering my file.
Sincerely, Imani Kealoha, BSN, RN
Summary
A travel nurse cover letter names the unit you have worked, the license status that lets you start, and the date you are available. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, the four facts a hiring manager checks before anything else, and a plain account of why the letter is the wrong place to open a conversation about pay or contract rates.
Travel Nurse cover letter examples by experience level
A travel nurse cover letter is a short letter telling a recruiter or unit manager which unit you have already worked, what your license lets you do, and the date you can start.
It is not the document that sells you; your assignment table does that. The letter's job is narrower: connect your record to this requisition, remove doubt about your availability, and say the one thing a table cannot carry.
Guide to a travel nurse cover letter
This guide and the corresponding travel nurse cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Why unit type, license status and start date belong in the first two sentences
- The four things a hiring manager is checking
- How to write about a contract without writing about pay
- The openings that get a file submitted the same day
How to write a travel nurse cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The requisition, the unit you have worked, your license status | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | One matching assignment: bed count, ratio, shift, system | 4 sentences |
| Fit | Float willingness, orientation speed, what you know about them | 3 sentences |
| Close | Start date, compliance status, thank you | 2 sentences |
Answer the start date question before it is asked
Every travel requisition has a start date attached, and the manager reading your file is deciding whether you can meet it. That turns on two things: whether your license is already active in that state, and whether your compliance file is current. Write both in the first two sentences.
The Nurse Licensure Compact is why that line carries weight: a multistate license lets a nurse practice in all compact states, and NCSBN reports that 43 jurisdictions are currently part of the compact (NCSBN, nursecompact.com, read 16 September 2026). If the facility sits outside your compact privilege, say where the application stands instead, and never describe a submitted application as an active license.
A travel nurse cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Almanza,
I am applying for the 13-week telemetry contract at Bandera Falls Regional Medical Center starting 19 October. I hold a multistate registered nurse license, my BLS, ACLS and NIH Stroke Scale cards are current through March 2028, and my full compliance file is with my agency and ready to submit today.
My last contract was 26 weeks on a 36-bed telemetry unit in a 310-bed regional hospital, nights, four to five patients, on Epic, extended once from the original 13 at the facility's request. Across seven years of contracts I have finished every assignment to term, taken full assignment after two days of unit orientation each time, and charted in Epic, Cerner and Meditech in production rather than training.
Your posting lists step-down float, which suits me: I averaged 15 to 20 float shifts a contract last year to medical-surgical, step-down and observation, and would rather be told where the census is than protected from it. I also supported two electronic record go-lives as a unit resource, so if a conversion overlaps this contract I am useful during it rather than slowed by it.
I can start on 19 October and would be glad to take a phone screen at any time this week. Thank you for considering my file.
Sincerely, Imani Kealoha, BSN, RN
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am excited to apply for a travel nursing opportunity at your facility | I am applying for the 13-week telemetry contract starting 19 October |
| I am a flexible nurse who adapts quickly to new environments | My last contract was 26 weeks on a 36-bed telemetry unit, nights, four to five patients, on Epic |
| I have experience with several electronic health record systems | I have charted in Epic, Cerner and Meditech in production rather than in training |
| I am available to start as soon as possible | I hold a multistate license, my cards run to March 2028, and I can start 19 October |
Every line in the right column can be checked. A manager hiring a traveler often decides from paperwork alone, so claims that need a conversation to become real do not help them.
What a hiring manager is actually checking
Four things, in this order. The letter should touch all four.
| What they check | What answers it |
|---|---|
| Can you legally start on time? | License type and status, or the stage of a pending application |
| Have you worked a unit like this one? | Bed count, unit type, ratio and shift from a real assignment |
| Will you need orientation we cannot give? | Two days to full assignment, and the electronic record by name |
| Will you float when census moves? | The units you accept, and the float shifts you worked |
Notice what is absent: anything about personality, or why you love travel nursing. A record of completed contracts answers that.
Writing about a contract without writing about pay
Keep the rate conversation with your recruiter. A hiring manager at the facility usually does not set it, and raising it reads as a negotiation with the wrong party. What does belong is the structure of the contract, a scheduling matter as much as a commercial one:
- The length you are applying for, and whether you are open to an extension
- The shift, and whether you can flip
- The unit, and the units you will accept as a float
- Your start date, written as a date rather than "immediately"
- Your notice period if you are finishing another contract
Name the requisition, the unit and the start date in the opening. Give one matching assignment with bed count, ratio, shift and system. State your license type and the stage of any pending application. Say which units you float to and how often you did. Say that your compliance file is current and where it sits.
Do not raise rates, stipends or pay packages; that belongs with your recruiter. Do not describe a submitted license application as active. Do not write "various hospitals" where a facility type and bed count belong. Do not write a letter longer than the table it introduces. Do not name or describe an identifiable patient from any contract.
The occupation behind the contract
There is no separate Occupational Outlook Handbook profile for travel nursing, so the published numbers are for registered nurses as a whole: about 3.5 million jobs in 2025, projected growth of 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, about 180,800 openings projected each year on average over the decade, and a median annual wage of $97,550 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, registered nurses, May 2025 with 2025 to 2035 projections). Hospitals employ 59 percent of them, at a median of $100,220 in state, local and private hospitals (BLS, May 2025).
Contract demand is hospital demand, which is why a letter naming a bed count, a unit size and an electronic record does more work than a paragraph about adaptability. The manager is matching you to a unit, not to an idea of a nurse.
Length, format and sending it
Half to two thirds of a page, four short paragraphs, 200 to 300 words. Shorter than most cover letters, because it travels with a long assignment table and a compliance packet. PDF, named for yourself and the contract: imani-kealoha-telemetry-contract-cover-letter.pdf. Send it to your recruiter with the resume, since the recruiter usually submits your file.
Address a person where you can; unit managers are often named in the posting. Otherwise "Dear Nurse Manager" beats a generic salutation. Use the same facts as your resume, in the same words. Our travel nurse resume example uses the assignment record in this letter.
Key takeaways
- Name the requisition, the unit and the start date in the first two sentences.
- Put license type and status up front, with any pending application described accurately.
- Give one matching assignment with bed count, ratio, shift and electronic record.
- Say your orientation speed in days; that is what the facility is buying.
- Name the units you float to and the float shifts you worked.
- Keep rates and packages out of the letter; that is the recruiter's conversation.
- Keep it to 200 to 300 words; the assignment table carries the weight.
Write your travel nurse cover letter in 10 minutes with our AI cover letter builder.
Travel nurse cover letter questions, answered
Do travel nurses need a cover letter at all?
Often you submit through a recruiter with a profile rather than a letter, and the letter becomes a short submission note. Write it anyway. It is the only place you connect your record to this requisition, name your start date and say which units you will float to, and those three facts decide a same-day submission.
How long should a travel nurse cover letter be?
Two hundred to three hundred words, four short paragraphs, well under a page. It introduces a long assignment table rather than replacing it.
Should I mention pay or stipends in the letter?
No. Rates and packages are set between you and your agency, and the unit manager reading the letter is usually not part of that conversation. Raising it moves the discussion to the wrong desk and takes space from the facts that get you submitted.
What do I write for my first travel contract?
Write your staff unit as an assignment: facility size, unit size, ratio, shift, electronic record. Then license status, current cards with expiry months, and the units you will float to. A first-time traveler with a complete compliance file and a clear unit match is an easy submission, so make both obvious in the opening.
How do I explain a gap between contracts?
Say it plainly and move on. Time between contracts is normal, and a clause such as "took eight weeks between contracts in the spring" costs less attention than a gap the reader has to work out.