CVOR Travel Nurse Jobs in Tennessee

CVOR is a specialty that rewards the people who stick with it, and Tennessee gives experienced cardiac OR travelers a real reason to point the car this way. Nashville and Memphis both anchor serious cardiac surgery programs that keep their open-heart rooms running year-round, and they lean on seasoned CVOR travelers to keep those cases moving when staffing gets thin. If you’ve got the bypass experience and the credentials to prove it, the Volunteer State has contracts that pay for it. This page breaks down what cvor travel nurse jobs in Tennessee actually look like, what they pay right now, how the compact license speeds up your start, and how Junxion gets you placed without bouncing you around a call center.

Junxion Med Staffing was founded by a traveling surgical tech, so cardiovascular OR rooms aren’t a mystery to us. Your recruiter knows what CVOR demands, gets why pump experience separates the field, and won’t burn your time pitching programs that don’t match your background. Small team, real phones, actual answers. Poke around the CVOR travel nurse hub for openings, pull the numbers from our CVOR travel nurse job breakdown, or check how to become a traveling nurse if you’re still planning the jump.

Why Take CVOR Travel Nurse Jobs in Tennessee?

Two things make cvor travel nurse jobs in Tennessee worth a serious look: the state is an NLC compact state and it has no state income tax. The compact license means a traveler holding a compact home-state RN license can take a Tennessee assignment without waiting on a separate license application. In CVOR, where cardiac programs need people fast when case volume spikes or a staff member walks, that speed is money. No state income tax is the other half. More of your taxable rate stays in your pocket here than it would at the same gross in a high-tax state, and compact speed plus a take-home boost is a tough combination to beat.

Tennessee’s cardiac demand is concentrated where you’d expect. Nashville is a genuine healthcare capital with deep cardiovascular surgery programs, Memphis runs high-acuity cardiac care across its medical district, and Knoxville and Chattanooga add strong regional cardiac centers that pull from a wide rural catchment. Across those markets, CVOR travelers work complex open-heart cases, valve repairs and replacements, coronary bypasses, and a growing share of TAVR and structural heart procedures at large academic medical centers and dedicated cardiac surgery programs. Clinically, the exposure runs as deep as this specialty offers, and the pay reflects the complexity. Want to size up your broader options? Our guide to travel healthcare jobs in Tennessee covers cities, pay, and lifestyle across specialties.

What a Typical CVOR Assignment Looks Like in Tennessee

Tennessee CVOR contracts mostly run about 13 weeks with options to extend, putting you on a day-shift block circulating or scrubbing open-heart cases with call layered on top. The caseload leans toward coronary bypass grafts, valve repairs and replacements, aortic work, and structural heart procedures, and the bigger Nashville and Memphis programs run the widest variety. Orientation moves quickly; facilities hire CVOR travelers who can pick up the surgeon cards and pump protocols fast and start carrying cases almost right away, and they’ll expect exactly that from you.

Call is part of the deal in CVOR, and Tennessee is no different, since cardiac emergencies don’t watch the clock. Most contracts carry call on top of your scheduled shifts, and that callback pay adds real money to your weekly total (more in the FAQs below). The work itself is high-acuity and detail-driven. You’re running the sterile field in a room packed with specialized equipment, locked in with the perfusionist, cardiac anesthesiologist, and surgeon through every phase of the case. When a case turns complicated, the whole room counts on the OR team to stay a step ahead. If that’s where you do your best work, Tennessee has plenty of it.

CVOR Travel Nurse Pay in Tennessee

CVOR contracts are among the best-paying lanes in travel nursing, and Tennessee is no exception. Technical complexity, call requirements, and steady cardiac demand push rates up. Based on current market data, weekly pay for CVOR travel nurses in Tennessee generally lands in the $2,500 to $3,350 per week range, with the exact number driven by facility, call structure, shift, and your experience level. Contracts with heavy call at the busiest cardiac programs tend to push toward the top of that range. Add the missing state income tax and your take-home stretches further than the same gross would in a high-tax state.

As always, pay moves with the market and the season, so treat that range as a starting reference rather than a promise. Your Junxion recruiter reviews the full package with you before you commit: the taxable rate, the stipends, and the call structure. Real numbers for the actual contract, never a generic average. Here’s what a Junxion CVOR package in Tennessee usually includes:

• Competitive weekly pay in the current market range above, structured as taxable wages plus tax-free stipends, and no state income tax taking a bite out of the taxable portion
• Tax-free housing stipend paid directly to you. Finding and booking the place is your call; Junxion doesn’t arrange or provide the housing itself, but your recruiter points you to trusted housing resources, and the stipend reflects the local cost of living.
• Tax-free meals and incidentals (M&IE) stipend written into your package
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Travel reimbursement covering your trip to and from the assignment
• Call pay on top of base, which matters plenty in CVOR since nearly every contract carries call
• Completion bonuses on select contracts and a 401(k) with contribution options

If your cardiac background swings both ways, take a look at travel cath lab RN jobs in Tennessee, since the two specialties often overlap for nurses with a cardiac background.

Licensing and Credentialing for Tennessee CVOR Contracts

Because Tennessee is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, travelers holding a compact home-state RN license can take Tennessee assignments without applying for a separate license, a real head start in a specialty where cardiac programs often need to fill a spot quickly. If your home state isn’t in the compact, apply for Tennessee licensure by endorsement early so it doesn’t hold up your start date. The credential list for CVOR runs long too. Here’s what Tennessee facilities generally expect:

• BLS: A given at every facility, and it must be current
• ACLS: On the requirement sheet for essentially all CVOR contracts in Tennessee, current before your start date
• CNOR certification (or an equivalent perioperative credential): The larger cardiac programs strongly prefer candidates who carry it, since it shows real investment in the specialty and the ability to function independently at a high level.
• Bypass pump experience: Still the biggest clinical differentiator for CVOR travelers. The bigger cardiac and academic programs ask specifically how many cases, what procedures, and how recently, so be detailed in your profile.
• Minimum 2 years of dedicated CVOR experience: Facilities expect travelers who can circulate and scrub open-heart cases with minimal orientation. General OR experience isn’t a substitute for a CVOR background.

Junxion’s credentialing team runs through every requirement before you accept a contract and keeps the paperwork on rails. Questions about a specific Tennessee program or your licensing timeline? Reach out to a Junxion recruiter directly, or visit the employee resources page for compliance tools and housing guides.

How Tennessee Compares for CVOR Travelers

Tennessee stacks up well for CVOR travelers, and not just on the paycheck. Take-home leads the list: with no state income tax, more of your taxable rate stays with you than at the same gross in a high-tax state, and on a CVOR rate that adds up fast over 13 weeks. The compact license is the other big win, letting you start fast instead of waiting on paperwork. And because cardiac surgery runs deep in Nashville and Memphis, with solid regional programs in Knoxville and Chattanooga, you’re rarely scrambling for your next contract. You can pick between large academic programs and busy regional cardiac centers based on the case mix you want.

Off the clock, the state earns its keep over a three-month stretch. Nashville brings the music, food, and nightlife; Memphis carries blues history and Delta soul; Knoxville and Chattanooga sit at the doorstep of the Smokies and the river gorges, with hiking, paddling, and easy weekend escapes. Cost of living runs reasonable across most of the state, so a stipend tends to go further here than in the priciest coastal markets. For CVOR specifically, Tennessee pairs strong clinical exposure with strong take-home — hard to argue with that.

Getting Started with Junxion

Junxion keeps the on-ramp short. You connect with a recruiter and tell them what the right CVOR contract looks like for you — call tolerance, location, pay targets — and they start matching you with open assignments. One recruiter, one relationship, your whole contract, without getting bounced around every time you have a question. The agency was built by someone who lived the OR life, and it operates like it.

Money stays out in the open too. Every package arrives with a complete breakdown of the taxable rate, every stipend, and the call structure, so there’s no guessing and no bait-and-switch. A US-based credentialing team stays ahead of the deadlines so you can focus on the work. Ready to see live CVOR contracts in Tennessee? Talk to a Junxion recruiter and let’s match your cardiac OR background with the right program.

What to Know Before You Go

Every cardiac program runs its own surgeon cards, pump protocols, positioning, and draping preferences, so plan on your first week involving a lot of questions. That’s normal even for seasoned CVOR travelers, and the team warms up fast once they see you can hold your own in a complex case. Get your credentials, ACLS, and any facility-specific paperwork squared away before your start date so you’re cleared to scrub on day one.

On the logistics side, think about where you’re landing. A Nashville or Memphis assignment puts you in a bigger metro with more housing options but more traffic to plan around; Knoxville and Chattanooga run smaller and quieter, with the mountains close by on your days off. Research neighborhoods near your facility, since commute times and rental costs shift by area, and look into short-term furnished or extended-stay rentals that fit a 13-week schedule. Lean on your recruiter for trusted housing resources in whichever Tennessee market you’re headed to.

FAQs: CVOR Travel Nurse Jobs in Tennessee

How much do CVOR travel nurses make in Tennessee?

Current market data puts CVOR travel nurse pay in Tennessee at roughly $2,500 to $3,350 per week, with facility, call requirements, shift, and experience level deciding the exact figure. Heavy-call contracts at the busiest cardiac programs run toward the top of that range. Tennessee has no state income tax, so your take-home on the taxable portion stretches further than it would in a high-tax state. Since rates shift with the market and season, your Junxion recruiter walks the full package with you, taxable rate, stipends, and call pay, so you see real numbers before you commit.

Does Tennessee’s lack of a state income tax really boost my pay?

It helps on the taxable side of your package. Travel pay is usually split into taxable wages plus tax-free stipends, and Tennessee doesn’t levy a state income tax on that taxable portion, so compared to the same gross contract in a high-tax state, more of it stays with you. Your recruiter can show you how the split looks on a specific Tennessee CVOR contract before you sign.

How important is bypass pump experience for Tennessee CVOR contracts?

At the busier cardiac programs it’s non-negotiable. Large cardiac and academic centers handle complex open-heart cases where circulating and scrub nurses need real comfort with pump runs, and facilities will ask directly about your bypass case count and recency. If your CVOR background leans toward valve work or lighter cases without much pump exposure, tell your recruiter early so they can match you to the right contract instead of a tough placement.

What does a typical call schedule look like on a Tennessee CVOR contract?

Most Tennessee CVOR contracts include one to two call shifts per week, sometimes more at the busiest programs. Call means being available for urgent cardiac cases at any hour, and the callback pay adds meaningfully to your weekly total; plenty of travelers hunt for high-call contracts because of it. Before you accept anything, your Junxion recruiter confirms the exact call requirements and pay structure so there are no surprises on assignment.

Is Tennessee a compact state for CVOR travel nurses?

Yes. Tennessee is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so if you hold a compact home-state RN license you can take Tennessee assignments without applying for a separate Tennessee license, which gets you started faster. If your home state isn’t in the compact, you’ll need to apply for Tennessee licensure by endorsement; the earlier you start, the safer your start date. Junxion’s credentialing team follows the timeline with you so licensing never becomes the thing that delays your contract.

How does housing work on a Tennessee CVOR travel assignment?

Junxion gives you a tax-free housing stipend and points you to trusted housing resources, and then the search is yours: you find and book your own place rather than the agency arranging it. Most experienced travelers prefer having that control over location and budget, and it often leaves a little extra in their pocket. Stipends track the local cost of living, which is generally reasonable across Tennessee but does vary between Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, so your recruiter can break down the numbers for whichever city you’re headed to.

Which Tennessee cities have the most CVOR travel demand?

Nashville and Memphis carry the heaviest CVOR demand, since both anchor deep cardiac surgery programs running open-heart cases year-round. Knoxville and Chattanooga add steady regional demand through strong cardiac centers serving a wide surrounding area. Availability shifts week to week with case volume, staff turnover, and program needs, so tell your recruiter which markets and case mix you prefer and let them flag open CVOR contracts in those cities as they come up, rather than refreshing a job board yourself.

How does Junxion’s process work for CVOR travelers?

One recruiter takes your contract from first conversation to final shift, with no call-center handoffs along the way. Share your call tolerance, target cities, and pay goals; they’ll match you with open CVOR contracts in Tennessee and go through each package with a full pay breakdown before you decide. Junxion was founded by a traveling surgical tech, so your recruiter understands CVOR culture, and a US-based team carries your credentialing end to end. When you’re ready, reach out to get matched.

Tennessee calling your name for the next CVOR contract? Talk to a Junxion recruiter today and we’ll match your cardiac OR background with the right program.

Explore More

• CVOR Travel Nurse Jobs: Full Specialty Hub
• CVOR Travel Nurse Job Breakdown: Pay, Perks & States
• Travel Cath Lab RN Jobs in Tennessee
• Travel Healthcare Jobs in Tennessee
• How to Become a Traveling Nurse
• Employee Resources

Scrub alongside a CVOR nurse who’d thrive on the road? Refer them to Junxion and earn a bonus when they complete their first assignment.