What to Bring to a Furnished Rental as a Travel Nurse
Introduction: Furnished Does Not Mean Fully Equipped
The word “furnished” covers an enormous range. At one end, you get a fully stocked apartment with quality cookware, comfortable bedding, fast Wi-Fi, and everything you need from day one. At the other end, you get a mattress on a metal frame, a microwave, and a spork in the kitchen drawer. Most furnished rentals land somewhere in the middle, with basic furniture and appliances but gaps in the details that make a space actually livable.
After a few assignments, every travel nurse develops a go-bag of essential items that fills those gaps regardless of what the rental provides. This checklist is that go-bag, organized by room. It covers what to bring with you, what to buy on arrival, and what to skip entirely.
If you are looking for portable furniture recommendations (folding desks, air mattresses, storage solutions), see our dedicated portable furniture guide. This article focuses on the smaller essentials that make any furnished rental functional and comfortable from the moment you walk in.
What “Furnished” Typically Includes
Before you pack, it helps to know what most furnished rentals provide. Here is the baseline you can usually expect:
- Bedroom: bed frame, mattress, dresser or closet with hangers
- Living room: couch or sofa, coffee table, possibly a TV
- Kitchen: stove, refrigerator, microwave, basic cookware and utensils, plates and glasses
- Bathroom: towel rack, toilet paper holder, sometimes a shower curtain
What is usually not included, and catches people off guard:
- Quality bedding (sheets, pillows, and blankets are either missing or questionable)
- Dish towels, sponges, and cleaning supplies
- Shower curtain liner
- Decent kitchen knives
- Blackout curtains or window coverings suitable for day sleeping
- Reliable Wi-Fi (speed varies widely)
- A workspace beyond the kitchen table
Always ask your landlord for a specific inventory before you pack. The housing checklist has the exact questions to ask about what is provided.
Kitchen Essentials to Bring
The kitchen is where the gap between “furnished” and “livable” is most obvious. Bringing a small kit of kitchen essentials lets you start meal prepping from day one instead of eating takeout for the first week.
A chef’s knife and cutting board. The knives in furnished rentals are universally dull and frustrating. A sharp 8-inch chef’s knife and a compact cutting board are the highest-impact kitchen items you can carry.
Your favorite spices and seasonings. Transfer your go-to spices into small containers or use a pre-packed spice kit. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, and red pepper flakes cover the majority of meals. Buying full-size spice bottles at every assignment wastes money and cabinet space.
A reusable water bottle and coffee mug. You already use these at work. Make sure they travel with you so you are not buying disposable cups or drinking from whatever mismatched mugs the rental provides.
An Instant Pot or portable slow cooker. The single most recommended appliance across travel nurse communities. An Instant Pot handles rice, beans, soups, stews, pulled meats, steamed vegetables, and even yogurt. It replaces three or four appliances and makes meal prep efficient even in a tiny kitchen.
A coffee maker or travel French press. If you are particular about your morning coffee (and after night shifts, you should be), bring your own setup rather than relying on whatever ancient drip machine the rental might have. A compact French press or an AeroPress takes up minimal space and makes excellent coffee.
Meal prep containers. A set of glass or BPA-free containers for packing shift meals. If you prep on your day off, you need 10 to 12 containers to hold three or four days of meals. See our meal prep container review for specific picks.
Dish towels. Bring two or three. Furnished rentals either provide old, stained towels or none at all. Fresh dish towels cost little, weigh nothing, and make the kitchen feel cleaner immediately.
What to buy on arrival: perishables, dish soap, sponges, paper towels, trash bags, and any bulk staples (rice, pasta, cooking oil) that are not worth transporting.
Bedroom Essentials to Bring
Sleep is the foundation of everything in travel nursing. You work physically and emotionally demanding 12-hour shifts, often rotating between days and nights. Your bedroom setup directly affects your recovery, your mood, and your clinical performance. Invest here without hesitation.
Your own pillow. This is the single most recommended item in every travel nurse forum, survey, and packing guide. Bring the pillow you sleep on at home. Do not trust whatever flattened, mystery-stained pillow the rental provides. Your pillow is comfort, familiarity, and proper neck support in one portable package.
A fitted sheet set in queen size. Queen is the most common furnished rental bed size. Bring your own sheets so you know they are clean, comfortable, and the right fit. Pack a flat sheet and a pillowcase to match.
A lightweight blanket or comforter. Rental bedding ranges from thin and scratchy to absent. A packable down-alternative comforter gives you reliable warmth and comfort at every assignment without taking up excessive space.
A white noise machine. Essential for day sleeping, noisy apartments, and inconsistent environments. Compact machines like the LectroFan or Dohm create a consistent sound backdrop that helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. After a 12-hour night shift, every decibel of outside noise is your enemy.
Blackout curtain clips or portable blackout panels. If you work night shifts, you need to block light during the day. Portable blackout panels attach with suction cups or Velcro strips and come down cleanly when you leave. They are more effective than a sleep mask alone because they cool the room by blocking sunlight as well.
A phone charger and bedside organizer. A long charging cable (10 feet) reaches from the nearest outlet to your bedside. A small caddy or pouch attached to the bed frame holds your phone, earplugs, lip balm, and anything else you reach for in the dark.
Bathroom Essentials to Bring
Keep this category lean. Bring the items that matter for hygiene, comfort, and first-day readiness.
Travel-size toiletries for the first day. You may arrive late at night with no time to shop. Having shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, and deodorant in travel sizes gets you through the first 24 hours.
Your own bath towel set. At least two towels and two washcloths. Furnished rental towels are a gamble you do not need to take. Your own towels are clean, soft, and one of the small luxuries that make a rental feel like home.
A shower curtain liner. Bring a fresh one. This is cheap insurance against the moldy, absent, or suspicious liner you may find on arrival.
Medications and first-aid basics. Ibuprofen, antacids, allergy medication, band-aids, and any prescriptions you take. Do not assume you will have time to find a pharmacy before your first shift.
A hair dryer. If you have a preferred one, bring it. Many furnished rentals either do not provide one or have a wall-mounted hotel-style dryer that barely functions.
Living Room and Comfort Items
These items turn a sterile, temporary-feeling rental into a space where you actually want to spend time.
A throw blanket for the couch. One familiar textile draped over an unfamiliar couch changes the entire feel of a living room. It is warmth, comfort, and a visual signal that this is your space.
A Bluetooth speaker. Music while cooking, podcasts while cleaning, background sound while decompressing. A compact Bluetooth speaker weighs a few ounces and improves every hour you spend in your rental.
A streaming device. A Roku Stick, Fire Stick, or Chromecast plugs into any TV and gives you instant access to your streaming accounts. Much better than relying on whatever apps are pre-installed on the rental’s TV.
An extension cord or power strip. Outlets in older rentals are never where you need them. A compact power strip solves this permanently and protects your devices with surge protection.
A small toolkit. A screwdriver, pliers, tape, and a few picture-hanging hooks handle 90 percent of the small fixes and adjustments you will want to make during a 13-week stay. Tighten a loose cabinet handle, hang a photo, fix a wobbly shelf.
Photos or small decor items. One or two framed photos, a small plant, or a candle in your favorite scent. These take 30 seconds to set up and make an outsized difference in how the space feels.
Work and Professional Items
Your housing is also your home office, your study space, and your staging area for every shift.
Scrubs and uniforms. Enough for your full work week without needing to do laundry mid-week. Five to seven sets is the standard. See our best scrubs guide for recommendations.
Stethoscope and essential clinical tools. Your personal stethoscope, penlight, hemostats, and any specialty tools you carry.
Badge clips and accessories. Badge reel, pen holder, and any hospital-specific ID accessories.
Comfortable nursing shoes. At least two pairs that you rotate. Your feet carry you through 12-hour shifts on hard floors. See our work shoes guide for picks.
Laptop and charger. For charting, CEU completion, job searching, and credential management.
Important documents. Nursing licenses, certifications, ID, insurance cards, and contract paperwork. Keep digital copies in a cloud folder and physical copies in a waterproof document organizer.
Technology and Connectivity
A portable Wi-Fi hotspot. Rental Wi-Fi reliability is unpredictable. A hotspot on your phone plan or a dedicated device ensures you can always chart, submit paperwork, or attend a virtual meeting regardless of the rental’s internet quality.
Multiple phone chargers and a power bank. Keep chargers at your bedside, your workspace, and in your work bag. A power bank ensures your phone never dies during a long shift.
Streaming subscription login information. Write down or save your login credentials for Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and any other services. You will need them every time you set up a new streaming device on a new TV.
Cleaning and Household Supplies
All-purpose cleaning spray and wipes for day-one cleaning. No matter how clean the rental looks, wipe down all surfaces when you arrive. Countertops, cabinet handles, light switches, toilet seat, and appliance doors. It takes 15 minutes and gives you peace of mind.
Laundry detergent pods. Enough for the first week. Pods are easier to transport than a jug of liquid detergent and they work in any machine. Buy a full supply locally once you are settled.
Trash bags. Bring a few for the first day. The rental may not have any, and you will generate trash immediately from unpacking and cleaning.
What to buy on arrival: paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, sponges, and any other consumable cleaning supplies. These are not worth the packing space.
The “Buy on Arrival, Donate on Departure” Strategy
Some items are needed at every assignment but not worth transporting. Experienced travel nurses build a standard “buy on arrival” list and budget $30 to $50 per assignment for these recurring purchases.
Common buy-on-arrival items: a bathroom trash can, a shower organizer, basic cleaning supplies, a broom or Swiffer, a laundry basket, kitchen basics (olive oil, salt, butter), and toilet paper.
Where to buy: Dollar Tree and Walmart cover almost everything on this list for under $25. Target and Amazon fill any gaps.
When you leave: donate usable items to Goodwill or leave them for the next tenant. Many travel nurses leave a small box of supplies with a note for the next nurse. Pay it forward.
Budget for it. Add $30 to $50 per assignment to your housing budget for these recurring purchases. It is a small cost for the convenience of not hauling a broom and a trash can across state lines.
Packing Tips for Efficiency
Use packing cubes for clothing and soft items. They compress contents, keep categories separated, and make unpacking into drawers fast. Color-code them by category (work clothes, casual clothes, bathroom items) for instant identification.
Keep a dedicated “housing essentials” bin in your car. A clear plastic bin labeled “Housing” holds your kitchen kit, bedding essentials, cleaning supplies for day one, and bathroom basics. This bin stays packed between assignments. When you get a new contract, it is ready.
The one-box rule. Challenge yourself to fit all your housing essentials (excluding bedding) in one large bin. If it does not fit, you are probably over-packing. Edit ruthlessly after each assignment.
Label everything. Label bins, bags, and boxes by room. On arrival night, carry each container to the correct room and unpack there. This eliminates the chaos of dumping everything in the living room and sorting later.
Pre-pack before you leave your current assignment. On your last day off, pack everything except what you need for the final 48 hours. This reduces move-out stress and ensures nothing gets left behind.
FAQ
What if the rental is missing something it promised? Contact the landlord immediately with photos documenting what is missing. Reference the inventory or listing description. Most landlords will provide the missing items or reduce your rent. If the issue is significant, contact your recruiter for support.
Should I bring my own pots and pans? Bring one good pan and one good knife. The rest of the provided cookware is usually functional enough. Hauling a full cookware set is not worth the space for a 13-week stay.
How do I pack all this if I am flying? Ship heavy items (Instant Pot, mattress topper, kitchen kit) via USPS flat-rate boxes. Bring bedding essentials and toiletries in a checked bag. Carry your pillow and laptop as carry-on items.
What is the most forgotten item? A shower curtain liner. It is the item most frequently missing from furnished rentals and the item most nurses forget to pack.
Do I need renter’s insurance for a furnished rental? Strongly recommended. Renter’s insurance costs $10 to $20 per month and covers your personal belongings, liability for accidental damage to the rental, and temporary housing if the rental becomes uninhabitable. Many landlords require it.
Key Takeaways
- “Furnished” varies widely. Always ask the landlord for a specific inventory and use the housing checklist to verify what is included.
- Bring comfort items that make every rental feel like home: your pillow, your sheets, a throw blanket, and a few personal touches.
- Kitchen and bedroom essentials are the two most important categories. A sharp knife and a mattress topper have the biggest daily impact.
- Use the buy-on-arrival, donate-on-departure strategy for bulky consumables. Budget $30 to $50 per assignment.
- Keep a permanent housing essentials bin packed and ready in your car so you are never starting from scratch.
- For a broader gear overview, see the complete travel nurse packing list and our portable furniture recommendations.
Related Internal Links
- Travel Nurse Packing List
- Travel Nurse Housing Guide
- Portable Furniture for Travel Nurses
- Travel Nurse Housing Checklist
- Best Scrubs for Travel Nurses
- Travel Nurse Road Trip Essentials
- Travel Nurse Meal Prep Guide
Affiliate Placement Notes
- Portable kitchen gear affiliate links (Instant Pot, French press, AeroPress) in kitchen section
- Bedding affiliate links (pillow, sheets, blackout panels) in bedroom section
- Streaming device affiliate links in living room section
- Packing cube affiliate links in packing tips section
- White noise machine affiliate link in bedroom section