Any experienced travel nurses out there?

There is a travel nurse forum at the bottom of the discussion page

CA does indeed have a time and a half law after 8 hours.

The big travel companies are all about equal. I would recommend signing up with 2-3 and see what they have to offer. They will all tell you that they are the best. Go with what works best for YOU. Traveling is great but you are the only one with your best interests in mind.

Remember: They work for you, it is not the other way! The company and the recruiter make a lot of money from YOUR LABOR, not their labor. All things are negotiable including travel contracts. You can always work for another travel company. Don't get tied into their nickel and dime longevity bonuses if you can make more by jumping companies between contracts.

The best paying contracts in CA are mostly in the Bay area (San Francisco, Fresno, etc.).

Go for it, travel nursing is great! good pay, no politics, no staff meetings, no commitees, you do your time and your done.

No input to share, but posting in the traveler's forum would probably get your more input.

Good luck!

I've been traveling for a couple of years. Haven't made it out to Cali yet, but from my research the LA and Bay Area pay the best. I would recommended going to www.delphiforums.com
Click on Health and Wellness on the menu on the left of the page. Then click on Travel Nurses and Therapists Forum.
This forum is a great resource as you can search past postings about specific hospitals, locations, or companies. This forum gets much more activity than the travel nurse forum on allnurses.
Hope this is helpful.

When it comes to signing the contract, be very careful with the wording. My contract stated that I would be responsible for fees if I broke the contract. I became ill in the middle and missed 5 shifts. I DID NOT break the contract. My company took half of my following paycheck when I returned to work to pay for the apartment. I completed the assignment (although I had contacted my recruiter at the very beginning to say that it was a dangerous place to work) except for the 5 shifts. I had already been penalized, so I left after completing the last night scheduled in my contract.

No words of wisdom, just be careful about signing a contract without having an expert look over it. Might sound pricey, but might save you moeny and stress in the long run. Good Luck on your hunt.

I travled for 2 years for the same company, MRA staffing, but they were bought out by Cross Country Travel Nurse, I worked all up and down the West Coast, loved it, I really enjoyed Kaiser Permaninte in Sacromento, I worked ER there, had alot of fun and made some money, what I would do is work for MRA and then on my days off I would work for local nurse staffing agencies, never did I have a bad experience traveling, and still keep in touch with the friends I made, but I must say out of all the cities I worked in, Seattle was the best, I'll go back as soon as possible, read my story entitled "Down and Dirty in the Oklahoma State Board of Nursing", by me, sleepless in norman.

Having a professional look over a travel contract is unecessary. You should however, know what you are getting into before hand. Have your recruiter go over each contract with you to ensure you are both on the same page. The basics of all travel contracts are the same. Your housing is paid for but, if you don't work your contractual number of hours your will have to pay a housing fee for each hour not worked. Most hospitals for whom I have had to call in sick have let me make up the hours i missed. Granted, I rarely call in. The bottomline is read and understand your contract. With regards to housing, calling in sick and getting called off by the hospital are two different things. Make sure you don't get penalized if the hospital calls you off.