Questions for travel nurses

I know quite a few nurses who "travel" from home. it all depends on if the hospitals in the area you live utilize travelers. Some hospitals don't use them, others do. Many of the nurses who have to travel more than a few hours try to get all their shifts grouped together, stay in a hotel (with the housing stipend money) and then travel back home for the rest of the week after their shifts are done.

A couple of issues may occur with this scenario. Some hospitals may not hire travelers who live within a certain number of miles of the facilities. This seems to be to discourage staff from resigning and coming back as travelers. If you work at hospitals within commuting distance of your home ( the distance you could reasonably be expected to drive without needing to sleep first) then you cannot collect the tax free housing stipend (you must pay tax on that money). That is only allowed if you need to duplicate the expenses of home while away to work.
Despite these considerations, it still may be to your advantage to become a traveler, but be sure to factor in all these.

Hi! I am an ICU RN living in NJ. I do what's called "local travel" with a company called Access Nursing Services. They have set me up with 13 week travel assignments all around Manhattan. They have also offered me opportunities in NJ and MD. I'm not ready to leave the NY/NJ area just yet...although CA seems like it would be nice. They don't set you up with a car, but it's not needed...in fact, it would be more of a hassle. They offered me a housing stipend, but I turned it down and took the extra $$ for my hourly pay. My furthest commute to work has only been about a 30 minute subway ride!