Already make $42/hr. Is travel nursing worth it?

[Elbajista]

Hey guys,

I want to take my family on an adventure via travel nursing. We really want to see the country and show our kids how great our nation is as well as have an adventure while the kids are young.

The dilemma: I make $42/hr as a float pool RN mainly working in the ER at a busy urban hospital in Florida. Plenty of opportunities for OT. My main worry is that I won't make as much or make just the same as I make now. What can I expect as a traveler pay-wise?

I've done a lot of reading and it all seems comparable to my pay now. Of course it will be exciting to travel but I worry it won't be financially feasible to leave my current job. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

[NedRN]

Oh there is a shortage alright. Nurses are in the 90th percentile for compensation. Not too many other careers with the same educational level can say the same. Nursing schools opened like no tomorrow in the 1990s and 2000s. Economy crashed and some schools started closing, but try to find a nursing school without a two wait. That doesn't happen without market forces at work.

Just like nursing in general ebbing and flowing, always overshooting and then turning around, so it is with specialty nurses. There is no way that L&D nurses in Indiana can make $70 an hour without both nurses looking to cash in and change their specialty and hospitals looking to train cheaper in-house L&D nurses. Cycle of life if you like if you've never studied basic economics.

[guest769224]

Thanks for the explanation of specialty cycling. That's good to know. It is difficult for me to imagine not pursuing a specialty that pays so well.

As far as the shortage, I feel differently, that there is not a shortage of registered nurses in the nation. Perhaps prior to 2008. In my region, it's difficult to secure an acute care position, because of applicant saturation. I know other US regions mirror that situation. However, I have read on this site, that there are great needs in other areas of the US, which I found surprising.

[NedRN]

It is to the question of national shortage that I was speaking. Yes, nurses are both plentiful in the South, and poorly paid. Is that cause and effect? Of course. It is the law!

[NedRN]

By the way, the Law also shows that it is natural for those underpaid nurses in the South to go where there is greater demand and pay. Hence the plurality of travelers from the South.

Staying where you live is also a strong pull counteracting supply and demand. Some locals cannot move at all due to family circumstances. Hospitals actually depend on this local pull for all their staff, even those in relatively better paid areas. To avoid polluting their local supply, many hospitals draw a 50 to 200 mile radius around their hospital from which they will not hire travelers.

Supply and demand work regionally as in this example of the South. However, I'm thinking like the oversupply of nurses in the Northwest 15 or 20 years ago that has now shifted to an undersupply (and excellent pay, although unions are a factor there).

This is not nurse specific. The Law of supply and demand works for products, services and labor in all industries. On the plus side, nursing is darned hard to outsource overseas so our jobs are reasonably secure. If the Supreme Court overturns Obamacare, all bets are off, and you may have a difficult time getting your first job. The demand for healthcare will go way down with the loss of 16 million people who formerly had subsidized healthcare insurance (or whatever the number is)

[pattywatty]

There are a lot of travel nurses in calif. San francisco pays well. I work in los angeles and new grads make $40 hr

[guest769224]

Certain specialties come into high demand cyclicly and at some point L&D may go back to normal pay. Right now, OR and cath lab are also in high demand and can earn similar amounts.

Do you think that OR nursing will transition out of high pay/high demand anytime soon as well?

[NedRN]

Probably looking at minimum one year. Takes a while for hospitals to train OR nurses. Because of the training required, OR nurses will always be more valuable than entry level nurses such as medsurg, but the Law cannot be evaded. There are always supply and demand imbalances and they usually over correct and swing the other way.

[guest769224]

Is there any way to predict or "track" which specialties will become hot commodities?

I'm guessing no.

[NedRN]

Not by me. But the usual suspects are anything that require extra training and experience to be proficient. Burnout high stress specialties as well. So CVICU, CVOR, OR, cath lab, ICU, NICU, L&D, and advanced practice of course. One unusual one that comes into demand frequently is GI lab - that one doesn't require so much training.

[Danielleb85]

I have the same dilemma as you right now minus the family.I would love to do travel nursing before i find my forever nurse job and go back for my masters degree. I make 42/hr working in a busy city ER and 51/hr working per diem at another hospital. I would love to know where people are getting these quotes or maybe I am picking the most desirable states but Austin Tx is 18/hr same for San Diego so I am not sure where I will be able to make similar amount. The most I was quoted was 30/hr for San Jose/Oakland. If anyone has any advice for a new potential travel nurse I would love it.

[Argo]

I am not sure what you guys don't understand about how travel pay works. You get a base of 30/hr plus housing or stipend, plus per diem pay and anything else you negotiate.

Based on 36 hours work week.

if you get 2000/month for housing it is equal to additional $14/hour. Oakland will be double that.

30/day per diem is about 6/hour more.

That alone takes the equivalent pay to around $50/hour.

It keeps going up with the other additional pay items...

[michlynn, BSN, RN]

I apparently need to switch specialties! Definitely not bringing in that much doing tele. It's a nice thought tho.