Best housing/accomodations!

cvryder · Aug 18, 2007

Top drawer with On Assignment, and they furnish everything right down to the forks and bedsheets so you don't have to drag all your stuff around.

TNS put me up in some nice extended stays, the bonus with them being that you get housekeeping service weekly. They use Kenwood and Candlewood Suites, among others.

You can just take the stipend and choose your own, but that's chancy sometimes. I like the agency to do the worrying for me.

shortstuph0 · Aug 21, 2007

I work with AMN in san diego and the housing they put me in was fantastic. I just moved though and took the allowance and im making a lot more money off it. Plus I live right next to the beach. It all depends on the cost of living where your going too.

naskippy · Aug 23, 2007

I work with LiquidAgents. They ALWAYS try and get you/force you to take their "Tax Incentive Plan". I have refused after doing it once and it was not a good deal. The problem...it is all tax free money and it lowers your base pay and you get crap when you work overtime. Also, this puts all the responsibility on the nurse to find their own housing and it is the nurse that holds the leases. They like this and try to force nurses to do this because it is like their insurance policy that you will stay and complete the assignment if you hold the financial responsibility of the lease on the apartment. If you don't do it they will threaten to put you in the cheapest and smallest one room Extended Stay Hotel they can find....why? Because there is no lease and it is a day to day. I just had to let them know who the boss was here. The good thing about being a Travel Nurse is basically if you are a good one with good experience and track record YOU are the boss. They might technically be the employer, but really I view a Travel Agency as little more than a personal assistant taking care of writing out the paychecks and keeping track of the paperwork. There are tons of agencies that would LOVE to represent me and I am not taking back seat, sloppy seconds, or baloney from them. I can do without them and drop an agency like a hot rock in 2 seconds and 2 seconds later have them replaced. I am their bread and butter...they need me lots more than I need them.

This may not sound to some like the wrong attitude, but it is simply business and I am in business for myself and basically view myself as being self employed. No one will take care of me but me. Be careful about house options especially these tax incentive programs where they give you a tax free allowance to get an apartment and do everything yourself...it is a massive headache and 99 times out of a 100 not in your best interest, but in that of the companies.

I like LiquidAgents and recommend them...but if you ever go with them to represent you be careful of that incentive program they try to push and say NO WAY!

Thanks and hope this information helps you and others.

bagladyrn, RN · Aug 24, 2007

I've gotten good housing over the years with Cross Country. I've been in beautiful condos and apts., an enormous old victorian in a beachfront town, a restored old adobe in New Mexico, various sizes of houses in towns where no apts. were available, even a house with it's own in-ground pool one time. Keep an open mind and realize that some towns have better housing available and if you ever get to a place where the housing is unacceptable, call your agency before accepting occupancy - have housing paged if necessary. This is a good reason to always make sure you arrive on Friday before business hours close. It's much easier than trying to page the after hours on-call person and there are more resources available to fix the problem then.