Best States?

Good in what way? Licensure? Pay? Clinically? The last is usually hospital and even floor dependent. There are some state by state trends. California has staffing ratio laws, and union heavy states such as the rest of the West Coast and New England generally have better ratios (and pay). The South generally has higher workloads, jerky docs, and lower pay.

Some agencies are better for a first timer irregardless of the state. A large agency such as Cross Country or American Mobile have the greatest number of assignments, and if you get a good recruiter for one of those, they can put you in a good first assignment at a "traveler friendly" hospital that matches your skill set and experience. I'd also mention PPR (middle sized) as having really good service. Pay for all of these agencies will probably be lower than average, but you don't really want to try to maximize your pay on your first assignment: you want to get your feet wet with a success.

Thank you! What you described is what I was looking for. Thanks for the advice on companies as well. Have you heard much about Supplemental Health care? That is one of the companies I've been looking in to.

Sure. Probably not the best company for a first timer. They don't, or try hard not to supply housing, their health insurance is mega-expensive (NY where Supplemental is based had the highest insurance costs in the country, at least before the ACA kicked in). They do pay well in general, but unless you are psych, probably another agency will be better. Take all such advice with a grain of salt of course because if you communicate well with the Supplemental recruiter - that can be more important than other variables.

Double post.

Thank you! What company does PPR stand for?

I think Professional Placement Resources, but like many acronyms, it is now irrelevant. If you Google PPR, select the hit that says travel nursing.

I like CA because we have ratios and that may feel safer to you first time out on assignment. Also the pay is better out here. Just a thought. I've worked all over the state, but not in ED. There's also a lot of travelers out here, so you can network.

I am currently with Supplemental Health Care and have a good experience over all so for, but my actual assignment starts next week. They quoted me $600/month more than American Traveler for the exact same job. I have signed up with a couple of agencies and may try another one for my next assignment, as I may be interested in taking housing next time or getting the housing stipend.

Overall, the pay seems pretty good after taxes with Supplemental.