Best travel nurse agencies

[agatka]

I'm thinking of pursuing travel nursing. Can anyone tell me from past experiences which agency has most benefits? (higher pay, private housing, best recruiters, locations) I'd really appreciate it.:redpinkhe I've been an RN in CT for 3 years with strong and broad med/surg and rehab experience.

[qcfynest1]

I've worked for AYA healthcare and they were very good to work for, their rates were competitive and the housing stipends were pretty reasonable. Always keep in mind that the city and facility needs will almost always determine your pay rate and housing stipend. I currently work for Parallon, they dominate the Texas and Florida needs and eliminate the third party, so they typically pay more and they don't offer insurance.

[NedRN]

Just to debunk a popular (and logical) myth about working directly for a vendor manager such as Parallon, it often does not pay as much as working for other agencies. This goes triple for high needs assignments. There are several reasons for this apparent anomaly but I've described them many times on this forum and posting on my cell.

Parallon (formerly All About Staffing and now recently rebranded as HealthTrust Workforce Solutions) is a fully owned subsidiary of HCA which explains their dominance in Florida and Texas. I only would recommend working for them directly if you must work at a particular HCA hospital in a restricted time window as you will get priority over other agencies. Just not necessarily more money.