Considering traveling...

no contract will prevent you from being tripled or getting the worst assignment. If you are in California then it won't happen but, the other 49 states expect it.

The interview is your opportunity to ask about staffing ratios. The tenor of your posts suggests you need more experience. Doing an assignment close to home does not make it easier or safer in any way. If you must start traveling now, you need to make sure of excellent fits for your skills. Even if you stick to union hospitals (most have mandated safe staffing levels) or California where safe staffing ratios are the law, you will need to ensure that an assignment's patient population in your presumptive ICU are compatible with your skills. On the same issue, you need to be concerned about being floated to an ICU (or lower) that you cannot practice safe care. Another question for the interview.

About housing, yes, hotel stays will change the tax status of the housing stipend. Spend 3 nights a week in a hotel, 4/7 of the weekly stipend must be declared. Messy and difficult to maintain your integrity (and honestly reporting the difference increases your chances of an audit). There is a better way should you take this assignment. $800 will be far more than you need for a part time houseshare and then the entire housing stipend is yours. The per diem is still messy. You can get the full scoop on TravelTax. If I understand what he says about the subject, it is a tradeoff between the weekly costs of that trip home versus the per diem. If mileage at 50 something cents per mile exceeds your weekly per diem, and you don't deduct that mileage as a business expense, then you won't owe anything for taxes.

But forget about all that, my recommendation is more experience before travel. You may not feel comfortable at the two year mark either, different nurses progress at different rates. If so, after three years you should be feeling pretty solid. Two years minimum has always been the standard recommendation prior to travel. You won't hear that from agencies, other than to tell you about assignments you cannot have because the hospital requires two (or more) years. In my opinion, it is a very rare individual that is truly ready to travel only 18 months out of school in a specialty like the ICU.

Thanks NedRN. Maybe instead I'll start the process of applying for CA license and then reconsider traveling there after the six month process. This would give me more time to practice as well as safer working conditions. Though I was so excited at prospect of trying out traveling!