Contract Review -- First Time Travel

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Hey everyone so I just turned 29 last week and said this is it.. I want to do what I always wanted to and that is to see some different places and travel in the area. I already was connected with recruiter from this agency and just emailed him my Resume and passed phone interview, now here's their offer:

Location Loma Linda, CA 92354 (I am in NY)

Salary $35/hr - base

Lodging: Residence Inn long-stay hotel what is this?? Lodging amount is separate from base pay

Per diem food rate $40 no receipts necessary

Flights 2 return flights per month

Agency will reimburse for license fees

This is a 13 week contract

I am not sure if I am getting lowballed?? I see per -diem CA rates as high as $60 in my field (Case Management)

I appreciate your input! This is my 1st assignment so could low rate be reason for inexperience?

Thanks again everyone!

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Travel nursing traditionally includes housing, or a housing stipend if you find your own housing. Per diem, local agency, registry does not include housing. So if you want to compare apples to apples, you need to compare the per diem rate you saw (which will not have guaranteed hours) with your base rate, to which you would add your housing value, the travel value (also traditionally paid by travel companies at $500 or $600 round trip), the per diem rate (or Meals & Incidentals in IRS lingo), and possibly your licensure reimbursement. If you maintain a tax home (another long story), everything but your hourly is provided tax free - which raises your take home pay considerably.

So I just answered your questions pretty thoroughly but I know it now brings up another dozen or so questions. Many agency sites provide basic travel information, but a more comprehensive and unbiased site is PanTravelers (Professional Association of Nurse Travelers). There is also a calculator there to help you enter all those compensation details above so you can make sense of your pay. TravelTax does a good job with tax information online although tax information (like what the heck is a tax home) is also on PanTravelers.

I would suggest you do some reading and perhaps discuss things with an agency and then come back with questions. By the way, the M&I rate you listed is every day, not just worked days, or $280 a week tax free.

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Thanks NedRN, I am doing ALOT of reading now and not sure if I will be accepting this :(

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