I'm officially a travel nurse!

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Since home care nursing just wasn't working out for me, and most of my experience is in hospitals, I decided to sign up and try the travel route.

Well this was quicker than I imagined. I filled out the online profile, a recruiter called me, I faxed in my credentials, gave a few phone numbers for references. That was on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I had a phone interview yesterday (Wednesday) and they are drawing up the papers and I will get the official "offer" this morning. I will start Nov 8th. This went much smoother than I anticipated.

My friend is on her first assignment with Onward Healthcare so I went with them. Her transition into her first travel assignment wasn't as smooth as mine, but she stuck it out and was happy she did.

One thing that I did was a lot of research and preparation. I had all my credentials in order. Licenses, ACLS, BLS, SS Card, TB test, physical statement, hep b titer.

I do have to get a drug test and take some tests online for the hospital. No big deal.

I took the housing stipend ($2600/month) because I can drive to the hospital (56 miles away) one and a half hour drive each way. (three 12 hour day shifts) I guess it equals out to about $45. per hour. Less than I usually make but I'm okay with that.

I really do not understand the whole pay explanation. They said that if I take the housing stipend which is nontaxable, my pay rate to be taxed is $23/hr. What does this really mean? Can someone explain it to me? This is one of those things that might take a few more times for it to sink in with me! How does this benefit me? If I am going to take home the same pay as if I was making $45/hr, how does the tax benefit me?

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Specializes in OB.

Important thing for you to be aware of - if you are driving home every night the stipend is NOT nontaxable! It is only tax free if you need to stay overnight or sleep before going home. The whole point is it is tax free only for "duplicated expenses" while working away from home.

Please don't accept any advice concerning taxes from a recruiter - they may not understand it either. Consult a tax professional on this. One good site to get an overview on this is traveltax.com.

Really don't mean to rain on your parade, but I'd hate to see anyone get burned with the IRS on this.

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Thanks. That's why I asked. I'll check out that site. And your not raining on my parade!

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Congratulations on everything going so well.. Listen to Baglady, she know's her stuff... You would need to find a cheap hotel or crash pad & taking that expense into consideration it might not even be worth the $16.25non-taxed.

$23/HR + $2600 Housing really means--$39/HR. I dont want sound like a hater but if you are commuting you are a "contractor" not a "traveler". There is a difference. You might ask them to pay you $45/HR as a regular W-2 employee and see what they say..

Please let us know so that others can learn from this.. The IRS is cracking down. Ive heard more and more agencies requiring actual proof of Home of Record ie: electric or water bill instead of the old disclosure forms.

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Thanks for the input. Do all travel companies pay like this? I think that I am still confused.

The way they explained it to me is like this:

They told me what I would be taking home on my paycheck. example $1300

I went to the website paycheckcity.com and plugged in $45.00/hr for 36 hours.

The take home pay was $1300.

This is all approximate, I can't remember the exact figures. When I did the calculations,

it did equal out to be $45/hr and what I would take home on my paycheck.

Does this make any sense?

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Companies pay every which way from Sunday... Some will give you options, some wont. They are probably saying you have a $45/HR package. You need to ask what the "local rate" is. If there is not a significant difference between the local "take-home" and the $1300/week "take-home"..(Im talking enough to cover a hotel and still put $$ in your pocket) you might want to take the local rate. Im sure it will make better sense once you get your contract and also please take what I say as advice not the standards.

Im guessing they will pay locals $40-41/HR since they are not paying travel reimbursement to them.

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Thanks everybody. Finally clicked.

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Good deal... Maybe you can share what made it click? Was it what you got from here or it is you got your contract in hand and your recruiter spelled it out for you?

I ask because a lot of people can learn something from this thread.

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