Living at home, but traveling locally?!

NedRN · Dec 5, 2013

There is a whole forum just on agency nursing here! Agency is really big in the Chicago area. Try asking your questions there.

Agency Nurses

rehric00 · Dec 5, 2013

Great! Thanks so much!

rehric00 · Dec 5, 2013

Hi everyone! I have been a nurse since Feb 2013. I have been full time on a med/surg/ortho/peds unit. I am PALS cert. I am also currently in transition to working in the ICU (start my orientation mid DEC). I have applied for an agency, PRNnursing, for "traveling" locally- I am about 1-2 hours from Chicago, depending on which part I go to... They do not have any jobs in Indiana, but it was suggested that I obtain my IL license and I could work 1-2 days a week in Chicago, on top of my FTE at my regular job. I did not include ICU in my qualifications since I have no experience there yet.

I was told it would be between 38-49/hr depending on what I did. Have any of you worked close enough to home to live at home, but still work for an agency? Do they pay gas expenses?

Have any of you worked agency or travel in the Chicago area? I am a little nervous after reading all the cancellations that are not getting called to nurses due to a fairly long drive I'd have to make.

Have any of you worked or heard of PRNnursing?

Thanks!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 5, 2013

duplicate threads merged.

OP....I would wait a little longer before you start agency. You will need some ICU under your belt. Agency nurses are expected to be function without any orientation at all and be independent in their decisions. I think you need a little more experience under your belt.

rehric00 · Dec 8, 2013

Thats kinda what I was thinking. I didnt put ICU under my experience- only med surg. I feel pretty comfortable in my med surg ability. I figured I could add ICU to my resume after I feel more comfortable with it.

xSoCaLRNx · Dec 12, 2013

I live close to home and will be doing registry work on a per diem basis. There will be no gas reimbursement. I'm working full-time at another facility as well.

caliotter3 · Dec 24, 2013

Many postings I've seen require that the nurse live at least 50 miles from the assignment. Suppose that is for tax and perk purposes. Shoot, lots of people commute further than that for regular jobs.

aandersonrn · Dec 24, 2013

This assignment that I am finishing and the next are local travel between 5-40 miles but not all hospitals accept local travelers

NedRN · Dec 24, 2013

50 mile "rule" has three possibilities:

One is that the hospital requires some distance to avoid poaching potential local employees - but it usually more like 100 plus miles.

Two is that for travel assignments it can be an internal agency rule to qualify travelers for tax-free benefits.

Three is that is the distance the IRS requires for being able to deduct moving expenses for permanent relocation.

None of these are relevant to local agency. There is a fourth elephant out there, which is that you can take a travel assignment 50 miles away and qualify for tax-free benefits. This is a complete myth, although still repeated by a few agencies. While it might work in an IRS audit of the agency for general due diligence of a traveler tax status, it certainly doesn't work in a personal audit of a traveler. The actual IRS guideline is that if the nature of your work requires a rest period locally and is too far to commute (an overnight stay), then you can deduct housing, travel, and a per diem (or accept a tax-free reimbursement). This is not the number of miles, but the requirements of the job. If you live 35 minutes away, but the on-call requirements require being onsite in 30 minutes, that qualifies. Similarly, if you commute 100 miles each way from home, you do not qualify.

This is dead easy for most travelers as the contract and the housing rented or provided provide proof of business purpose and the necessity for overnight stays. Less easy for local travelers who commute. There is nothing magical about a travel contract that provides tax benefits to travelers working side by side with permanent employees commuting the same distance that provides tax benefits to travelers alone. Goes against common sense.

RNjune_2006 · Dec 13, 2014

I know this is old but I live in NH and take many local contract 13 week assignments. I stay under 50 mile radius because like to be close to home. Up in New England many of the companies do.local 13 week assignment only difference is no tax free income.