New to Travel RN, need help with base bay

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical- Psych.

Hello,

I am new to travel nursing and am currently talking to one agency- they have a position/location I am interested in. I understand that pay differs with location and speciality. I am looking into a position in Austin, TX on a med-surg/tele unit. I have been a nurse almost three years.

I had a question regarding pay and incentives...

This is what the agency offered me:

"The pay is $29.00hr, plus free housing or the housing stipend of $2,450.00 per month.The taxable base rate is $20.00hr, plus you get $245.00 for meals, that is not taxed as long as I claim a permanent residence." And that's how $29/hr comes out.

Is that a good deal or am I getting a poor offer? I am currently getting a little over $29 now.. It seems as though I am losing money.

This is a 13 week contract.

Any help would be very helpful... I never knew how complex this could be

Thank you.

Sarah

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You can never be "losing" money if you get paid, right? You mean to say you think it might be a pay cut based on your current pay.

Assuming your numbers are right, and you are working a 36 hour week for 13 weeks, your housing stipend is worth $15.12 an hour. Your per diem is another $6.81. Thus you are getting a total of almost $42 an hour. No idea where $29 an hour comes from.

Use PanTravelers calculator to compare this contract with your current one. Money is only one factor in deciding to take a particular assignment or not, but it is good to have the facts straight.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical- Psych.

Thank you for your help! I am still looking around and trying to compare other agencies (if and when they back to me)

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Comparing other agency numbers is indeed the only way to find out if you are getting a competitive offer. Good job! (or you have read other posts from me perhaps).

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Specializes in Psychiatric/ Mental Health.

Read over the contract numerous times before taking on an assignment.

Was working with an agency that initially claimed I would get a stipend of $1500/month for housing, $250/week for food, and have a base pay of $36/hr. That sounds great right? Well, got to reading the contract and calculating the cost of hotels in the area...something was off. The contract said base pay was $13/hr for the first 40hrs/wk worked, then would be $36/hr for anything I worked over 40hrs. The housing stipend would be accumulated daily, so $1500/30 or 31 (depending on the number of days in the month). Also, the food allowance was divided by 7. So after I calculated everything and talked with a few people, my actual take home pay would've been about 600-750/wk, which to me wasn't worth it as I could find a position at home that paid the same amount or more per week.

Those reps from those travel nurse agencies will attempt to talk you in circles. Be careful, and read everything.

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