do phone interviews make it harder to get a job?

[allthesmallthings]

I read somewhere that it's harder to get a job with a phone interview (this interview book wasn't specifically talking about nursing, FYI), because the employer can't get a "feel" for you. My situation is that I'm in Louisiana where I've now been working 2 years as my first job, but I want to move back to Atlanta (born and bred there, went to school there, family there). I'm kind of befuddled as to the logistics of actually interviewing, though - it seems like it would be hard to get a face-to-face interview, as it's a 12-hour drive either way, which means that I need to schedule at least 2 days. (Admittedly, I haven't yet looked thoroughly into airplane fare.) I might be able to do that (I get 2 or 3 days off at a time - although my 3-days-off are Fri-Sat-Sun, and interviewers aren't interviewing on Saturday) - but it seems more practical to maybe ask for a phone interview. Btw, my work schedule is planned weeks in advance.

So IS it harder to get a job with a phone interview? Do employers hire from phone interviews?

I'm thinking that maybe I should even just get a travel nursing job in Atlanta so that I can be there, and be able to look at hospitals and interview more easily.

Thoughts? (When I took the Louisiana job, I didn't really consider how I would ever get BACK to Atlanta. oops!)