Im a PICU nurse in Houston, TX and was planning to start travel next March/April 2017 in SoCal (LA area). I recently was contacted by a travel agency saying that I should start some contracts now so I have the experience under my belt before heading to California. She said CA jobs want a candidate with travel experience. Should I start a local contract here, or is she just trying to secure me as a client? She also said that licensing in California is now up to 6 months wait time! I knew it was 3-4, but wow, 6? Lastly, When I make the move to CA next year, my partner will be coming with me. If I do travel assignments in San Antonio or Austin, I can't ask him to uproot in the next couple of weeks! He's prepared for Ca next March, but not SA or ATX this soon! How do y'all make travel work when you have family/relationships/etc? Any advice on which travel company to use, (I've been talking to TravelMaxwhat, PPR, it's like I'm the CA arena, etc, would be much appreciated! I honestly am sad to say goodbye to my current FT position, but I know I will have to come next spring to travel in CA. I just don't want to up and leave only to be doing a travel position so locally. But, if it's going to guarantee me an offer next March, then so be it. I'll do what I must.
Hey Argo. My comments were general and not critical of your lifestyle. If I had a family, I would prioritize them too. The other poster just expressed interest in working near home as do many never traveled posters here. For the most part without a compelling personal interest such as family needs, this seems to defeat much of what is great about travel. The compensation may actually be less than a staff job when benefits are calculated, especially when the tax benefits of travel are reduced or gone. All of the downsides with not much upside for most never traveled who believe travelers make big bucks. Some do, but limiting yourself to local doesn't usually get you great pay for most specialties. OR and L&D can be exceptions to that general statement.
No sweat, understandable thougts on it. But travelling locally with an overnight stay still required for it will get you legal tax free stipends still. Most agencies just have a 50 mile from home rule, i choose to go further.
As an example of this. We lived in vail and i worked in denver. It was about 110 miles to the hospital and i worked 3 12s. I would leave at 4am monday, be at work by 6, stay 2 nights in my camper (zero cost) and be home Wednesday night. My local pay in vail was $47/hour (high for colorado) or about 2600 every 2 weeks after taxes. My pay in denver as a "traveler" was $2900 every 2 weeks. So while I didnt make a ton more i did make more.
One major benefit of travelling is not having to deal with hospital politics, Another is time off. Those two things alone make it worth it..... for me anyway. I hate meetings and hospitals BS. I also hate limited time off.....
There is a tax technicality with that mode of travel. I'm not well versed on this but I've seen TravelTax's comments a number of times. You have to have receipts for housing. That is where truck drivers sleeping in their cab lose consistently in tax court - no duplicated expenses. Thus boondocking isn't eligible for tax free housing stipend.
The other common scenario is an assignment that is two hours from home. You've done the math and staying in a hotel for two or three nights is the lowest cost option. In this case, you can deduct mileage for your weekly trips home as an overnight stay was rehired. But it is not quite that simple as you have to prorate your tax-free per diems and housing. If you are not away from home 7 days a week on business, you cannot claim seven days of per diem and housing.
Sometimes it is still less expensive to rent an apartment or house share than two/three/four nights per week in a hotel. Then you are indeed entitled to the entire housing stipend being tax free.
And of course if you can commute from home to the assignment, all of your compensation is taxable. This is why it is usually better to be staff when working locally for the far better benefits (total pay).
Argo, I am looking to start traveling with CVOR and looking to bundle shifts together so I can commute home Are you working 12s, 10s or 8s? Are the hospital's fine with having shifts bunched together and also with not taking call? Any tips are appreciated.
I know you asked Argo, but I thought Id throw my 2 cents in...! I have had several contract/travel positions over the years...
As far as schedules go, most Travel companies contract for 12 hr shifts. I have had everything from "self-executing, having some input on my desired schedule, and some not...you have to take what you get. So it depends on the facility. I have never had to take call though, and rarely canceled as the contract hours are often guaranteed and so the hospital would have to pay anyway....Having said that, I have been on units on those "quiet" shifts where most of us were travellers (not safe) as they give the staff the option of canceling or going home early which they mostly want to take.
Oddly enough, California is mostly an 8 hour state with 10 and 12 hour shifts mixed in. I also have not been cancelled.. majority of places do require some call for general OR and CVOR is almost 100% guarantee that you will have call.
I also ask about scheduling during the interview as well as getting needed off days written in my contract.
has anyone else done a contract and the facility won't let you do more than 5 shifts in a row? I'm feeling really frustrated regarding this because i'm working 48 hours a week and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do all my 8 shifts in a row so I could be off for six but they won't allow it! I've never experienced this at a facility before and was wondering if anyone else has?
their reasoning is some BS about "workers fatigue" (I'm doing 12.5 hour shifts and always leave on time!)
I am doing a travel assignment here is SoCal San Diego area and am originally from Detroit. I will say that depending on where you want to go in California it can be super competitive, but if you are wanting the LA area they have tons and tons of assignments there so you should be okay without further travel experience. I will say that the report with your travel recruiter is so important. I have an awesome recruiter and she is like my life saver. I have had a little trouble with the scheduler at the hospital I am at now and as soon as I let my recruiter know she handled it. I feel very supported. But I shopped around for recruiters and companies and went with the one I clicked best with, and that I found to be the most honest.
I am traveling with my partner as well and it is a very fun experience because you have someone else to share the experience with, and to share the nerves and insecurities about uprooting your life with. If you have any questions or want me to refer you to my recruiter just PM me.
I just made a rookie mistake! I've Been in contact with 3 agencies. I like the recruiters and have a great rapport. I negotiated a rate with one recruiter that Im happy with. I hadn't heard from the other recruiter that day, so I allowed the aforementioned recruiter to submit me to a hospital yesterday. The second recruiter finally got back to me and asked if I'd be interested in that same hospital, but the rate was $11 more AND a completion bonus. My question is, if she submits me as well, that will look bad, won't it? If so, how do I tell her that I had another agency already submit me hours before? Can I renegotiate a comparable rate of the agency that submitted me comes back with a Job offer? Why do I feel like a stock broker? Feeling a little silly and need some advice. ðŸ˜
I would let the current agency that already submitted you have a chance to match. If not the pass them up since their rates are obviously lower in a big way....
There are always options. For one, tell the recruiter with the better offer the truth and ask if a submission from her will be successful or just lead to the hospital denying both submissions. Second, see if the agency who has already submitted can match the offer, but I'd guess it is unlikely. Such differences in offers may reflect real variances in bill rates or urgent needs with one less informed agency (or one that doesn't have rapid response capabilities) still using the regular bill rate, but this may lead you the way to the better paying agency in the future. You do need to find out why the rate is so different, perhaps an impending strike.
Also make sure you have the full offers from both. It is possible you are missing housing on one offer. Even health insurance can make a significant difference that you are missing. Use PanTravelers calculator to make sure you have the whole picture and the true difference between offers.
NedRN
1 Article; 5,785 Posts
Hey Argo. My comments were general and not critical of your lifestyle. If I had a family, I would prioritize them too. The other poster just expressed interest in working near home as do many never traveled posters here. For the most part without a compelling personal interest such as family needs, this seems to defeat much of what is great about travel. The compensation may actually be less than a staff job when benefits are calculated, especially when the tax benefits of travel are reduced or gone. All of the downsides with not much upside for most never traveled who believe travelers make big bucks. Some do, but limiting yourself to local doesn't usually get you great pay for most specialties. OR and L&D can be exceptions to that general statement.