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I am currently at Swedish First Hill (ICU). Seattle is great (and the weather has not been bad at all, but I too am hoping to stay for another contract into the nicer weather!) Everyone has been very nice-receptive to travelers........I actually have not heard anything good or bad about any of the other hospitals in the area (and there are quite a few!) Good luck!

The first assignment can be difficult-take a deep breath, expect to feel like a new nurse again, and don't hesitate to ask questions.

With per diem, you are just being paid an hourly rate (higher than usual) because you do not have insurance, etc. Depending on the particular situation, you are not obligated to any minimum number of shifts/month, or if you are, it is not a huge obligation. With most of the local contracts I did, the higher end of the pay scale (mid 30s) was with housing and insurance and the lower end (mid 20s) was without housing, but with insurance.

Hi Swanks916, the $$ sounds pretty similar; I have done travel, local contract and perm in the area-making anywhere from $25-$35 (no shift diff with contract or travel positions). Picking up OT has not been an issue at any of the facilities where I worked.......

I have worked permanent and travel in the Tampa/St. Pete area and have had the opportunity (?) to work at many of the facilities in the area. You should not have a difficult time securing an ICU or ED position, especially with having Cleveland Clinic on your resume. Pay is not spectacular, but is probably similar to Ohio (except you don't pay state taxes in FL). You can PM me if you have specific questions about Tampa General, St. Joseph's (Baycare), Florida Hospital, Moffitt, Northside (HCA-St. Petersburg) or Bayfront (St. Petersburg). If you are looking at going in the fall, some of the hospitals do a "seasonal contract" (4-6 months), that can pay a little more than the norm. Good luck!

Thank you very much ccrn 2011. I too am on my last legs with travelling-have done it about the same amount of time as you and am looking to "retire" as well, but I always wanted to "do" San Francisco, so I figured I would go out with it being my last hurrah........I appreciate your responses. best of luck to you too!!

Thank you for the reply ccrn 2011........good assignments? decent housing? were you pleased with those areas of town or would you have preferred to live elsewhere?-if so where? Sorry for the grilling-just curious as I am trying to get there for June and am debating taking the company housing or finding a place myself. Have visited SF a few times and have a general familiarity for the area, but am not sure where the best place to actually live would be if I find my own place (safe, close to transpo, restaurants, shopping, etc). What is your rate with AMN? I am with them now in Boston and did an assignment a few years ago with them at Stanford-certainly not the highest paying company, but they did get me the assignments I wanted........

Any past or present UCSF-ers, What companies placed you and where were you housed please?

I am currently at MGH in the MICU-have been there since May 2010. I too live downtown-we got our own place. Our car is parked at my brother's (25 minutes southwest of the city)-we take the train out when we need it. I'm sorry I can't give you any definitive advice about where to park inexpensively, but there are websites that show locations and compare rates-if you want to keep your car nearby, it will be at least $400/month. The people at MGH are great-I have enjoyed my time there. Some of their practices are a bit archaic, considering it's MGH "that's the way we do things here", but the care is good and the vibe is positive. Obviously, there are tons of residents and I am sure you know how that goes. Boston is great (but better when it warms up). We have enjoyed our time here and loved New England (we explored everywhere during the summer!) Good luck and have fun!!

I concur with the previous post regarding 3-month-out contracts. On my most recent assignment, I signed my contract 5 weeks out.........

I worked at the old Kaiser Santa Clara in 2004-it was an odd system.........I actually had a decent experience, after my initial "*****!", but I know everyone doesn't with Kaisers. If you haven't already signed your contract and the distance isn't too far, look into Good Samaritan (in San Jose, south of Santa Clara)-smallish hospital, 2 ICUs-Medical and CV/CCU. I was assigned to the CV/CCU-floated to Medical quite a few times (which was no big deal) and had to float twice to the stepdown/telemetry unit (but they stopped that practice shortly after I started there in 2007). I had a good experience-nice people, opportunities for OT (which was the same for Kaiser, at that time). Another hospital with whom I interviewed, but did not work is El Camino (in Mountainview)-it supposedly has a pretty good reputation......... That area is great-within 2-3 hours (and closer!) driving distance of tons of things to see and do!! Have fun and good luck!!

Thank you!

I have not worked in my initial state of licensure (a compact state) since I began traveling in 2004, but I still have an active license (and I did work there for 6 years at the start of my career). Can I go to a compact state to work now, or is there some rule I am missing? Thank you.

Thanks Indikast-you have been most helpful!

Thanks for the good info, IndiKast! How is the city, otherwise? I know there is a good music "scene" and a funky vibe thing going on....; what about other culture, restaurants, bars, tourist-y opportunities? Thanks!!