Emster83

Thank you Ned! Appreciate the input.

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse on this one but I can't seem to get a good hold on the "right way" to do things. I have questions about licensure in different compact states when you are an itinerant worker (traveler). Brief (kind of) backstory: Originally licensed in Michigan, started travel nursing last year. I do not own a home anywhere, so I was under the impression that my "permanent address" would always be the address of where I'm living while traveling. I traveled to Florida, then to Texas, and when I applied for my Texas license I got the temporary one first, then pursued the permanent one because my assignment was being extended. Since my address was in Texas, my Texas license says compact. Now, I'm on assignment in Colorado (my recruiter said this is fine because I'm in a compact state?) Then I read this https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/an-overview-of-763693.html, and believe that I should be applying for a permanent Colorado license rather than using the compact Texas license. Now, in order to apply for the Colorado license, the BON website is saying I should have proof of residency. This whole time, I have held onto my Michigan driver's license and car registration, because they had not expired. Legally, since I have no "tax home", should I essentially always be applying for drivers license, etc each time I move as well? It seems like an awfully expensive/frustrating thing to have to do for 13 week contracts. Just looking for some advice or information that anyone may have. I know most travelers have a tax home or use their parents/friends addresses but I've heard that can get you in hot water come tax time as well so... whew.

I have not traveled with Aya, but I have traveled with American Mobile and Aureus. American Mobile was okay but the pay is low. My recruiter was nice and efficient. Also, with American Mobile there was a better selection of rehab nursing opportunities. Aureus has been good too, the pay is better, the housing is better, but less rehab opportunities. I've been traveling for almost a year now. Some things I would suggest: -shop around (for pay packages, recruiters, housing options, etc.) -get what you want written in your contract (vacation time, guaranteed weekly hours, what units you could possibly be floated to, etc.) -Your recruiter really makes or breaks an experience. The company could be great but your recruiter might suck... it makes a difference :) Best of luck!

Sputum... of any kind. Especially have an aversion to trachs... ya know, when they cough and a glob will fly across the room. I just can't even. But along this same topic, does anyone find that their ability to handle blood/bodily fluids is getting worse, rather than getting better? This seems to be the case for me. Most things seemed not to bother me early on, but as my career gains length, I'm getting grossed out more.

Thankully, no. I don't get pulled over often (knocks on wood)

I've been changing my address with the boards of nursing each time we move to make sure I get any correspondence. And I also changed my address with the State of Michigan because Florida had a lot of toll-by-plate instances and I was afraid I wouldn't get those in the mail and didn't want any trouble with non-paid tickets. So maybe when it comes time to renew, Michigan may not allow me to renew there if my address isn't a Michigan address anymore. Unfortunately, I'm thinking I may have to call the DMV... can't wait. Thanks for your help!

So I started travel nursing in April and moved away from Michigan. I don't have a house/apartment/tax home there - basically no ties besides family of course! My car and my drivers license are still both Michigan because I figured since they haven't expired, I didn't need to renew them yet. I was in Florida for 6 months, now I'm in Texas and when I called my insurance company for my car, they said the state of Texas allows 30 days for you to get your plate registered in the state and all that good stuff. I'm looking for advice about how to proceed - just because I don't have a tax home, does that mean I have to assume residency in each state where I have a contract? That could get quite expensive and time consuming! In January my Michigan license plate will expire - I'll still be in Texas. Should I get a Texas license plate since that's technically where I'll be living then? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

I've had a good experience so far with AMN. I like my recruiter quite a bit, and she's quick to respond to emails. I've had a couple of times where my time card was incorrect, although I've not been able to determine whether this was a facility error or an AMN one, but after calling payroll the issues were fixed quickly and I've always been paid on time regardless. I went with AMN because it had the most rehab positions, and rehab jobs are not very plentiful in the traveling world. I do feel the pay is less than what some are making, and I've been shopping around, but really have no complaints about AMN.

I'm still pretty new at this, but I started out with American Mobile. After traveling since April and extending, I do feel that the pay rate is a little low compared to what I read on here from other travelers. I've had a good experience so far with AMN though, I like my recruiter and haven't experienced any real problems so far. I am looking around now to see if I can find better pay packages elsewhere just out of curiosity. I've looked into Trinity HSG which I find has good reviews and I've spoken with a recruiter there who seems nice & helpful. Also, Core Medical Group and PPR have seemed good as far as helpfulness and number of opportunities.

Thank you Ned, I appreciate the feedback!

I'm a newer traveler (since April) and have been on the same contract (was extended for 13 more weeks). I'm not opposed to staying with my current company, however, I feel like I may be able to make a better take home wage at some point. I've been in contact with a few different companies to see if they have any jobs available in my specialty and have filled out official applications with them too. What I'm wondering is how to actually go about comparing pay packages. For example, I asked my current recruiter about a particular job in a location I wanted. She said she submitted my file to them. Then, I saw that another company I was looking into had the same position listed. Do I actually flat out ask the other company what the pay package would be for that position? Because I've been doing a little research on the forums here and on good ole' Google, and I don't think I can be submitted to the same facility by different companies? I guess I was just concerned about etiquette and how to let the agencies know that I want to make sure the pay package would be adequate before I get submitted. In all reality this seems kind of silly now that I'm typing it but I wanted some advice on shopping around/negotiating/etc. Thank you in advance, fellow travelers!

I'm a relatively new traveler myself (since April) but I am currently working on shopping around for other companies/opportunities. I have found that by keeping an up to date LinkedIn profile, I have received multiple messages via LinkedIn from recruiters from different agencies. I haven't signed up for my next assignment yet but I've felt that it is a good way to keep your name out there and keep your options open. It also has led me to research a couple companies I hadn't heard of yet.

Hi all, I'm a new traveler, in my first assignment in Florida as a rehab nurse. I've completed a 13 week assignment and was extended by my facility for another 13 weeks. I'm enjoying the assignment and the area, but wanted to ask for your input on pay rates. This is the rate in my contract: Regular Rate: $18.59 On Call Rate: $3.00 Call Back Rate: $18.59 Holiday Rate: $27.89 Meals & Incidentals Per Diem Rate: $35.00/day Per Diem Adjustments: Up to $629.30/week per diem may be adjusted based on number of shifts missed. I also took the housing they provided since it was my first time traveling and didn't want the hassle of finding it myself :) I do not have a permanent tax home either. So my paychecks after taxes come out are around $1200 bi-weekly. This is sometimes less than I was making back home as a staff nurse. Don't get me wrong, I realize that I'm not paying for housing but actually now that we've been here for a little while, I'm struggling a little bit with money, and certainly am not able to save much, if any. My husband is traveling with me and isn't working at this time because he is taking online classes. Anyways, the experience has been rewarding in other ways, for sure. I've just read a lot of the threads on here and seems like many people would say that this is low pay... so that's where I'm looking for a little input to make sure I'm not missing something. :) Also, I entered what I could into Pan Travelers and this is what I got: Gross pay: Per hour - $27.52 Per year - $51,520.53 Taxes (est.): Per hour - $8.06 Per year - $15,080.21 Net pay: Per hour - $19.47 Per year - $36,440.32 Thanks in advance for any input and for helping out a newbie :) I have been shopping around a little bit with other companies and although it's too soon to be submitted for jobs (according to the recruiters) since my contract isn't up until the end of October, I'm trying to plan ahead with what I should be looking for in terms of pay rate and other opportunities.

Hi everyone, I'm from Michigan and have just accepted (verbally) my first traveling job in Winter Haven, FL. My specialty is rehabilitation, which I've noticed is somewhat hard to come by in the traveling world. The company I went through has the most options as far as rehab goes so that is why I chose to take my first assignment through them. Also, we really like the location and will be close to my husbands family. We will be taking this assignment regardless, but just wanted to run the numbers by you all and see what you think. 12hr day shifts, 36 hrs/wk $18.59 hourly $35 per day per diem $27.89 OT/holiday travel reimbursement .40/mi up to $250 each way. licensure reimbursement up to $250 reimbursement for any costs related to drug testing, vaccine titers, etc up to $180 And we will be taking their provided housing. she said it would average out to $28/hr which is $4 more than I make as staff nurse here in Michigan. For traveling wages, it could be low based on what I've read, but really looking for the experience so I didn't think it sounded too bad for a first assignment :) Thanks in advance for your help and advice!