I am an ICU nurse with about 5 yrs of experience. I am currently talking to travel agencies and am not very impressed. I have not been able to find a job in the cities I have been looking for, they are all about 25 miles away or so. And the pay packages I am not impressed with as well. I currently make $42/hr and having trouble seeing how I am even going to break even on packages. All there packages are about 1400 or less a week and I make more than that now. Is travel nursing not what it use to be? Can people who actually travel tell me if they have a hard time finding jobs they want in places they want at a decent pay to go? I am a nurse in Texas. This is a breakdown of a hospital job in North Carolina and it is almost exactly the same for one in Maryland right outside Washington D.C.:
Unit- ICU
Pay Package
• Breakdown- $20hr
• Housing- Provided or $565 weekly stipend
• Food- $250wk
• Mileage- $600 total ($300 to assignment and $300 after completion of assignment
• OT/Callback- $50hr
• Call- $3hr
Position Specifics
• Shift/Hours- 12hr Days
• Floating Requirements- Discuss in interview
• Assignment Dates- 7/31/17 – 10/28/17
• Pre-Arranged Days Off- None
• Other (Scrubs, charting, call expectations)- NA
Paperwork Qualification
Is this normal? And how much do you actually bring home weekly? Do you get to work your full amount of hours and is it easy to pick up overtime. Worried if I go, I will not be making the money I am accustomed to. Also how is the housing? Is it hard to find your own furnished place that is private and not shared so you can take home more of the stipend? Sorry for all the questions, but I just want all the information i can gather to make the best decision for my self if I should go or just stay at current job? I appreciate any and all feedback.
I know it's not about the money. I knew i would probably be taking a pay cut, but i didn't think it was going to be as much as it is. I do want to travel, but i also want to survive too. I have bills to pay and rely on the income i make now. If i knew i could make at least $3000 bi weekly i would go no question. But it doesn't seem like i will. I'm not sure. What do you travelers bring home weekly and what do your contracts look like as far as base pay and stipends? And is there a big difference if you take there housing they provide? Sorry don't mean to sound like a broken record.
I am confused? Are you saying I am coming off as entitled and bitter?
Read the post just above that one. I don't bother with quotes when the context is clear. Threads often have internal conversations, they are not all addressed to the original poster.
Travelling can NOT be about the money, the other guy on here talking poorly of the profession is in it for the money. I have yet to make less money than any of my counterparts working fulltime at my contract facilities.
Assumptions again. I got into it to get away from where I was at because I thought the grass would be greener.
So yes, of course you are right on par with the nurses who make 80-100 an hour. It's a no brainer you are not making less money in the BAY AREA because of your specialty. OR is an in demand specialty. ICU is not. ICU and med surg do not get max GSA stipends. If I took a job in Frisco I am easily coming in 1k-1200k short a week than staff.
I know it's not about the money. I knew i would probably be taking a pay cut, but i didn't think it was going to be as much as it is. I do want to travel, but i also want to survive too. I have bills to pay and rely on the income i make now. If i knew i could make at least $3000 bi weekly i would go no question. But it doesn't seem like i will. I'm not sure. What do you travelers bring home weekly and what do your contracts look like as far as base pay and stipends? And is there a big difference if you take there housing they provide? Sorry don't mean to sound like a broken record.
Do you like floating to other units? you better because it's going to happen a lot.
Do you like high acuity patients? I hope not because they won't trust you.
Do you like you picking the days you want to work? forget about that because you are not equal to staff.
Do you like working every weekend? it can happen because you have little say and that is where the need is. No weekend diff will be given. This can be a good thing if you like working every weekend. Allows you to know exactly what your schedule will be.
this is coming from an OR RN who has no clue outside of the palace. Entitled no. Bitter yes, but there is a reason to that. If you ask me via a DM I would tell you. You are making assumptions on a public forum. Ever thought for once there is a reason behind my steering people away. You have no clue what someone is actually going through or have been through. I have been through the ringer healthwise since I started and things have gotten worse. I was perfectly healthy before the start of this journey I hope is ending. When you are alone and need multiple surgeries you start to feel different about the decisions you have made in life. Especially when you had good health insurance, network of friends and family, and short term and long term disability. Let people share the not so good side of traveling. It's not all that damn glamorous.
I've never presented travel as glamorous. You must be mistaking me for someone else. I used the word entitled because you are complying about not making enough as a traveler when many nurses in the South and Midwest make less. Currently where I am in Ohio, a staff per diem nurse makes $25 an hour with no benefits. Palace or floor or ICU, that's what it pays. Complains about the $60 plus pay you made as a traveler in total pay means you are coming from a very different place.
Generally though, travel and staff are hard to compare or pencil out, especially if you are making $42 an hour with good benefits in a reasonable cost of living area. Being a travelers is more like extra cash for bad benefits. Financially travelers can often pay off big debt loads or save much faster than staff to buy a house. You are bitter about how it pencils out now for you. Wrong reason to travel and sounds like largely that is why it didn't work out for you. Good luck to you as staff.
Do you like floating to other units? you better because it's going to happen a lot.
Do you like high acuity patients? I hope not because they won't trust you.
Do you like you picking the days you want to work? forget about that because you are not equal to staff.
Do you like working every weekend? it can happen because you have little say and that is where the need is. No weekend diff will be given. This can be a good thing if you like working every weekend. Allows you to know exactly what your schedule will be.
Nurses who are not flexible do not usually succeed as travelers. It is not for everyone, and clearly it has failed as a work mode for you. How many times are you going to repeat it?
Nurses who are not flexible do not usually succeed as travelers. It is not for everyone, and clearly it has failed as a work mode for you. How many times are you going to repeat it?
Actually I was very flexible.
Those are questions people need to consider because I run into a lot of disgruntled ICU nurses who whine about losing their skills. I never cared about high acuity, working every weekend I didn't care because it's not like you know a lot of people in that area, same thing goes with picking your schedule (I let the manager fill my days in twice and I even flipped to nights from days to accommodate for a solid two weeks), and I don't mind going to ER as float or step down but I would have an issue with med surg although I have never been to that area.
I know it's not about the money. I knew i would probably be taking a pay cut, but i didn't think it was going to be as much as it is. I do want to travel, but i also want to survive too. I have bills to pay and rely on the income i make now. If i knew i could make at least $3000 bi weekly i would go no question. But it doesn't seem like i will. I'm not sure. What do you travelers bring home weekly and what do your contracts look like as far as base pay and stipends? And is there a big difference if you take there housing they provide? Sorry don't mean to sound like a broken record.
This other joker obviously has a couple of axes to grind.
Personally I have tried to keep my pay between 18 and 20/hr taxable. My gross is $3300/wk, net is $2950/wk. Im in San Francisco now.
I have seen the nursing pay checks here and the pay scales are public through the unions. Working 40 hr weeks they take home the same as me over 2 weeks. They make about $70/hr as staff at 11 years experience. They get taxed at over 40% in San Francisco, city amd state taxes kill their checks. Prn rates are higher by about $25/hr. Tax rate kills them...
I am from texas initially and made 40/hr there 8 years ago. Ive worked in various places in the country and have made minimum of $1500/wk on 36 hours.
All specialties have eb and flow cycles. OR and L&D seem to hold a steady line though. There was a dip this year in OR but my contract bridged me over it...
I'm just a poor ER travel nurse but I usually get 16k to 25k/weekly on a contract. I prefer 36hours a week only and will flat out refuse on-call requirements. I hate on-call. But at 25miles your not far enough to qualify for the tax free stuff. Good luck
I live in texas when i said 25 miles away, i meant 25 miles away from the city i want to travel to. For example: i live in texas and i wanted to go to baltimore but they could only find contracts in small hospitals 25 miles or greater outside of Baltimore.
So go to one of them! Be cool to 25 miles from Baltimore and 25 miles from DC. I believe Prince George's hospital fits that criteria. Or wait and keep in touch with more agencies. Baltimore jobs come up regularly.
If you really have the travel bug, any location is exciting. Do Baltimore later.
I'm just a poor ER travel nurse but I usually get 16k to 25k/weekly on a contract. I prefer 36hours a week only and will flat out refuse on-call requirements. I hate on-call. But at 25miles your not far enough to qualify for the tax free stuff. Good luck
Im guessing you mean 1600 and 2500 a week. If not ill be working in your er next week
Cecilgko7
7 Posts
I know it's not about the money. I knew i would probably be taking a pay cut, but i didn't think it was going to be as much as it is. I do want to travel, but i also want to survive too. I have bills to pay and rely on the income i make now. If i knew i could make at least $3000 bi weekly i would go no question. But it doesn't seem like i will. I'm not sure. What do you travelers bring home weekly and what do your contracts look like as far as base pay and stipends? And is there a big difference if you take there housing they provide? Sorry don't mean to sound like a broken record.