Per diem VS travel

Specialties Travel

Published

Ok friends I am in the process of stepping away from travel. Well sort of. I have the opportunity to take a per diem job at Kaiser in NorCal. My pay rate will be $93/hr with differential of 7.20/hr for PM shift and 11.40/hr for night shift (they do 8 hr shifts here. I mostly plan to work PMs but figure I will probably do a few double once in a while so I gave that info too. Now at first I heard the pay and I was like wow im going to make big money...BUT. I wanted to compare what we make vs what per diem makes so bring in the Pantraveler calculator and I find that I will not be making that much more d/t taxes. Although it is still more.

Current contract same hospital but as traveler. 13 week contract x 36 hours/week (12 hour shift with OT after 8.

$35/hr x 36

$245/week m&I

$935.41/week lodging stipend

$300 travel allowance

=78.35/hr

$2820.49 gross week

$2183.49 net/week (This is almost exactly what I make each week)

Now for the new per diem job that I just accepted, they get paid bi weekly and I wasn't sure how to account for that in any way other than to divide by 2 for the weekly pay. Also only 8 hour shift so assuming I only get 32 hours a week. The staff said in busy times we can get more but hours aren't guaranteed for per diem but 32 hours is pretty doable even in low times. The calculator I found stated taxes for this area and my salary range to by 21% so that determined the Net.

$93/hr + $7.20 diff =$100.2 x 32 hours

$6413 gross (biweekly) divided by 2= $3206

$4626 Net (Biweekly) divided by 2= $2313

So as you see it seems like the rate was going to be much better but in reality tax free stipends are worth a lot. I figure if it gets really slow I can still take another travel job too as I am still going to keep my tax home for a while. I know eventually I will have to give it up but I haven't been in this area long yet. I have no plans to buy a house here so we will still be living in our RV for some time. Just wanted to show you comparisons for anyone that wonders. The big mystery here is this is a non benefit job so not sure what my insurance will cost but that will not be till next year.

Do a consult with TravelTax. Your accountant is also wrong about a sabbatical around one year and then going back to your open ended per diem job with or without a travel assignment. Doing that would lose in an audit easily.

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Bumping this thread. I am wondering if anyone knows how common it is for Kaiser travelers to be hired on as staff once their assignment completes?

I think this could be a way to get hired with the company since traditionally their staff positions are so competitive.

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Specializes in ICU, and IR.

Yes it is common but even still competitive. We had 10 travelers when I started here as a traveler last year. Of that 3 took positions at the hospital here and 2 took positions at other Kaisers the others did not have desire to do that. FT positions are difficult as well but the Per diem is really hard. I would say that the larger hospitals like Kaiser Oakland and SF always have openings so if you start as a traveler there you will have better luck. Once you are with them for 6 months you can move to any of the other kaisers if they have openings and you will have first pick before a non kaiser applicant.

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Specializes in ICU, CVICU, E.R..

Does extensive experience (and a plethora of certifications) increase your chances of being hired per diem after transitioning from being a travel nurse?

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Umm... put yourself in a hiring manager's position and what would they think?

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Specializes in ICU, and IR.

well that really depends. certs yes as long as they apply to your position. but experience can be tricky 5-15 years sure but when you get in the 20-30 years range you might run into a bit of issue

1) being age biases, assuming at that point you are more likely for injury and sick days.

2) If your pay is based on experience (and it should be) more experience means higher pay which also means a bigger hit to the managers budget. Where as many believe a nurse in the 10-15 year range might be just as good.

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