Any Traveling Nurses?

[Double-Trouble]

I am retired but my girlfriend still needs to work for a while longer to meet her financial goals.

She has been in nursing and nurse management for decades. She is exploring the idea of travel nursing

so we can start traveling sooner rather then later. If you wouldn't mind sharing thoughts and ideas please post up.

  Thank you

      Joe

[jpcoll01]

My wife has done some travel nursing and our plan is for her to do that when we "go mobile" in 4 years (good lord willin' and the creek don't rise).  Generally, she has found that the assignments are in less than desirable positions/hospitals (but not necessarily bad locations).  The money is great and usually a significant housing allowance (not taxed as I understand it).

[Kirk W]

I have known several traveling nurses and currently know one family that lives on the road making their living that way. What is it that you want to know? 

[Second Chance]

I have not done the travelling thing but retired from nursing after 42 years (about half in the military at the bedside or head nurse and half civilian in administration). We used agency nurses when we had to during shortages but tried to avoid it for financial reasons. I don't remember any cases where agency personnel were used in management or administrative positions - they were all clinical assignments. Credentialling was critical for any specialty area. The agencies assisted their personnel in acquiring licensure in the state where the job was.

Rob

[Double-Trouble]

5 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

I have known several traveling nurses and currently know one family that lives on the road making their living that way. What is it that you want to know? 

 Reccommendations of reputable agencies that people have used. Ones to stay away from. Any other thoughts or knowledge they would like to share. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Double-Trouble

[Al F]

I did an internet search for "traveling nurses forum" and got several hits of blogs and forums about traveling nurses.   I would suggest picking several of the hits and start reading.  It shouldn't be too hard to find a few which contain good to excellent information. 

For what it is worth, the above is the method I used to find a lot of RV'ing info.  You find some worthless sites and others that have lots of great info.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Al F

[Kirk W]

Our friends are using Atlas MedStaff to locate nursing positions. They have now been using them for 3 years. 

[Double-Trouble]

Thank you Kirk!

That's the problem Al, knowing which ones are worthless. 

[Lou Schneider]

On 1/25/2018 at 1:03 PM, jpcoll01 said:

  The money is great and usually a significant housing allowance (not taxed as I understand it).

A housing allowance isn't taxed if you spend it all on housing.  If you don't, the unused portion is taxable income.

[57becky]

We had four traveling nurses around us while in California, and they all used an agency, don't know which, but they all signed up for 13 week stints, and then could renew if they wanted to and there was an opening. We were even parked next to a traveling doctor earlier last year and I guess he was also using an agency the same way.  I guess this a great way to see the country and the plus is you don't get bored with any one location.

[skater91]

I have been doing contracts on the road since 2002, on my second Class A. Jobs for management level RN's are not common, but are more so than 10 years ago. Some of the jobs i walk into are chaotic, with resident staff that are 'traveler fatigued'. Mmgmt jobs above my pay grade can be worse. I had to end a job at 715 am one morning because a rent-a-mgr tried to shanghai me into doing an OR case I had no training for.

You have to ferret out the reason why they need you at the job site. Best answers on the interview from mgmt are: we have a young staff who are serially pregnant (means stable work force, with ties to the area), key staff out on leave for surgery (you are just place holding til they get back. Sketchy answers involve complete loss of staff from the area, "they moved away", 'after we trained them'....they saw the writing on the wall and don't want to stay. Or, 'we have a hard time attracting staff to this locale'. There is always local staff in the area that mgmt have pissed on and won't work at the hospital, or even bring their family in for care. I peruse the hospital career page to get an idea of how many short they are in the area I work in (OR) and how long they've had positions open. Also look at ALL the positions in the area with openings. If there are ads for techs, housekeepers, anes. techs open, that tells me I will be doing triple duty when I arrive there...because RN means you do ANY job needed if there isn't a body populating the FTE, eh?

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, skater91 said:

I have been doing contracts on the road since 2002, on my second Class A.

It is great to have you join in the forums! Please don't be a stranger here as I'm sure that you have much to share.

[Cherilanet]

I traveled as a nurse in 2017 to Texas and would do it again.  I did a lot of research and Highway Hypodermic was full of endless information for me.   

[lappir]

My first Travel Nurse assignment was in 1989. I have traveled for the majority of my career. The best company is the one you feel you can trust, but it's like buying a used car, except you usually don't get to see the face of the person trying to sell you on what you want to buy. 

Seek the advise of your professional tax adviser before banking on any additional tax free money. The tax laws are ever changing and are certainly not CLEAR in their interpretation. My thought is the only people who benefit  from the low taxable pay rate and high "non-taxed" payments are the companies that promote them. They are not required to pay their share of the income taxes that are taken out of your paycheck. I am not a Tax Professional though. 

I will continue to travel until I am no longer able to work. Many places have asked me to stay on staff, but none have made me the offer I cannot refuse and doubt that they ever will, it would take a lot. 

Feel free to private message me with specific questions. 

 

Rod

[Tom Cooper]

With patience, you can wait when you are ready to travel with your wife. In the meantime, you can do the preparatory phase