FYI travel nursing and locum tenens were around before the pandemic and still happening after. Seasonality occurs in different regions due to snow birds (aging boomers with a vacation home) for the most part.
Also travel is still going to pay more than a staff nurse when comparing a single area.
Post pandemic the contracts profess to pay the same as staff but those contracts are taking the room/board stipend, blending it with the hourly rate, and presenting it all as hourly income, when the stipend isn’t something that should count against income when in fact, stipend is only allowable by the IRS in situations where living expenses are duplicated.
In essence what these new contracts are doing is not acknowledging expense duplication, as if these nurses don’t already have a rent or mortgage, alongside all the household bills like renters insurance or electricity, that continue to be paid in tandem with a long term furnished rental in another state. And are they even accumulating retirement beyond an IRA?
The 2 weeks off is also unpaid. The strangest expense detail is this. Income tax is paid to each state which is somehow legal under the contracted circumstances. The home state and the state worked.
While the details are fascinating, that is not my point in bringing it up. I’m more interested in the work pattern. 13 wks on. 2 wks off. The nurses who talk about travel love it, even when the pay is lower than what staffers make either with the blended rate or after subtracting room/board stipends. As such, I think we need to look to the work pattern.
Part of the reason I bought it up is because the amount for the travel is higher that most nurses are taking longer than 2 weeks off. I personally know several that take a month off before starting a new contract.
FYI travel nursing and locum tenens were around before the pandemic and still happening after. Seasonality occurs in different regions due to snow birds (aging boomers with a vacation home) for the most part.
Also travel is still going to pay more than a staff nurse when comparing a single area.
Post pandemic the contracts profess to pay the same as staff but those contracts are taking the room/board stipend, blending it with the hourly rate, and presenting it all as hourly income, when the stipend isn’t something that should count against income when in fact, stipend is only allowable by the IRS in situations where living expenses are duplicated.
In essence what these new contracts are doing is not acknowledging expense duplication, as if these nurses don’t already have a rent or mortgage, alongside all the household bills like renters insurance or electricity, that continue to be paid in tandem with a long term furnished rental in another state. And are they even accumulating retirement beyond an IRA?
The 2 weeks off is also unpaid. The strangest expense detail is this. Income tax is paid to each state which is somehow legal under the contracted circumstances. The home state and the state worked.
While the details are fascinating, that is not my point in bringing it up. I’m more interested in the work pattern. 13 wks on. 2 wks off. The nurses who talk about travel love it, even when the pay is lower than what staffers make either with the blended rate or after subtracting room/board stipends. As such, I think we need to look to the work pattern.
Part of the reason I bought it up is because the amount for the travel is higher that most nurses are taking longer than 2 weeks off. I personally know several that take a month off before starting a new contract.
If it financially works, then that is brilliant.