Everything you need to know about travel nursing including finding travel nursing companies, negotiating pay, taxes, travel nursing jobs, and more.

Travel Nursing Pay: The M&IE Stipend

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The tax-free aspect of the travel nursing pay package can get really confusing. Different companies approach and handle it in different ways. You’ll find many companies that refer to the Meals and Incidental Expenditure (M&IE) stipend as one of the components of their pay package.

Like the rest of the pay package, the M&IE stipend can be confusing. Recruiters often use different terms when describing it. Different agencies offer different amounts in the same area. Recruiters often do a poor job of defining it clearly. In the end, travel nurses are often left wondering what’s really going on with this compensation variable. Read more

7 Things to Know about Travel Nursing Pay & Wage Recharacterization

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Travel nursing pay packages are quite complex compared to permanent-job pay packages. This is due to the fact that travel nursing pay is commonly split between a taxable base rate and various tax-free reimbursements.

Moreover, different agencies have different ways of splitting the pay among the various pay package components. Some agencies will pay travel nurses more tax-free money and less taxable money, and vice-versa.

However, there are rules that agencies must follow. One set of rules that agencies should adhere to pertain to what is commonly called “wage recharacterization.” Understanding this issue will provide travel nurses with a better understanding of travel nursing pay.

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How to Become a Travel Nurse in 10 Steps

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Travel nurses are nurses who work temporary jobs commonly referred to as travel nursing assignments. Assignments are typically 13 weeks in length but can be longer or shorter. Travel nursing is a great way to travel around the country while gaining valuable work experience. However, you should familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages before you decide to undertake travel nursing. If you decide that it’s right for you, then you just need to know how to become a travel nurse. In this article, we’ll provide our 10 steps to becoming a travel nurse.
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9 Points of Debate Between Travel Nursing Companies over the MSP Model

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The debate over Managed Service Providers in travel nursing and healthcare staffing heated up in June of 2013 when opposing sides exchanged barbs on The Staffing Stream. Colleen Mills, a Senior VP for the National Healthcare Staffing Alliance wrote a piece urging small and mid-sized travel nursing companies to “Take a stand on VMS/MSP”. Days later, Bob Livonius, President of Workforce Solutions at AMN Healthcare, took exception and urged healthcare staffing agencies to “Work Together to Embrace Best Practices with MSPs.” This is an important topic with major implications for travel nurses, travel allied professionals, and Locum Tenens.  Read more

7 Things to Know about Travel Nursing in Florida

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It’s possible that Florida utilizes more travel nurses, travel healthcare professionals, and temporary healthcare professionals than any other state in the nation. The high volume of travel nursing jobs in Florida is driven largely by the state’s seasonal population fluxes. As you may be aware, Florida experiences annual population spikes as “snow birds” migrate south from the colder northern states between October and May. Read more

Travel Nursing in Texas

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Texas is often flush with open travel nursing assignments. With approximately 8% of the nation’s population, there are plenty of hospitals in the state. Travel nurses will find jobs in big cities like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin as well as rural settings and smaller cities like El Paso and Brownsville. Texas is a great destination for several reasons. Understanding some of the basics of the Texas travel nursing job market will help you formulate a strategy. Read more

Travel Nursing In California

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California is a prime destination for travel nurses, and why wouldn’t it be? The state has some of the nation’s best beaches, skiing, cities, and national parks. It’s also home to 10% of the nation’s population. Where there are more people, there are more hospitals and more travel nursing jobs. California also has strict RN to Patient Staffing Ratios which serves to increase the overall need for RNs. But just because California seems wide open for assignments doesn’t mean it should be approached willy-nilly. There are vast differences across the state and understanding these differences will help set expectations and allow travel nurses to formulate a strategy. Read more