How to Land the Highest Paying Travel Nursing Jobs and Make the Most Money as a Travel Nurse

The highest paying travel nursing jobs are elusive. Moreover, there are several nuances you need to know about if you want to know how to make the most money as a travel nurse. In this article, we’ll categorize the highest paying travel nursing jobs and provide tips for landing them so you can make more money as a travel nurse.

Do All Travel Nursing Jobs Pay More Than Staff Jobs?

The conventional wisdom is that travel nurse jobs pay more than staff nurse jobs. However, the pay for many travel nursing jobs is in line with the regional average pay for staff nurses if you conduct an apples-to-apples comparison.

You see, travel nurses typically incur costs that staff nurses do not. And staff nurses often receive benefits that travel nurses do not.

However, travel nurses often receive tax-free reimbursements which result in higher net pay. Moreover, you might make more money as a travel nurse based on your unique circumstances regardless of the travel nursing job. For example, if you currently work in a state that pays below average, then you will probably make more as a travel nurse no matter the job.

Know About Travel Nursing Pay to Make More Money

The bottom line is that there is a lot to unpack when it comes to travel nursing pay. You need to know about the marketing gimmicks, the costs, how pay packages work and where you fit in.

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In fact, you will make more money as a travel nurse if you familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of travel nursing pay. We strongly recommend you review the following articles:

1. How Much Do Travel Nurses Make?
2. How to Compare Travel Nursing Pay Packages
3. Detailed Breakdown of a Travel Nursing Pay Package

You’ll also find a helpful video down below!

The Highest Paying Travel Nursing Jobs

All of that said, there are many travel nursing jobs that pay higher than normal. In this section, we identify and define the 5 types of travel nursing jobs that pay the most.

1. Travel Nursing Jobs with Bonuses

We thoroughly covered travel nursing jobs with bonuses in a previous article. We encourage you to read that article by following this link. We’ll provide a brief overview here.

First, in most cases, you will need to meet certain requirements to qualify for bonuses. You need to know all the requirements before you accept the assignment.

Next, you need to watch out for “agency provided bonuses”. You see, agencies sometimes shift a sum of money from one component of the pay package and call it a “bonus”. Therefore, there isn’t really any additional money.

There are three things you can do to determine if it’s an agency-bonus or a hospital-bonus. First, you can ask your recruiter to tell you who is offering the bonus. Second, you can ask the interviewer if you interview directly with the hospital. Finally, you can find other agencies with the same assignment and inquire with them.

Next, it’s important to note that the vast majority of bonuses these days are completion bonuses as opposed to sign-on bonuses.

Finally, many agencies include a clause in the travel nursing contract which stipulates that the agency will not pay the bonus to the traveler until the hospital pays the bonus to the agency. You should inquire about this so you know what to expect.

Also, travelers should always attempt to negotiate a bonus payment deadline in their travel nursing contract. For example, you could inquire about the payment terms that the agency has with the hospital. Then, ask for the same terms in your contract. That way, you can get paid and let the agency take the hit if their client fails to pay the bonus.

How Much Are Travel Nursing Bonuses

Most travel nursing bonuses are between $2,500 and $5,000 for a 13-week assignment. During very tight labor markets, you may see bonuses of $10,000 for a 13-week assignment. The highest bonus I’ve ever seen was $15,000 for a First Assist CVOR RN.

Finally, it’s important to note that, contrary to popular opinion, bonuses are taxed the same as any other income. However, travel nursing bonuses are a little unique.

You see, employers typically offer bonuses directly to their employees. In that case, the employer has already accounted for their portion of payroll taxes.

With travel nursing, the hospital pays the bonus to the travel nursing agency like any other bill. The agency then funnels that money through payroll to pay it to their employee, the travel nurse.

Therefore, the agency takes the employer portion of the payroll taxes out of the bonus money before they pay it to the travel nurse. This typically amounts to roughly 8-10% depending on the state you’re working in. So, a $5,000 bonus may really be a $4,500 bonus when all is said and done.

Strike Nursing Contracts

Most people don’t think of strikes as travel nursing jobs. However, that’s indeed what they are in most cases.

There simply aren’t enough licensed and experienced healthcare professionals in any hospital’s general vicinity to handle all the staffing needs that a strike creates. Therefore, most of the temporary staff that hospitals utilize to cover strikes come from great distances.

How Much Does Strike Nursing Pay?

Pay rates for strike nurses vary dramatically by state, city, hospital and specialty. However, the pay rates are typically 50% to 100% higher than the rates for general travel nurses at the same hospital.

I have seen hourly pay rates as high as $85 per hour for Registered Nurses covering a strike. That’s after the agency covered the costs of housing and travel.

The original Universal Job Application and Credential Management for travelers.

In that case, the travel nurse stands to receive $3,060 in gross pay for working a 36-hour week with free lodging and all expenses covered. Again, that’s the highest I’ve seen and there may be higher.

It’s important to note that strikes almost always have a payment guarantee. These guarantees ensure that agencies and healthcare professionals don’t get stiffed if the hospital cancels the strike at the last-minute.

For example, the contract between the agency and hospital may stipulate that a portion, or even all of the billable revenue is due to the agency if the strike is not officially cancelled by one week prior to the scheduled start date.

As a result, the agency typically puts a similar guarantee in their contracts with nurses. It’s important for travel nurses to discuss this issue with their recruiters.

7 Things to Know About Working as a Strike Nurse

Here are 7 things you should know about strike nursing.

1. Strike Nursing is a Mess

The main thing to understand about strikes is that they’re kind of a mess. This is understandable.

The agency and hospital must find, credential, train, schedule, and manage the logistics for an entire regiment of nurses. And they’re typically doing all of this in a very short amount of time.

2. Have Your Paperwork Ready in Advance

And herein lies the rub for travel nurses interested in working strikes. They must have their documentation ready to go at the drop of a hat.

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Hospitals are adamant that agencies account for all paperwork before the nurse steps on the floor. I routinely witnessed nurses miss out on these opportunities due to missing paperwork.

3. Strike Nurse Orientation is Limited

In most cases, hospitals provide strike nurses with a very limited orientation to the unit.

In some cases, the hospital orients strike nurses in advance. In this case, the agency might fly you out to the location well in advance for orientation and then fly you back home to wait for the strike to start. Of course, the agency will pay you for your time at the orientation.

Advance orientation is always best for the nurse. However, in many cases, the orientation is done just before the strike starts. In these cases, you’ll start working the strike right after the orientation finishes.

4. Strike Nurse Travel is Rushed

You can expect your travel arrangements to be very rushed for strikes. Your flight may arrive just in time for you to make it to work. Your departing flight may depart shortly after your last shift ends.

You may have to share lodging with other strike workers. Housing is typically an Extended Stay or similar hotel.

5. You Have Limited Time to Complete Documentation

You’ll have a limited amount of time to complete the hospital and agency documentation. Also, agencies almost always require you to be licensed in the state before they’ll submit your profile for strike work.

6. Flexibility and Floating is a Must for Strike Nurses

Additionally, hospitals need strike nurses to be very flexible with regard to shifts and float policies. They may tell you that they will schedule you for days but then change it to nights on the spot. You will definitely float to areas of competence.

7. Strike Nursing is Unpredictable

Finally, it’s important to know that strikes are highly unpredictable. They’re cancelled more often than not. You can’t rely on them for steady employment. As a result, there are a limited number of agencies who work with them. Here is a partial list for you to consider:

1. Huffmaster
2. US Nursing (which is a Fastaff company)
3. Nurse Bridge (which is a Medical Solutions company)
4. Health Source Global
5. InSync Consulting Services

Travel Nursing Crisis Rate Jobs and Rapid Response Jobs

“Crisis Rate” assignments are perhaps the most well-known of the highest paying travel nursing jobs. The industry also calls them “Rapid Response” jobs. Essentially, the hospital is offering a higher bill rate than normal because they have a heightened need for travel nurses.

However, one might argue that Crisis Rate jobs are different than Rapid Response jobs. For example, some might say that Rapid Response means that you need to be on location and ready to work within 1 to 2 weeks.

By contrast, Crisis Rate means that the healthcare facility is facing some type of crisis. You might need to be there quickly, but their need will probably exist as long as the crisis exists.

We acknowledge these nuances. However, we lump them together for one very important reason. No matter what the hospital or agency calls them, travel nurses need to find out why the need exists.

Hospitals offer increased rates for any number of reasons including a spike in census, opening a brand-new unit, coverage during staff training, difficulty finding a candidate with a unique skill set, or the rare pandemic like COVID-19. Given the broad range of reasons, you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.

How Much Do Crisis Rate Travel Nursing Jobs Pay?

Pay rates for Crisis Rate travel nursing jobs vary dramatically depending on the circumstances. In fact, crisis pay rates can be anywhere from 10% to 100% higher than the normal rates for travel nurses at the same hospital.

For example, let’s say an ICU travel nursing job at Hospital A typically pays $1,700 per week. Crisis Rate pay for the same job might be anywhere from $1,870 to $3,400 per week all else being equal.

How Are Rapid Response and Crisis Rate Travel Nursing Jobs Different?

The differences between regular travel nursing jobs and Crisis Rate jobs vary dramatically. In some cases, the only difference might be that there is more competition to land the Crisis Rate job because it pays more.

With that in mind, here are some of the differences you might experience:

1. Crisis Rate jobs are more likely to have firm requirements on start and end dates.
2. There is a lot of competition to land them.
3. Recruiters tend to focus on filling crisis rate assignments because there is more money involved.
4. There could be a higher percentage of travel nurses working on the unit.
5. The facility might be strained to meet staffing demands which can impact patient ratios and support.

As we mentioned above, it’s extremely important for you to find out why the Crisis Rates exist. Doing so will help you properly evaluate the situation and ask the right questions so you can determine if the job is a good fit for you.

Pay Variances Between Agencies Staffing the Same Job

The next category of high paying travel nursing jobs accounts for the differences in pay between agencies. You see, pay can sometimes vary significantly between travel nursing agencies that are staffing the same job.

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We covered all the reasons why that can happen in a previous article and you can review it here. Suffice it to say that there are legitimate reasons for these pay differences in most cases.

It’s not that one agency is ripping you off or that another agency is giving you a great deal. Additionally, just because an agency pays better for one job doesn’t mean that they’ll pay better for all jobs.

Certain Hospitals Pay More Than Others in the Same Location

The next category of high paying travel nursing jobs accounts for the fact that certain hospitals pay more than other hospitals in the same location. For example, there is a difference of $17 per hour between the highest paying and lowest paying hospitals in the region of Los Angeles, California.

Tips for Landing the Highest Paying Travel Nursing Jobs

Now that we know about the different types of high paying travel nursing jobs, we can focus on how to land them. Now, you may have noticed that competition is a common theme across all categories.

Typically, hospitals quickly receive tons of candidates for the highest paying jobs. Therefore, speed to market is key. Here are some tips that will help with that and more.

1. Control Your Own Submission Profile

First, it’s a great idea to own your own submission profile. A “submission profile” is the standard set of documents that hospitals require to consider you for a travel nursing job. The documents include a resume and/or job application, background questions, attestation statements, a skills checklist and other documents.

Of course, completing these documents takes forever. Therefore, the highest paying travel nursing jobs are often filled by the time you complete these documents with a new agency.

Instead, BluePipes lets you own your own submission profile. Our profile builder helps you create everything a travel nursing agency needs to submit you.

When you’re ready, you can download your profile, including a beautiful resume, to your device and use it wherever you want. You can also email it to anyone right from our platform. This way, you can onboard and get submitted faster.

We’ve been doing this since 2013 and tons of companies accept our documents. While some companies do not accept the documents, it’s still worthwhile given that over 50 travel nursing companies do.

2. Work with as many Travel Nursing Agencies as Possible

Next, you must work with multiple travel nursing agencies to make the most money as a travel nurse. There are several reasons for this.

First, different companies have access to different jobs. Second, as we mentioned above, different agencies might pay different rates at the same facility. Third, it’s always good to have competition for your services.

Discover why travel nurses are calling us their “secret weapon”.

We recommend that you work with as many travel nursing agencies as you possibly can. However, managing multiple companies can be tough.

That’s why we created BluePipes. You can apply for jobs in just a few clicks, build a network of recruiters and manage all your communication centrally.

3. Keep Your Profile Updated with the Agencies You Work With

Next, you should keep your profile current with all the travel nursing companies you work with. This way, you’re always ready for the agency to submit you without delay.

Traditionally, you needed to update each company with new documents and work history. This is a total nightmare, especially if you work with many different companies.

With BluePipes, you can connect your profile with the companies you love. When you update your BluePipes profile all of the companies you’re connected to receive the update in real time. You can disconnect from companies to stop the updates.

4. Get Licensed in Advance

Since speed is the name of the game, you need to get your state licenses in advance in most cases if you want to land the highest paying travel nursing jobs. That’s because most hospitals require a license verification for their home state before they will consider you for a job.

This can get expensive. However, it’s an investment that will pay off in the long run. Here is an article that will help you determine which licenses are most profitable for travel nurses.

5. Be Flexible

Next, flexibility helps you make the most money as a travel nurse. If fact, experienced travel nurses will often tell you that there are “locations assignments” and “money assignments”.

For example, you will rarely if ever see Crisis Rates in Hawaii or San Diego, CA. Everyone wants to work in those places. If you want to make the most money as a travel nurse, then you must be willing to go where the money is.

It’s also important to note that flexibility is about more than just location. You may also consider compromising on shifts, start dates, vacation time, and holidays in order to make the most money as a travel nurse. The more flexible you are the more opportunities there will be for you.

6. Communicate Your Availability for Travel Nursing Jobs

Of course, you must communicate your availability with recruiters if you want to find the highest paying travel nursing jobs. This can be a little difficult if you rely on standard communication tools like email, text and phone.

However, if you join BluePipes, then you’ll have a fully-fledged “Agency Management System”. On BluePipes, you simply update your Availability Settings and we’ll broadcast the update to our network of recruiters. They contact you through our messaging system so your contact information stays private.

7. Negotiate Your Travel Nursing Pay and Contracts

Next, you must negotiate your pay and contracts in order to make the most money as a travel nurse. The mere thought of negotiating scares many folks off. However, we’ve got you covered!

Here are 24 Tips and Tricks for Negotiating Travel Nursing Pay. We also have a free eBook titled How to Negotiate the Best Travel Nursing Pay Packages. It provides over 70 pages of basics, methods and tips. Select this link to join BluePipes and download the eBook.

8. Research Travel Nursing Jobs in Advance

Finally, you should try to conduct research in advance to help you find the highest paying travel nursing jobs. Essentially, you contact various agencies and ask which hospitals they work with in your desired destinations and how much the assignments pay.

You need to do this well in advance of your planned arrival. This way, you can target the agencies and hospitals that have the best rates.

How to find the Highest Paying Travel Nursing Jobs

We covered several methods above that will help you find the highest paying travel nursing jobs. However, here are few tips that warrant special consideration.

First, it’s a good idea to get your profile set up in advance with companies that specialize in strikes if you want to work those positions. Please use the list above to get started.

Second, you should get into the habit of asking all the recruiters you work with to tell you about their highest paying travel nursing jobs. This is perhaps the best way to find these jobs.

Don’t worry about the location of the jobs. Just ask them to let you know which jobs pay the most. This will help you gain a better understanding of the market. Additionally, it will train your recruiters to understand that pay is important to you.

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Third, there are Facebook groups dedicated to high paying travel nursing jobs. Recruiters publish real pay packages in these groups, so you can typically trust the numbers you see. Here are a couple to get you started.

1. Premium Pay Travel Nursing Assignments
2. Travel Nursing: The Premium Job Board

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot to know if you want to make the most money as a travel nurse. With the information we covered here, you should have a much easier time identifying and evaluating the highest paying travel nursing jobs.