Contract and Travel Assignments

I have never worked a contract or travel assignment before and I was just wondering what the benefit/s are and why so many RNs leave good paying perm positions that offer insurance to work a 13 week contract?

The pay is excellent in most travel positions - around $30/hour plus free housing and that is a huge saving. However, with the current economy a lot of hospitals are cutting back and the first thing that goes are the travelers because they are pricey. For every dollar a traveler makes, the hospital pays about $2 to the company. Things may turn around when the hospitals are reminded, unfortunately sometimes by sentinel events, that the reason they had travelers in the first place was the staffing shortage.

Thank you for the information. I am open to the idea of a travel assignment if the pay is right. Are there any states/cities that are still using travelers that you know of?

Most of the cities are in the west - Las Vegas, Phoenix, and some California cities. Things to do to prepare would be to get a license in the state you want to travel to. Become a member of RN.com. Besides being an excellent source of CEU's, RN.com has info about each state and their license requirements. Most agencies have their own health and dental plan - usually available from day 1. Things have gotten a little tighter with the economy but, there are still jobs available. Good luck!

Now is a terrible time to start travel nursing. There are many many seasoned travel nurses struggling to find work and are on unemployment b/c the jobs have almost dried up. Hospitals are on hiring freezes and cutting travel contracts. If you have a stable perm job, you better hold on to it. This is NO joke. Do NOT start traveling until the economy is better. People are finding themselves in some very desperate situations.