Do you plan to pursue a nursing degree? So you might as well think about working as a travel nurse.
One of, if not the most, lucrative and adaptable nursing vocations is that of a travel nurse. Along with a real payment, it also offers time flexibility.
When you work as a travel nurse, you choose your own assignments. This suggests that you have control over your compensation and benefits. Our survey of approximately 45,000 nurse practitioner travel job boards revealed that the average pay for travel nurses is $2,207 to $3000 per week.
However, a variety of factors will influence travel nurse salary. The location of your assignment, the number of hours you work, and your perks are all important considerations when evaluating remuneration packages.
In the US, there is a nursing shortage. However, the shortage of nurses is not widespread across the country. States with greater shortages include California, which will need around 70,000 nurses by 2030.
One of the reasons is that, in addition to their requirements, they offer one of the highest hourly wages for travel nurses.
For nurses who value independence and desire to provide care where it is most needed, travel nursing can be a rewarding and exciting career choice. Instead of settling down at one institution, many nurses accept posts in locations where there is a shortage of skilled staff.
However, due to the nature of the profession, which demands adaptability, independent thinking, and a preparedness to take on new duties with little notice, travel nurses usually earn better income than typical nurses.
Traveling nurses' salaries:
Travel nurses who are already nurse practitioners (RNs) can make as much as or more than the average RN salary of $80,000, even if nursing career registered nurses' (APRN) earnings routinely exceed the yearly average of $150,250.
Registered nursing assistants (CNAs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs), though they are less common, can also find work as travel nurses. It is common for crisis assignments to pay more than the average nurse wage, and additional benefits like housing stipends may significantly boost your income.
The pay for travel nurses is frequently above average.
The majority of job listings imply salary on par with or more than that of resident nurses with comparable education and credentials, despite the fact that travel nurse earnings are not formally documented.
The president and CEO of the travel nursing company Nursefly, Parth Bhakta, claims that a variety of factors influence a travel nurse's potential overall earnings. The greatest incomes are often found in rapid-response postings.
They are frequently positions that respond to sudden needs, like offering medical aid after a natural disaster.
If you can be flexible with location and turnaround, you can get a larger base salary in addition to other benefits. This is especially true for positions that are difficult to fill because of their location, the required qualifications, or both.
Additional Financial Advantages For Travel Nurses
Bonuses and living expenses are commonly included in travel nurse compensation packages, as was already mentioned. A combined rate is occasionally used to describe the remuneration for travel nurses. This rate combines the basic salary, medical benefits, and any stipends or other living expense allowances.
A typical package would include a combined rate of $50 per hour, a large portion of which would be tax-free salary, as well as perks for housing, transportation, food, and utilities.
Accommodations Or A Housing Stipend:
Almost all travel nursing compensation packages include housing, whether it is free lodging in hostels or off-campus residences, a rent allowance, or both.
A daily allowance for food, utilities, and other necessities could also be provided. A MI&E stipend (meals, incidentals, and expenses) is another name for this.
But when it comes to housing, it might be more economical to find your own place.When you find a job as a travel nurse, work closely with the staffing firm to identify the lodging alternatives and travel expenditures that are provided to you.
The staffing firm may offer housing and travel reimbursements depending on the contract; however, nurses will almost always make more money if they find their own lodging.
Travel expenses:
Usually, placement agencies will cover the expense of travel, including airfare, by either making the necessary arrangements on the nurse's behalf or by providing a stipend. Additionally, they might pay for gas.
While most travel nurse agencies assist with housing, it is generally more cost-effective for nurses to find their own accomodation.
Bonuses:
For joining, completing, or agreeing to an extension of an assignment, many agencies offer travel nurses significant bonuses to spruce up their compensation.
Jobs with these incentives often have the highest hiring requirements and the lowest availability of qualified local candidates. Additionally, nurses might be rewarded for suggesting additional candidates to the company or reaching particular tenure milestones.
Compensation For Travel Nurses That Is Tax-Free:
A large portion of the compensation package for a travel nurse is made up of tax-free benefits. For instance, at the end of the year, you won't owe taxes on your housing, travel, and health benefits.
But taxable income shouldn't be replaced by these advantages. The IRS calls this method "wage recharacterization," and it is against the tax code.
In certain cases, dishonest agencies offer base pay that is below the state minimum wage and then make up the difference with tax-free benefits to bring the daily blended wage in line with the average nursing salary.
The tax-free compensation is meant to offset the costs of temporary employment outside of your tax residence, and the taxable income portion is far lower than the normal earnings for a registered nurse. However, the IRS sees this as a red signal.
In order to avoid a challenging and expensive audit, agencies must offer a suitable base pay for the position in question, which is the taxable income you get in the form of a salary or direct deposit.
Despite the temptation of tax-free compensation, nurses should avoid positions with extremely low base pay because they may be eligible for a tax audit if their employer's employer is deemed by the IRS to have engaged in wage recharacterization.
Opportunities For Travel Nurses To Advance:
There will be a substantial demand for nurse posts across the country for the foreseeable future.
According to the BLS' Professional Employment Statistics for RNs, the rise in chronic illnesses like diabetes, longer life expectancies, and a sizable portion of the workforce reaching retirement age are all factors in the anticipated 6.2% growth in demand for RNs through 2031.
How to Increase Travel Nurses' Pay:
Work more hours per day and more shifts:
Traveling nurses are often paid by the hour, however certain employers may give you the option of receiving a daily wage, which may be more advantageous. Even if you are salaried hourly, you may choose to work two shifts or additional shifts on your days off if you are paid per diem.
Keep a few nursing licenses on hand:
Having numerous nursing licenses enables you to apply for a much larger variety of jobs. This suggests that you can be given the choice of assignments with better pay.
Increase Your Specialization:
If a travel nurse chooses to work as a surgical nurse, a temporary nurse manager, a scientist, or a trauma nurse, they will likely earn more money than their less-specialized counterparts. The occupation of a travel healthcare professional is an additional employment choice.
Increase Your Responsibility Levels:
Take on jobs that are in high demand, even if it means putting in long hours or visiting abandoned locations. Because travel nurses find it more challenging to fill these positions, many of them offer higher salary to attract candidates.
Advising A Traveler:
Some travel nursing agencies may give you the option to earn an additional incentive when you refer a travel nurse. The referral bonus may be split such that you get a portion when the nurse starts and the rest when their first assignment is done.
What Sets Apart a Travel Nurse:
The ability to discover and cultivate new talents:
The ideal travel nurse possesses knowledge, skills, and a desire to discover new things.
Travelers have a variety of goals, but the best nurses travel to advance their careers and discover new things. Those who are ready to pick up new skills and learn new things can excel in travel nursing.
Every hospital runs differently, therefore as a traveler you must be open-minded and keen to learn. You must also be ready to adapt new procedures.
A Promising Future:
A positive mindset is necessary for the nursing profession as a whole, not only the field of travel nursing. Being sociable and upbeat will help nurses succeed and feel more satisfied.
Even when there is a difficulty, as a travel nurse, maintaining a positive outlook always makes things better.
Openness Of Mind And Flexible Thought:
Travel nurses who are prepared to adapt their work schedules and availability can step in to support a unit and develop into valued team members.
Nurses who are inflexible about their schedules and the days they can't or don't want to work, on the other hand, are much harder to get a job for.
It's essential to be flexible enough to adjust to the ups and downs of hospital operations and to be able to switch between units as needed.
Ability To Adapt To Change:
Recruiters look for nurses that persevere and push themselves outside their comfort zones. You will be entering these hospitals and will need to be prepared to, so to speak, "roll with the punches." You may have one or more two-day orientation sessions.
If you are extremely rigorous, disciplined, or used to doing things a certain way, it will be more difficult for you to flourish as a travel nurse.
Conclusion:
Travel nursing is a fantastic way to influence people to choose a career in nursing. Very few jobs allow employees to travel the entire country at their employers' expense and see everything there is to see. As more nurses become aware of the benefits of this form of nursing, which can include not just the pay but also the benefits to their personal and professional lives, travel nursing is expected to continue expanding.