Traveling Nurse Salary – How Much Can You Make?
If it can be said that there’s a career out there that offers a wide range of salary benefits, and allows an individual to earn as much as she’d like without stuffing envelopes, traveling nurses are one of them. Qualified nurses interested in becoming traveling nurses may find a variety of positions in major or rural hospitals, in ICU units, Telemetry units, PACU, PICU, ORs, ERs and trauma centers. Earnings depend on geographical location, how long you stay, and whether or not the facility pays overtime.
For example, an OR position in New Jersey may pay up to $45.00 an hour or $67.00 an hour for overtime. That means that the traveling nurse salary for someone with OR experience can earn nearly $19,000 in eight weeks. Nurses qualified to fill CVICU, and ICU, dialysis, peds or other similar positions in New York average a pay scale of $45 to $50 an hour, and $67.00 to $75.00 in overtime per hour. A one-week assignment can earn a traveling nurse approximately $2,600 a week, or up to $33,800 in 13 weeks. In locations like Washington, DC, a nurse specializing in hemodialysis, chemo infusion, obstetrics, radiology, and cardiac can earn up to $82.00 an hour in overtime, with an average pay of $55.00 an hour.
A traveling nurse salary depends on the department; med/surg, critical care, intermediate care, and whether or not the position is a walk-through or compact position. A walk-through licensure enables traveling nurses to obtain temporary licenses to work out-of-state for between 1 and 6 months, according to nursing board requirements. Check out the State Boards of Nursing website for more information regarding a nurse licensure compact, which means your license is viable in neighboring states that also offer or share compact license status. The difference between these two types of license will affect your traveling nurse salary.
Some agencies have cap limits on specific nursing assignments. While some agencies will pay up to $3,000 per assignment, others go higher, with an average of $30 to $40 dollar hourly pay expected. Urgent assignments may pay more, but they are determined by the specific travel nurse agency you deal with.
Today, nearly 20,000 travel nurses work throughout the United States. If you’re interested in a career in travel nursing, make sure you understand the basics of traveling nurse salary stipulations, limitations and requirements as well as asking for and making sure you obtain information regarding housing and reimbursement before you sign on the dotted line. We highly recommend that you do your research and due diligence before accepting any assignment, otherwise the traveling nurse salary might not be what you expect.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have hospice experience and L&D experience. Prefer hospice or home health.
706-975-5570
{ 2 trackbacks }