Whats your opinion on travelers low pay?

[nurselight]

Hello everyone,

I have been a travel nurse now for three years and i have to say i love it. But i would like to ask a question, is it just me or has everyone been noticing a decline in the pay for travelers? I mean in the beginning I was making $38-$40/hr for 36/hr guareentee which included housing, now i just recently took a job for $33/hr but had to guareentee 48/hr week. I realize we get paid more than the regular staff, but we also are often walking into not so nice situations, must be able to be functional with very minimal orientation, and for myself I'm separated from my family. I know it is our choice to travel but also there is a great need for us due to the shortage. So I'm sorry but I feel WE should be making more than the company we work for. THEY are getting rich off of our hard blood, sweat and tears and to tell you the truth I'm sick of it. I know for a fact that the company is billing 129.00/hr for me so why am I(we) getting the short end of the stick! I mean lets face it without us THEY would make NO money. So in closing I'm asking what should or can we do about it? I would love to know how other travelers are feeling about this situation. Thanks and have a great day!

[AmandaWIRN]

I agree. Travel pay has gone down quite a bit. We still usually make more than regular staff, but, like you said, if the companies are making so much, we should be getting more. Unfortunately, unless we're willing to give up some benefits, I don't know that there's much that can be done about it. There may be a few companies that still have $40/hr pay rates, but then it's usually because there's either a major problem with the company or the facility. I have found that for most of the good, reputable companies, travel jobs with insurance & housing tend to run between $29-$33/hr. It stinks that the companies are making so much money off of nurses, but I also don't know what we can do about it.

[MercedesBoy]

I am not so sure about that $129 per hour bill rate because that sounds a lot higher than what I have heard in the pst. Still I agree that pay is going lower and lower in most areas, and its the main reason I decided to stop traveling for a while. I realized that I could make more money by staying home and working local contracts directly with the hospitals instead of working through an agency. Now the travel companies are trying to woo me back into doing other assignments. But I will wait until the fall and see how I feel about it then. Right now, the money they are offering is not very appetizing and many of the open positions that they are really desperate to fill are in hospitals where travelers do not want to go.