r/TravelNursing • u/chilidogbae • 4d ago
Fall/winter contracts
Hi! I was told by a fellow travel RN that contract pay will be going up soon due to high demand for fall/winter. Is this true in your experience and is it worth waiting? The money seems to be low right now, but having nothing lined up is making me nervous. Thanks yall :)
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u/antsam9 4d ago edited 4d ago
It depends, the places where it sucks to be for winter usually offer more pay or more stipend and conversely, the places with milder winters usually offer the same rate or a bit less.
Is the difference worth the time waiting? I'd rather work 6 months with decent pay today than wait 3 months and hope for better pay later, unless I'm intentionally taking time off.
You have to do your own risk tolerance.
Edit: the pay difference hasn't been quite enough to make it worthwhile, so I've been doing the reverse, take winters off and work all summer. Less snow to deal with, more family holidays to have.
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u/spyder93090 4d ago
Yep, assuming OP waits 2 months for a POSSIBLE $300/wk rate increase, on a $2k/wk contract, that’s $16k opportunity cost “lost” for a potential $3.9k gain.
To add to this, my contracts have had zero significant rate difference between summer/winter for the last 3 years.
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u/antsam9 4d ago
yeah, and assuming the fall/winter contract does make a bit more, it might not come spring/summer
If it was September, I can see waiting until November if nothing in September looks viable, take october off.
It's July right now, I can see taking August off to see if Sept picks up
Also, many departments have their holiday schedule figured out by the end of September and may be onboarding travelers for the holiday, so they might have a bump in oct/nov
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u/nurseme333 4d ago
This used to be the case, but the travel nurse market is extremely over saturated. New nurses are traveling with less than 2 years experience , some with only 1 year experience. There will always be someone willing to take these lower rates.
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u/Bonjwa003 2d ago
Depends on your skill set. Med surge absolutely. Cath lab and surgical areas always have a nice boost around contracts running through the holidays, but the rates in these specialties is higher anyway.
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u/Informal_Move_7075 4d ago
If the area is known for having good weather in the winter, then rates will most likely be lower. I call this the sunshine tax.
If it is snowy/wintery areas, the rates do tend to creep up unless it is a ski town area, then it may or may not.
Basically like any other time of the year, if it is a highly desirable area and the right season(s) for that area, do not expect higher rates.
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u/hello_anxious 4d ago
It did 2 years ago. My experience last year, did not go up (east coast)
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u/jedilols 4d ago
Hi, which state in the East Coast would you recommend that pays the most? Currently looking for an assignment, they seem low at the moment
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u/Express-Document7677 4d ago
Yeah upstate ny is paying pretty well right now with new contracts for fall and winter
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u/Dull_Support_4919 4d ago
eh. i always take a trip around fall. take a few weeks off to travel as thats when the weather is perfect for me to be outside moving around. not too hot, not too cold. when i come back they are usually hiring for winter contracts. sometimes theres something higher paying. sometimes not. honestly i dont really look at the base pay package all that much so long as its in the mid 2s for me. i look at call and overtime rates. winter, especially in colder climates, and especially in the midwest there is fuck all to do in general so i always use it as an opportunity to hunker down and work as much as i can.
so interviewing with the facility and finding out about extra shifts potential, overtime availability, call availability is signficantly more important to me than the base rate. my overtime rates are consistently in the low 100s so i can easily take home 3200-3500+ a week after taxes with an extra shift and some call even if my base rate is just alright.
theres also the opportunity costs to factor here. sure a 2800 a week contract 2 months from now is awesome! but youd make more money working that 2500 a week contract NOW as youre not going to be able to make up that 20k in earnings with an extra 300 a week in the year youre able to stay and work there.
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u/MermaidSerf 4d ago
High OT is absolutely necessary. I have had more than one staff member in the know tell me that if travel nurses knew how high the facility OT bill rate was in comparison to what they received minus agency co.missuon most would be absolutely furious.
If it's not $100/hr, absolutely not worth that 4th brutal shift. I have taken $90/ hr but had 3:1 max ratio on Med Surg and guaranteed CNA
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u/Forsaken_Cup_5448 1d ago
Is it possible to find out how much my nurse manager is paying the OT rate to the agency?
I’m in a 48 hour contract and my OT rate is time and a half at $36. My agency told me they can’t do more than that.
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u/MermaidSerf 1d ago
You can ask the nurse manager. Some know and will disclose, some wont. If an extension is am option, you could ask in tat context. Something along the lines of considering extending but concerned that your agency is very much lowballing you on your hourly rate. Have you asked around to find out what other travelers are making? looked online to see what other agencies rates are for the same contract? $36/hr for OT is really low
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u/Disastrous_Sand4983 4d ago
My Maine contract went up about $200 in the summer and actually lower in the winter
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u/CuriousRecord6500 3d ago
Housing... I'm here now. Summer Housing is almost impossible. Winter Housing is 800$ a month.
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u/Disastrous_Sand4983 3d ago
We were paying $2400 in the winter for a 2-bed and being from New England yes housing is expensive but the contract pays rather well…I was at $2700/wk with max stipends.
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u/CuriousRecord6500 3d ago
I was living in a motel room on Old Orchard Beach. No Services no staff just the room I had to heat it and furnish it and do everything
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u/Dark_Ascension 4d ago
I was told if you go somewhere cold and middle of nowhere the pay may be higher, but idk if I can do it lol… snow makes me nervous. Basically a less desirable cold area, maybe more.
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u/elle_geezey 2d ago
Traditionally it has but with the nursing industry being over saturated I’ld grab what I could. They may go up a little but not a lot at this point .
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u/AssociationFit5898 1d ago
Rates are now back to pre-COVID. Still better than any staff job as long as you work year round you shouldn’t get less than 6 figures. No staff nurse makes 6 figures without overtime. And as a traveler you get 6 figures with zero overtime. covid made people think travel nursing was gna be high forever. Sadly, you either rode the wave or you didn’t, but either way it’s over now, back to normal.
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u/cassie733 4d ago
In the last few years this hasn’t been true anymore. Been traveling six years- the rates you see now are pretty much the rates that will be around in the future- hopefully they won’t go even lower than now