Travel Nursing Agencies Offer Free Housing: But is it really free?

Posted by admin on April 21, 2010 - 10:11am

As travel nursing agencies compete to become your agency of choice, the lure of free housing, free benefits, and other attractive bonuses weigh heavily in a nurse’s decision to choose one agency over another. The question is, is “free” really free? When you look closely you’ll find that the answer is, not exactly. Understanding how “free” works can help you compare apples to apples when it comes to choosing the right travel nursing agency.

So, how do travel nursing agencies determine their pay?

Let’s look at a sample scenario (these numbers are fictitious since actual numbers are affected by numerous variables; but the concept is accurate):

For this example, assume your travel nursing agency is paid the equivalent of $50 per hour from its hospital client. The hospital pays the nursing agency to staff their hospital for a given timeframe. In travel nursing that timeframe is usually a minimum of 13 weeks. From that $50 the agency must cover its own management, expenses, and profit – this is a set percentage taken off the top of the $50 rate. So, let’s say the agency takes $15 of the $50. That leaves the agency with $35/hour to pay you.

From the remaining $35/hour what happens when the agency offers free housing, free medical, free this, free that? You can imagine what happens: those “freebies” get paid for with your $35/hour. Suddenly what could have been a $35 rate is offered to you as $20/hour.

Many agencies will state their rates as “up to $35/hour” or “up to $40/hour” and you can see why. There are a lot of factors that determine what that maximum rate will be and most of them depend how much they’ll spend on the freebies.

How should you compare travel nursing jobs?

The best way to compare offers between travel nursing agencies is to compare the maximum rates before the free stuff. In other words, ask your agency what they are willing to pay without free housing, free benefits, etc. Only by comparing the maximum rate can you be sure you’re comparing apples to apples.

FlexRN guarantees the highest pay rate to travel nurses.

At FlexRN, we deliver the highest maximum rate and offer to beat or match your best offer. We believe nurses deserve the highest possible margins and work hard to deliver great pay to our valued nurses. Our “nurses-first” approach means we’re upfront with the cost and tax implications of their benefits and look out for the best interest of our nurses, both financially and professionally. This approach helps support our mission of attracting and retaining the best nursing talent for our hospital clients. Learn more about the FlexRN travel nursing agency and explore our nationwide travel nursing jobs.

Comments: