New travel nurse?

[Nomed]

Hello,

First of all your forum is great and full of great information. My name is Gaëtan (it's French, notice the ë) and my wife (Dawn) is a nurse at Duke. Not for very long because we decided she would do some traveling. At first we wanted to be in the Minneapolis area, she would travel locally and I would get a full time job in the Minneapolis area. But, the hospitals there did not accept her application because she did not have any travel experience. Fair enough, we decided we would be open-minded and do it for 3-6 months or so and then go back. I think it is actually a really good thing because from what I read on the boards I can tell it's better to compare more than one company before jumping in. I have to say the company we worked with did not even bother telling us she was not accepted.... so we decided to broaden our horizon.
Anyway I decided to be proactive and since I am my wife's personal assistant I submitted her resume online (monster, careerbuilder), in less than 24 hours we had about 10 phone calls and as 20 emails from different companies claiming they were the best in the business. So I took the resume off the Internet and we talked to 2 companies so far. I have plenty of questions for you because it is really confusing. Since our home is in NC we qualify, according to the companies, for a tax-free housing bonus.
The first company for example for one of the assignments gives 2200 dollars/mo tax free and then 26 dollars per hour taxed. They said it would be equal to $46/hour taxed. But let's imagine my wife need to do overtime 1-2 hours a day when she works then it's not true because the 2200 are based on 40 hours. How is this supposed to work is it supposed to be an hourly tax free income based on how many hours you work or a lump of money they give you every month? I am curious because I read some posts saying that some travel companies were not always honest.
The second one has not given us any details yet. I am really surprised because you receive tons of phone calls but when they have to move stuff forward they are slow.
What about health insurance, some of them only offer discounts other offer full coverage but when you read about their policy you have to pay 20% of the total amount for some things (i.e. inpatient surgery), that's a lot of money so the insurance is rubbish. Do you know any companies with good affordable coverage, not 650 dollars like I read. I am 24 I can find cheaper on the Internet.
Next would be bonuses and other advantages what should we be looking at? 401ks? Relocation reimbursement? Education? Paid vacation? Any really good companies you would recommend?
How much do you think is a good hourly wage in the Mid West, thinking that we will choose our own accommodation if we find a cheap place to stay?

What do you think? What is the best thing to do and what should we be looking at?
Thanks for your help,
Gaëtan

[collierrn04]

I read you post to the forum. I think its great that you want to travel and see the country. That is why I became a travel nurse. I think you are also correct to do all of your research on the different companies out there. I started with Core Medical Group in February because that was where a friend of mine was. I have been nothing but pleased with them. I know that you read all different reviews from each company and each has bad things about them. I have always had gated community housing in a very safe a pretty location, all utilities paid except cable, home phone, and internet. I have never even seen a utility bill, it automatically goes to my company. Everything is set up when I get to my assignment, so all I have to do is walk in and get the keys from the office. You have full insurance from day 1, 401k after 3 months, an all expence paid vacation including airfare once a year (basically after completing 4 assignments because you earn points after each 13 week assignment), and they have an on-call person after hours who is very prompt about returning your calls for any problems. I have not had any problems about my recruiter returning my calls. She has even called me from her house because she was sick and I had left her a message to call me. I think that a recruiter can either make or break a company, depending on their willingness to work. It doesn't hurt to give them a call and talk with them. If you decide to call Core Medical group, ask to speak with Kristen Berube. If she is not there, leave a message and she will call you back. Just tell her you read this on Ultimate Nurse Forums. Good Luck!!

[NFransen]

Hi Gaëtan,

Welcome to the traveling world! I have been traveling with Access Nurses for over two years now. They are awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone. My housing is always very very nice and my recruiter always goes above and beyond to make sure that I am perfectly happy. I have never had a problem with my paycheck, contract, anything. They really make it easy for me. Good luck, you should give them a call!