How to Negotiate Travel Nurse Pay: 8 Expert Tips to Earn Thousands More
In most professions, negotiating pay is a normal part of the hiring process – and travel nursing is no exception. In fact, the way the industry is structured creates huge potential to maximize and negotiate travel nurse pay.
This is largely because the U.S. travel nursing industry is highly competitive, with hundreds of recruiting companies competing for nurses and hospitals constantly looking to fill open positions. If you’re new to U.S. travel nursing, check out my guide on becoming a Canadian travel nurse in the U.S.
If you want to maximize your income as a travel nurse, keep reading for 8 proven strategies to negotiate a better pay package. Take it from a travel nurse with 10 contracts under her belt and thousands more in her pocket from successful negotiations.
1. Research Travel Nurse Pay Rates Before Negotiating
Before negotiating your contract, it’s important to understand the current market rate for your specialty and location. I recommend doing your research on Vivian.com. While I advise against actually using Vivian as your agency, their online platform serves as a great tool to browse job openings across all companies in every specialty and location.
This gives you a realistic idea of:
- Average weekly pay
- High-paying agencies
- Hourly vs tax-free pay
- Regional pay differences
On Vivian, you will notice multiple different companies posting the exact same job, but some offer significantly better pay packages. You can leverage this in your favour by either working with the higher paying company or sending your current recruiter a screenshot of the higher pay and ask them to match it. In most cases, your recruiter will match or beat the higher rate, rather than risking losing you to a competitor agency.
2. Negotiate Travel Nurse Pay Prior to Job Submission
Timing is everything when it comes to travel nurse pay negotiation.
Your best opportunity to negotiate is before your recruiter submits your profile and resume to a facility. Once you’re submitted, you’re essentially signalling that you’re comfortable with the pay and terms offered, and you lose all negotiating power.
Instead, you might say: “I’m interested in this position, but I would need a weekly rate of $X more to move forward” to open the door of negotiations.
Always agree on your minimum acceptable pay rate before submission.
P.S. – Never discuss pay during your hiring interview with your manager, travel nurse pay negotiations should always be done directly through your recruiter.
3. Don’t Overshare With Recruiters
Recruiters work for the agency, not the hospital, and their goal is to place nurses quickly.
If a recruiter knows you are:
- desperate for a job
- set on one specific location
- willing to accept almost any rate
your negotiation leverage decreases significantly.
You don’t need to reveal every detail about your situation. I learned this the hard way by oversharing that I was set on a specific location and start date. Once my recruiter found me a job that met my specifications, she knew I would take it regardless of the pay package.
Keep conversations professional and focused on fair compensation for your experience.
4. Apply to Multiple Travel Nurse Positions
One of the strongest travel nurse negotiation tools is having multiple offers.
When you apply to several jobs at once:
- recruiters know you have options
- facilities compete for your acceptance
- you gain leverage to negotiate pay and benefits
Having more than one offer allows you to choose the best combination of pay, schedule, and location. Leverage this with phrases like “I’m interested in offer #1, however I have other offers with higher pay. I would be willing to accept offer #1 if we can increase the weekly pay to $X with a sign-on bonus of $X”.
At the end of the day, having multiple offers gives you power – don’t be afraid to use it to secure the pay package you deserve!
5. Negotiate More Than Just Travel Nurse Pay
Travel nurse contracts are negotiable in many ways beyond hourly pay. In my contracts, I almost always get block scheduling, relocation stipends, and completion bonuses.
You can ask for:
- block scheduling (working your shifts in a row)
- requested days off
- same schedule as a friend or partner
- higher overtime rates
- completion bonuses
- relocation bonuses
- license reimbursement
- uniform reimbursement
- certification reimbursements (BLS, ACLS, etc)
If it improves your experience, it’s worth asking for – just make sure it’s written into your contract.
6. Ensure Your Tax-Free Stipends Are Maximized
One of the biggest financial advantages of travel nursing is tax-free stipends, also called per diem rates.
These stipends are meant to cover housing, meals, and incidentals while you are duplicating living expenses at your tax home. Make sure you follow IRS rules to qualify for tax-free travel nurse stipends!
The allowable stipend amounts are based on federal per diem rates published by the U.S. General Services Administration. You can search your assignment location by ZIP code on the GSA website to see the maximum allowed stipends.
You’ll notice stipends can fluctuate from month to month based on the cost of living that season. For example, rent in Oregon is much higher in the summer months, therefore the summer stipend is reflective of that.
Compare these rates to your contract to make sure your agency is maximizing your tax-free pay.
Expert Tip: Recruiters probably won’t love that I’m sharing this with you… but if the stipend amount differs during the duration of your contract, you can ask to split your contract. So that means if the tax-free per diem allowance is higher halfway through your 13 week assignment, they can formulate two contracts that reflect that pay to ensure your stipends are maxed out. Recruiters are not going to like it, but they can do it, and in my experience, it has put thousands more in my pocket.
It is better to take a lower hourly pay (that is taxed) and maximize your stipends. More tax-free income means more money in your pocket!
7. Never Accept a Pay Cut on a Contract Extension
Always expect a raise if you extend and never take a pay cut on a contract extension.
What other job pays you less the longer you work? If the facility wants to extend your contract, you have proven to be a valued member of the team and should be compensated for your hard work.
When it comes time to negotiate travel nurse pay at contract extensions, always ask for a raise. It is so much easier for the facility to keep you on rather than hire and train a new traveller.
Extension negotiation is also a time to revisit things outside of hourly pay such as time off, completion bonuses, etc.
8. Remember That Negotiating Travel Nurse Pay is Normal
Not only is it normal and expected, but the system also favours travel nurse negotiation. Now that you’ve learnt how to negotiate travel nurse pay, leverage it!
Be confident in yourself and your value. Ask for what you want and deserve, but don’t be discouraged if you’re met with “no”. Keep persevering until you’re happy with your pay package, your recruiter, and your new job!
By using these 8 travel nurse negotiation tips, I have personally increased my pay by $400 per week.
Over a standard 13-week assignment, that equals:
$400 x 13 weeks = $5,200 USD
If you were to work four contracts, that becomes:
$20,800 USD in additional annual income – all from learning how to negotiate travel nurse pay!
On the topic of money – check out my article on Financial Mistakes to Avoid as a Travel Nurse!
Frequently Asked Questions About Negotiating Travel Nurse Pay
How much can travel nurses expect to negotiate?
The amount varies depending on the specialty, location, and demand for nurses, but many travel nurses successfully negotiate $100–$500 more per week, along with bonuses or maxed-out stipends.
When should you negotiate travel nurse pay?
The best time to negotiate travel nurse pay is before your recruiter submits your profile to a hospital. Once you are submitted, it signals you are comfortable with the current pay package and your negotiating power decreases. However, there is room to discuss other perks such as block scheduling and bonuses after you submit to a job.
What other parts of a travel nurse contract can be negotiated?
Travel nurse contracts often allow negotiation for more than just hourly pay. Nurses can negotiate:
- weekly pay
- tax-free stipends
- completion bonuses
- sign-on bonuses
- block scheduling
- overtime rates
- relocation stipends
- requested time off
- working the same schedule as a partner or friend
What happens if a recruiter says the pay is non-negotiable?
Sometimes pay packages truly have limits, but often another agency offering the same job may have more flexibility. Many travel nurses compare offers from multiple agencies to secure the best pay package.
Do travel nurses really negotiate pay?
Yes! Negotiating pay is a normal part of the travel nursing industry, but not every nurse is comfortable in their negotiation skills and power. I hope reading this article informed and inspired you to try your hand in negotiating pay for your next travel nurse assignment!
And remember, nursing is an extremely challenging, exhausting, all-encompassing profession. You deserve pay that reflects that, and there’s no guilt or shame in asking for it.
