If you’re an experienced travel nurse, you know the game. You’ve worked with plenty of agencies and know how to get the most for your time and experience as a travel nurse. Chances are, you’re doing one or more of the following:

Be open to travel nurse jobs in plenty of locations.
You should be actively talking to travel nurse staffing agencies and other travel nurses to find where the highest paying jobs are. And then – you should be willing to travel there. Of course, some weight has to be given to the location. Some travel nurses are in this business for the career challenge and the money, some are in it more for the chance to see new places and met new people. Regardless of your reasons, if you want the highest rates, you have to go where the high-paying positions are.

Be prepared to take on your own housing, benefits and more.
Quite often, if a travel nurse is willing to take on the task of finding housing and supplying their own benefits, a staffing agency is willing to offer a better hourly rate, since there is less risk for the agency to take on. An experienced travel nurse knows that having their own benefits protects them even when they aren’t working.

Do what you do – well.
Travel nurses who are good at what they do, and do their job with a good attitude, get noticed by travel nurse agencies and hospitals. The more impressive you are to an agency or hospital, the easier it is to get an assignment AND get paid more for that assignment. Agencies are more willing to secure you a better rate because they know you are a performer.

Ask for a weekly 48 hours to be guaranteed in your contract.
Most travel nurse contracts guarantee 36 hours per week, but it’s likely that a hospital will need you for more than that. You can negotiate with your agency or recruiter to pay you a little more per hour in exchange for working 48 hours each week as your regular work week. This typically keeps the hospital from paying you overtime and raises your hourly take home rate. It’s a win-win in most cases.