Hospitals all over the country fill in gaps in their nurse staffing by bringing in nurses on contract. Pay varies widely from state to state. Here are a few samples of pay rates available for nurses on contract:
- California $10,500 a week.
- Reno, NV $2600 per week
- Rhode Island, $3300 per week
- Nantucket, $3375 per week
- Lansing, MI $3175 per week
- Boston, MA $3100 per week
- Albuquerque $3000 per week
However, I am currently looking for something near my house because I want to be home on the 4 days per week that I am not working, and flying back and forth will eat into any extra money I might make. Here are some that are showing:
- Lake Placid, FL $1900/week
- Davenport $1800/week
- Fort Meyers, $2200/week
So it looks like Florida is somewhere around $2000 per week. The costs would be gas and tolls to and from one day per week, plus the cost of a 2 night hotel stay, so call my costs about $300 per week, plus the fuel to get there. As a contracted nurse, I have a lot more control over my work conditions than I do when I am tied to an employer. My conditions for accepting any given contract are:
- the 3 days each week must be consecutive. Some hospitals like to have you work Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday one week, then Saturday, Monday, and Thursday the next week. I won’t accept a contract like that, unless I get more money.
- No mandatory meetings or training, unless it is during my contracted work days. Most hospitals actually like this condition, because they don’t want to invest money in a contract nurse who isn’t staying.
- No mandatory overtime. If I do decide to take overtime, it must be mutually agreed upon, and my overtime rate is going to cost enough that I can compensate for the extra costs. Somewhere around $100 per hour.
My recruiter says all of this is doable, but some hospitals won’t agree to consecutive workdays. That’s fine, I told her, I don’t need to take those contracts. However, if they offer enough extra money, I might. Taking non-consecutive days increases my costs and my time commitment in driving time, so I pass them along to the hospital. If they don’t want to do that, that’s OK. They can hire someone else.
Let’s say that I take a job that is a 2 hour drive from here. I drive there, work my three shifts, and drive home. Total time working and driving is 40 hours. If you break those days into complete non-consecutive, I have to drive there and back three times. That adds 8 hours to my work week, so it’s going to cost you an extra $1200 a week. Don’t want to pay that? OK, no problem. Just find someone else. I would take a job that required me to fly up to Rhode Island every week before I will spend 12 hours a week in a car for no extra money.
Like Liam Neeson, I have a particular set of skills, honed over decades of learning my craft. Those skills are specialized and difficult. I can now dictate the terms under which I will work, and I don’t NEED to work full time. In fact, I don’t WANT to work full time. That puts me in charge of when and how I will work.
After all, how many nurses are there that are certified for critical care, emergency nursing, pediatrics, and trauma? The answer is not enough to cover demand.
Contract nursing has variable terms. Most contracts are for 13 weeks at a time, but there are agencies that have contracts that vary between 8 and 24 weeks. There are even agencies that offer one day contracts, but those don’t come with stipends, meaning that you can take those even if they are within 50 miles of your house. Say a hospital in the area has a need for a nurse two days from now, but only needs that position filled for two days. Your agency will offer you the contract for two days for $1800, but it would be 100% taxable.
I’m really liking the idea of being self employed.
18 Comments
It's just Boris · January 18, 2026 at 7:37 am
At about a factor of 5 higher pay than local, it still looks to me like you’d likely come out well ahead working California.
Transit each way would eat a full day, though. And, well, California.
Divemedic · January 18, 2026 at 8:09 am
There is also airfare, higher hotel costs, California taxes, can’t be armed at all, and I would need to get licensed in California.
That huge contract is because hospitals are preparing for a nursing strike. So I would have to be an unarmed “scab” crossing picket lines, and we all know how much unions love that.
Jonathan · January 18, 2026 at 7:43 am
I’ve known people who did that before. Some love it, some hate it. As you mention, it’s a good fit for where you are in life.
I notice there is a huge spread of weekly income – do the differences come from the relative need for nurses there, or from the higher local costs?
To me, the lower of those rates don’t seem very attractive. For example: $1800/week is around $100k a year – with no benefits and travel costs, that comes out to less than many people realize.
Divemedic · January 18, 2026 at 8:11 am
The variance is caused by both. The lowest of those rates works out to $62 per hour, because there is a built in tax advantage, as 2/3 of the pay isnt taxable.
Don Curton · January 18, 2026 at 8:08 am
We had a guy do something similar. He was close to retirement and he and his wife built a retirement home roughly 5 hr drive away from work. On Mondays, he’d wake up and start driving around 1 am, get to work and put in a 12 hour shift. He’d reserve the cheapest hotel room he could find for two nights, Monday and Tuesday night. Around $50 per night. One step above the rent by hour places. He said everyone else there was illegals living 5 or 6 to a room. He’d work his 12 hr shift Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday after work he’d start driving and get home around midnight. 36 hours a week of actual work onsite, 10+ hours driving, and ~$120 of hotel fees plus however much he spent on fast food. He did that for about 6 months before deciding it was too much of a hassle and finally retired.
IDK – I can’t see myself doing that, but I can see where it might make sense. 90% of my work could be done remotely if the company would allow it, but I don’t really care to do remote work anymore. My brother does that and spends quite a bit of time remote camping with satellite uplink and enjoys it. To each his own. If you got the skills, a lot of companies are willing to be flexible, moreso than they were pre-covid.
skinnedknuckles · January 18, 2026 at 9:55 am
Interesting way to work, not sure it would work for me but I know many folks who love it. Do you see legislation like California’s AB% killing this kind of opportunity?
Elrod · January 18, 2026 at 10:00 am
Years back I had a not-dissimilar potential offer from a previous employer, except they wanted me to be an employee again. Part of the issue was my retirement payments; becoming an employee again, under their rules, modified that deal – current payments would stop, my “new time” would be classified as a rehire, and over time my retirement benefis would increase.
I looked into it, ran the numbers, decided doing it as contract work was a better option, and replied with a contract proposal; they did not accept. There are advantages to doing it under contract; I’d suggest creating an LLC if you don’t already have one and immediately start documenting every minute you spend on the project, because everything you do as a contract employee – they’re contracting with the LLC not you personally – impacts your tax position, primarily through deductability.
If the stated mission of the LLC is “provide nursing services consisting of X at Y level” then everything gets measured against that; if the employer is willing to provide future training and education as a deliverable under his side of the contract; great, otherwise whatever you do in that area is deductible; “contract terms apply” so contract language is critical; who owns that education result? Does providing X hours of Y training at Z level constitute what obligation on the part of the contracting parties? (Meaning, does 20 hours of specialized training establish an obligation to extend the contract 60 days, or does departure prior to 60 days obligate a contracting party to partial or complete reimbursement of the education cost? And so on.) (Pro Tip: contract terms should also include specifications for early termination – “termination of services prior expiration of the X month contract term shall result in blah, blah, blah, which may be as little as “nothing,” “cost of gasoline to drive home,” or X percentage of remaining contract term.”)
You can earn part of a law degree the hard way wrestling with [your] contract terms, in the least you’ll pay for part of someone else’s.
Big thing is elimination of questions regarding expenses – if it’s a legitimate expense, it’s deductible, and almost everything, if properrly documented, can be legitimate.
Grumpy51 · January 18, 2026 at 12:38 pm
Welcome to the world of being an entrepreneur!! Get a CPA involved…. All those expenses come right off the top (of gross revenue). This is where a great lawyer (LLC) and a great CPA are worth their weight in silver….
Brad · January 18, 2026 at 2:34 pm
I have a relative who’s wife is a nurse. they own a motor home. they
“move” twice a year. North in the summer and south in the winter. Something to think about.
Divemedic · January 18, 2026 at 2:41 pm
Not interested in living in the antigen north. The money isnt THAT good.
Brad · January 19, 2026 at 10:44 am
I don’t know. I think Wyoming, Montana and Idaho are pretty nice. So is Texas.
Honk Honk · January 18, 2026 at 2:49 pm
The nurses in NYC don’t feel the warmth of collectivism by the peoples burn barrel?
I loves me some Pace Picante Sauce and Escape From NYC along with Mad Max were like religious experiences as a lil’ Shaver.
Grumpy51 · January 18, 2026 at 4:53 pm
Caution regarding states with income tax. Several colleagues were lured to NYC for COVID work. Everything was fine until the following year when they received notices for state income tax (lived in TX, worked in NYC). NONE of them were aware that monies earned in NYC would be taxed by NY state (city?). NONE of my colleagues paid the tax (at least according to them).
Treefarmer · January 18, 2026 at 5:00 pm
How would you handle healthcare insurance costs? Do contractor service companies offer some reasonably priced options?
Divemedic · January 18, 2026 at 9:23 pm
They do,but I am insured through my wife.
Steady Steve · January 18, 2026 at 6:14 pm
Another thing to watch for when working out of state are the tax laws. Some states have non resident income tax if the income is earned within their borders. I’m betting California does which is also why the rate is higher, besides cost of living. I was told by a nurse in Florida that rates are lower here because the number of nurses available over all. Though you would think with the rates hospitals charge that specialized nursing would get paid better.
Stealth Spaniel · January 18, 2026 at 11:23 pm
My mom went into contract work after my dad (I was 15). It allowed her to have more control over her schedule so she could be home with me. Children living on their own with their one parent working-especially in LA-was not a good idea. She kept meticulous records of time, pay, taxes owed, etc. You might think about getting a “van” type motor home to stay in. It would be ONE vehicle back and forth, with deductible gas, mileage, etc. You could probably stay in the parking lot, cook your own meals, have a small refrigerator, bathroom, and bed at your disposal. The Durangos or the Sprinters have great sales on used ones. Folks buy them and then want a larger one, or more goodies on them, etc. When you leave the gig work, it could become a vacay vehicle for you and the wife.
My Plan – Area Ocho · January 19, 2026 at 10:50 am
[…] They require that you come to work every week, just for fewer hours. That was when I looked into travel/contract nursing. Travel and contract nursing agencies don’t care how old you are, because they only care […]
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