Travel Nursing in 2024: Pay Trends and What to Expect (2024)

FAQs

Travel Nursing in 2024: Pay Trends and What to Expect? ›

However, travel nurse pay remains very strong. According to surveys by staffing agencies, the average weekly gross pay for travel nurse assignments in early 2024 is around $2,800 for a 48-hour week. This still represents a pay premium of 30-50% over commensurate permanent staff nurse positions at most facilities.

In 2024, specialized travel nursing roles are expected to gain prominence. Areas such as telemetry, critical care, and psychiatric nursing are witnessing emerging trends, presenting exciting opportunities for travel nurses to expand their skills and knowledge.

From March 2020 to July 2022, Trusted Health saw travel nurses across all specialties and states making an average gross weekly income of $3,668! Though the average gross weekly income has decreased slightly since then, Trusted is still seeing an impressive average gross weekly of $3,206.

Average weekly travel nurse pay dropped from $2,643 in January 2023 to $2,370 in December 2023, a 10.3% decrease.

Travel Nurse Salary and Job Outlook

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the nursing profession to grow at a rate of 16% between 2014 and 2024. Due to the current nursing shortage, the job outlook for travel nursing is even greater. The BLS predicts a 19% growth for travel nurse jobs by 2022.

According to a Health Workforce Analysis published by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in November 2022, federal authorities project a shortage of 78,610 full-time RNs in 2025 and a shortage of 63,720 full-time RNs in 2030.

Between January to July 2022, the demand decreased by approximately 40 percent. And with that shift, travel nurse salaries also dropped closer to pre-pandemic pay rates. Yet despite these industry trends, many nurses still find travel nursing an appealing career path.

So, is travel nursing worth it? Yes! With more money, flexibility, career options, travel perks, and personal growth, it's still one of the most exciting nursing opportunities in 2024. If you're thinking of level up in your nursing career now, travel nursing jobs might just be the adventure you're looking for.

What travel nursing agencies pay the most? ›

Aya Healthcare is one of the largest travel nursing companies in the U.S. and offers some of the highest pay rates in the industry. According to their website, Aya Healthcare offers an average pay rate of $2,100 per week for travel nurses, with some positions paying as much as $3,000 per week.

Negotiate for a Higher Pay Rate in a Travel Nursing Contract. You may find that agencies provide different rates for the same area or hospital. Doing a little research and utilizing multiple agencies or recruiters can give you the upper hand when negotiating your pay.

The Increase in Travel Contracts One emerging trend in 2024 is a rise in healthcare facilities offering travel nurse contracts directly rather than going through third-party staffing agencies. By cutting out the middleman, hospitals and clinics can provide higher compensation packages while avoiding agency fees.

When asked about their priorities in the workplace for 2024, nurses identified several key areas. Foremost among these was compensation, with 75% of respondents emphasizing the importance of better pay. Also, 68% nurses expressed a desire for improved nurse-to-patient ratios, and 58% said they wanted better schedules.

The forecast for travel nurses remains positive with an anticipated stabilization of travel pay and the growing demand to fill vacant staff positions. The demand for RNs and NPs is especially high, but all nursing professions have a projected spike in demand between 2022 and 2032.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts a 9% growth in nursing employment from 2020 to 2030. This rate is as fast as the average for all occupations. It suggests that about one in every eleven new jobs created will be in nursing.

Between 2014 and 2024, nearly 440,000 new registered nurse (RN) jobs are expected to be added, while more than 600,000 existing RN jobs will need to be filled due to RNs leaving these positions.

California has the highest demand for travel nurses, and med-surg was the specialty in highest demand, according to a Nomad Health report. The "Nomad Health Q4 2023 Healthcare Jobs Report" examined internal job data collected from Oct.

From 2022 to 2032, employment for registered nurses is expected to grow 6%. Flight nursing is expected to rise as part of that outlook as well. Hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities are all needing more registered nurses to care for patients in a productive and efficient way.