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By TNAA- Travel Nurse Across America

February 22, 2025

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Understanding Travel Healthcare Bonuses

Posted on by TNAA- Travel Nurse Across America

TNAA-Travel Nurse Across America provided this article.

As you embark on your journey into the world of travel nursing, you’re probably already excited about all the fantastic experiences ahead—exploring new places, expanding your professional circle, and putting your nursing skills to work in diverse communities. One more reason to get excited? Earning bonuses!

Travel healthcare bonuses are a great way to increase your income. You can earn various bonuses on your travels. From sign-on bonuses to referral incentives, each type of bonus offers unique advantages for travel nurses embarking on travel assignments. Understanding the various bonuses available and how they impact overall income is crucial for maximizing your financial rewards.

4 Types of Travel Healthcare Bonuses

travel healthcare bonuses

Sign-On Bonus

A sign-on bonus is a set amount that travel nurses receive when they sign a contract, typically paid after a traveler has completed a certain number of weeks on assignment. These are distributed as either a lump sum (rare but not unheard of, especially for nurses with specialized skills or years of experience) or tiered payments throughout the assignment as certain milestones are reached. This may mean getting some of it at the beginning of your contract and then incrementally the rest of the assignment.

Completion Bonus

Completion bonuses are similar to sign-on bonuses. They are rewarded for successfully fulfilling the assignment terms, which means fully finishing your assignment before you receive your bonus.

Referral Bonus

Referral bonuses encourage travel nurses to refer qualified candidates to the agency or facility. Travel nurses can earn extra income by leveraging their network while helping expand their agency’s talent pool. These referral bonuses benefit travel nurses and agencies, making them a great way to boost the travel nurse industry and earn extra cash in your pocket. Some agencies cap how much you can earn through their referral bonuses, while others do not, so talk to your recruiter or agency about your options.

Retention or Loyalty Bonus

Retention bonuses are designed to encourage travel nurses to stay with the agency or facility. They are typically awarded at specific milestones, such as after completing a certain number of assignments, incentivizing loyalty, and fostering long-term relationships between travel nurses and agencies. Depending on what your agency offers, you can earn thousands of dollars just for continuing to travel with the same agency. For example, in 2024, TNAA offered travel nurses up to a $10,000 bonus, plus other cash prize giveaways, as part of their 25th anniversary.

travel healthcare bonuses

Tips for Navigating Travel Healthcare Bonuses

No matter how enticing a bonus may seem, it’s essential to carefully review the terms and conditions before committing to a contract. Here are some common stipulations you should be aware of:

Duration

Many sign-on and completion bonuses require a specified assignment duration. If you decide to leave before completing this timeframe, you may forfeit the bonus entirely or be stuck paying back what you’ve already earned.

Retention and loyalty bonuses likely also have a certain duration or number of assignments you need to complete before you can earn them.

Taxes

It’s important to understand the tax implications of your bonus. Typically, bonuses are considered taxable income, meaning a portion of the bonus will be withheld for taxes. Check with a travel tax expert to see how bonuses affect you come tax time.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for any bonus, you may need to meet certain eligibility criteria. This could include achieving specific performance goals, completing a set number of assignments, or maintaining a minimum number of work hours per week.

Check With Your Agency

As you decide which agency to secure your next travel nurse assignment with, do some research to see what kind of bonuses they offer travel nurses. With the right agency, you could be earning multiple bonuses at the same time, helping you generate more revenue on your travels.

We hope you found this article on understanding travel healthcare bonuses helpful. If you have any questions or comments about travel healthcare bonuses, please comment below.

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By The Gypsy Nurse

March 10, 2019

11209 Views

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Diagnosing Your Travel Nurse Pay Package – Part 2

Posted on by The Gypsy Nurse

This article is the second in a series of articles we’re calling “Truth in Travel Nursing.”  Designed to provide reliable information to travel nurses, we hope these articles help clear up what we feel are some common misconceptions in the travel nursing profession today.

Tips to determine your best Travel Nursing Pay options:

Travel Nurse Pay PackageHey Gypsies!  We’re here to help shed light on some more myths and misunderstandings about your travel nursing pay options as part of our ongoing “Truth in Travel Nursing” series. As we covered in Part 1, there’s many components that make up a solid travel nurse pay package. It is important that travel nurses consider the full picture when comparing compensation packages. This means uncovering the full scope of benefits and pay options.  So, as part of our effort to better equip you, we’ve compiled these important tips designed to help you make the best choices for your financial well-being and the Gypsy Life!

Licenses and Certifications

We all know we need a nursing license for each state where we work. This includes permanent, new or renewal licenses, and temporary nursing licenses as offered by some states.

You may also get hit with certification costs for BLS, ACLS, PALS, and NRP and any other advance certifications required by the facility. Since certifications are nationally recognized you won’t have to obtain new certifications for every state where you work, but these certifications typically expire every two years and fees must be paid for renewal.

Unfortunately, licenses and certifications can easily add up to over $1,000 – yikes! Gypsy nurses will have to comply with the specific requirements of each assignment to begin work. Be sure to check if your agency offers reimbursements for these expenses and how those benefits are paid out.  This is an often-overlooked benefit when you are comparing packages; it’s not in the travel nurse pay rate but it is a part of the package!

It’s best to know in advance if you have a license or certification that’s going to expire during your next contract so the terms of reimbursement can be discussed upfront. And while some agencies will pay these fees directly, it’s best to stay organized and save all of your receipts.

Medical Records

Travel nurses are also required to provide medical records as part of the travel nurse portfolio, prior to starting an assignment. If you don’t have a current proof of acceptable results you will need to arrange these tests—often times at the facility where you will work. These can include drug screen, TB exam, a physical exam, X-rays, and an MMR titer report. Depending on the requirements, these tests can easily add up to several hundred dollars – yikes!  So, be sure to include this to your discussion list with the agency, to ensure you understand:

  1. How much of the fees are covered
  2. When they are paid or reimbursed
  3. Policies around providing you with copies of all results so that you can use for future assignments.

This is another overlooked benefit when comparing packages; it’s not in the pay rate but it is part of the travel nurse pay package!

Insurance

You may want to secure your own medical benefits to ensure you will have continuity of care. This makes it easier if you switch to a new travel nurse staffing agency. Having your private insurance means you can take your plan with you.  This also allows you to have a more predictable “Schedule of Benefits.” Changing agencies and changing providers can often mean different co-pays, deductibles, coverage limits, and other variables.  On the downside, you may end up paying more for less coverage. Agencies likely receive discounts for purchasing in volume. Be sure you look at the total picture. Don’t choose on the cost alone. The terms of coverage are important. Make sure that the package you select includes catastrophic coverage.

Bonus Pay

Some agencies offer various bonuses to travel nurses. And while these are not typically big dollars, or a primary reason to choose one agency over another, the extra income is always cool!

Most bonuses are designed in such a way that the agency is essentially passing on some of their savings to the traveler. Furthermore, some are designed as an incentive and many are in collaboration with the facility. The savings are realized in terms of recruitment costs, license fees, medical test, certifications, and training.

Here’s a few examples of bonuses you can ask about for your next assignment (just remember that bonuses are taxed at a higher rate than base compensation):

  • Extension bonus– what if you agree to stay on for another contract period?
  • Retention, rebook bonus, “Loyalty”– what if you agree to stay with the agency and take a new assignment in a different area?
  • Completion bonus– does the hospital offer any incentive pay to the agency for a completed contract?

Do Your Homework

Here’s a check list of what to ask your recruiter when evaluating your next pay package:

  • What portion of your hourly rate is taxable versus non-taxable?
  • Do you qualify for tax-free per diems?
  • Are there licenses and certifications needed and how are they paid?
  • What medical records must you supply, how quickly, and who pays for them?
  • Does the company provide insurance options to you and when are you eligible?
  • How do hours worked affect your living expenses stipend?
  • Are there any bonuses available?

Do you have questions on Pay that we can help answer? Post your questions in the comments and maybe you’ll find your in-depth answer on our next post in this series.

Looking for your Next Travel Nurse Adventure?

 

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By The Gypsy Nurse

October 24, 2016

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Travel Nurse: The ‘Referral’ Bonus

Posted on by The Gypsy Nurse

“The referral is a key piece of efforts to source new candidates for open positions. Thus the referral bonus comes from the marketing budget, not the RN’s pay package. A nurse’s pay shouldn’t suffer because they want to help the company they work for.” Rich Smith, Vice President & Co-founder at Atlas MedStaff

As a traveler, you probably already know that most staffing agencies offer some sort of referral bonus.  These bonuses can range from $250 to over $1000 per referral. Although I don’t recommend this as an ‘alternate source of income’ and highly discourage a traveler from recommending a company simply for the referral bonus, it’s important to know that these bonuses are available and, in many cases, underutilized.

Where does the Referral Bonus come from?

The Gypsy Nurse recently polled multiple staffing agencies to determine where these monies come from.  In most cases, the funds are directly taken from the marketing and advertising budgets.

“Our marketing and advertising departments are budgeted together, and that is where it (referral bonus) comes from. We don’t budget any referral bonuses or benefits to come out of the bill rate, with the exception of any vendor management fees. We give out approximately $60,000 in referral bonuses a year.” Gregg Buck, Vice President of Recruiting The Right Solutions Healthcare Staffing

In cases where there isn’t funding in the marketing and advertising budgets, these costs are being pulled from ‘general funds.’

“Referrals are paid out of the company’s general funds. We do not associate any referral cost to any service line because we want all service lines to encourage referrals. Simply put, referrals are a big lifeline for us, and we want everyone on our team to understand the value of the referrals, not their cost.”  C. Mike Emery, RN Chief Executive Officer, Expedient Medstaff

Why aren’t travelers taking advantage of these Bonuses?

There is a general misconception among travelers that these bonuses come out of the bill rates and will ultimately lower the traveler’s pay.  In most cases, this is not true.

“Referral bonuses with PPR are paid outside each bill rate to benefit our travelers who refer nurses to us. We truly appreciate our nurses for talking to others about the benefits of traveling with PPR.” Stacy Rogers Pavish Senior Travel RN Recruiter at PPR TMG

It is important to note that this is a sampling of staffing agencies, and although the Gypsy Nurse cannot ascertain that this is true in all cases, it appears to be the ‘norm’ in the industry.  If you are considering utilizing a referral and are leary due to concerns about where the bonus comes from…ASK!  If a company has nothing to hide, it will quickly inform you where these funds originate.

How Much are Referral Bonuses?

The referral bonus amount varies greatly from one company to another and can also vary according to the specialty of the traveler being referred. It’s also important to note that you don’t necessarily have to be employed by an agency to receive a referral bonus.  Have a company that you worked for in the past that you loved?  If you have a friend who is interested in travel nursing or know of a facility that employs travel nurses, give a referral. Know someone looking for a specific location and a company that staffs there? Share the information! Do you see a posting for a specific specialty and know a traveler that will fit the bill?  Let your friend know and ask for the referral.

Here are some examples:

SpecialtyReferral Bonus
Registered Nurse (Labor & Delivery, OR, CVOR, PICU)$1000
Registered Nurse (all other specialties)$500
Physical Therapist$1000
Occupational Therapist$1000
Speech Language Pathologist$1000
Physical Therapist Assistant$500
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant$500

Why do Staffing Agencies want referrals?

If you were staffing, who would you rather work for/with?  An unknown or a friend of a great traveler?  Referrals are important for staffing agencies.  While discussing the referral issue with a staffing agency representative, he told me, “it comes out of the Companies Bottom Line clearly….but so do leads that we buy!! We like to say that referrals are the best leads because our nurse knows what we are looking for as representation of our company…and thus they tend to find like-minded nurses….best lead ever…someone that is known by one of the people working with you already!!”

Where do the budgeted funds go if unused for referrals?

This is a simple, straight answer…..right back to the company’s Profit!

Do you have a friend that referred you to your next staffing agency?  Have a job you’ve been looking for, and someone pointed you to the perfect company?  Make sure to give their name as a referral!  Let’s start putting some of those marketing dollars to work by claiming the referral fees that the staffing companies already budget.

If you utilize the Gypsy Nurse resources and don’t have someone specifically to give a referral to, please consider giving the Gypsy Nurse as your referral source.

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