Questions from Readers – September 2024

Occasionally, I will include a blog entry answering some of the most common questions I get from readers about locum tenens as a nurse practitioner. Feel free to comment any questions you have or email me at travelingNP.com@gmail.com.

  • Can I work with multiple agencies at once to find an assignment?

Yes, I highly recommend working with 3-5 agencies at one time when searching for an assignment. This will increase your options and the probability of finding an assignment in the location you are interested in. It can also be beneficial to have multiple assignment offers to negotiate an increased rate. Recruiters understand that you will be working with other agencies so they will not take it personally or be upset.

Housing Stipend vs Housing Covered

As a traveling nurse practitioner for 9 years now, I have never taken a housing stipend while on assignment. I have always just had the agency and site cover and book my housing. I know many traveling NPs that have taken housing stipends and some of them ask why I have never pursued that option. There are many reasons I have never asked for or opted for a housing stipend. Having a housing stipend can be beneficial, because you can find housing on your own at a cheaper rate and pocket the extra money.

Personally, the extra profit isn’t worth it to me. I prefer to have my agency book my housing. Initially, I had them find housing options for me and I selected one of them. But nowadays I find my own housing and then have the agency book it for me. 

One reason I don’t choose the housing stipend is because I rarely work 13 weeks straight on an assignment. I tend to have other social activities that require me to take at least 1 week off per assignment. When the agency covers my housing, they will pay monthly for my housing including the week I am off. When an agency offers a housing stipend, they often try to give you only 75% of your housing stipend for the month that you take 1 week off. In their eyes, since you aren’t working the entire month then they will not reimburse you for housing for the entire month. 

Another reason I do not prefer the housing stipend is because I tend to be non-committal. After working over 26 different assignments, I know that not every assignment will be a good one. I have left assignments early several times when it was not the right fit. I have found that when an agency pays for your housing, you can easily break the apartment lease and suffer no repercussions. This may be different if you have your own contract that you are using the housing stipend to pay for, and may have difficulty ending the lease early or would have to pay some extra fees. Although I have gotten better at selecting the ideal assignments for me over the years, (I haven’t had to leave an assignment early in the last 7 years), I like to know I have the option to do so if needed. 

Additionally, I already save 90% of my income so I don’t think I need to nickel and dime every last dollar or opportunity. For example, sometimes I am given a 2-bedroom house or apartment, and I don’t even consider renting out the second bedroom because I prefer my privacy. Most of the time I stay in really nice places such as apartments on the beach, condos with a city view, or spacious houses with extra rooms for guests. These places tend to be expensive about $4-5k per month in inexpensive states such as Florida and Kentucky. If I asked for a housing stipend in these type of states, they would only offer half of that as a stipend, about ~$2k/month, because they know I could easily find housing in that range. Since I am a nomad, I like to have a comfortable place to live.

Although I find housing on my own but have the agency pay for it, I don’t want the added responsibility. I don’t want to have to set up the contract and give a deposit. I don’t want to pay up front and have to wait weeks to be reimbursed. I often find housing on furnishedfinder.com. It has a reputation for being reliable but I do not want the risk of paying a deposit/1st month’s rent for a place that might be a scam.

Some locations such as California can be expensive and have limited housing options. I prefer that the ultimate responsibility of housing falls on the agency and not on me. So, if there are no options they will just have to increase their budget until they find me something, which has definitely happened in the past. In addition, I like to stay at extended stay hotels occasionally so that I can earn elite status and points for travel during my leisure time. Sometimes these hotels (such as Marriott residence inn) can cost $150/night which would equal to $4600/month. Most of the time, this would be more expensive than a housing stipend provided. 

Anyways, I have shared many of my personal reasons for never taking a housing stipend. I may be open to it in the future though if I find housing on my own that would allow me to profit at least $1k/month from the housing stipend. I know several traveling NPs that have profited a similar amount before. 

Please share in the comments below, your experiences and preferences between taking a housing stipend vs having the agency book your housing.  

Housing and Car in Massachusetts

For my housing in MA, I wanted to live in the Residence Inn Marriott. I am 50 nights away from earning Lifetime Platinum Elite Status with Marriott. By staying at this hotel for my assignment, I will earn this lifetime status. This is beneficial for when I travel abroad during my off time. As a platinum elite member I am able to get free breakfast at Marriott, free room upgrades, lounge access, late checkout etc. 

Plus I dont mind staying at the Residence Inn since it has a kitchen. Not to mention all of the marriott points I will be earning. Fortunately, there is a residence inn 15 minutes from my work site. 

For my rental car, I used National like usual. Since I flew into a relatively small airport (Hartford, CT), I knew I would have many nice car options. Since I am going out of town for 4th of July, I needed a car initially just for 3 weeks. I selected the new 2024 mustang convertible. I figured it would be fun with the nice weather. Also, it’s sporty and I love hearing the engine (even from just turning on the car). 

Choosing to Work in Massachusetts

Right before I left the USA to begin my 3-month sabbatical in Spain, I was contacted about a locum tenens opportunity in Massachusetts. It was in a hospital owned clinic so that meant the credentialing takes 3 months. I figured that was perfect timing for me since I would have a guaranteed position when I finished my sabbatical. At the same time, I wasn’t exactly sure I wouldn’t extend my sabbatical, but I thought it was a good idea to have options.

Massachusetts was a good location for me for summer months so I could get away from the Florida heat, and enjoy the New England cool weather. The exact location is Springfield, MA which is a 30 min drive from Hartford, CT and 1.5 hour’s drive from Boston. I have some friends in the area I would like to visit in many nearby locations. 

The agency would cover and apply for my MA license, since we had plenty of time during the 3 months of credentialing. MA is also a high paying state for NPs. Many locums NPs think they can only make $100/hour in primary care in CA, but there are many other states that pay that including MA.

The interview was done via zoom – which has become a default ever since covid. I miss those days of a brief phone interview. My only hesitation with the job was that they listed the number of patients seen per day per provider was 24. I told them my max was 20 patients per day and they said that was fine since they normally build in admin time to the schedule. Great!

The credentialing ended up being no joke. I had to get several forms notarized (while in Spain which is not as easy as just going to the UPS store). I had to fill out tons of paperwork; provide malpractice insurance copies from 30 jobs; plenty of peer references, etc. I actually wanted to cancel the job when I first got to Spain because I felt overwhelmed by how many people were reaching out to me each day regarding credentialing. I felt like I wasn’t on the “break” I was supposed to me on.

When I reached out to my recruiter to cancel the job, I appreciated his approach. He didn’t yell at me and tell me how messed up that was like I had expected. Instead he told me just to take 1-2 weeks off to myself, and regroup after that. That ended up being the perfect solution because after 1-2 weeks I was ready to move forward with everything. 

The credentialing was completed on time, and I started on the day we planned on. 

The Nice Part About Being Financially Independent at Work

When you have reached financial independence – in which you no longer HAVE to work for income – work feels different. There is no longer that stress where you are depending on a paycheck. You can approach work a bit more lightly.

You are no longer afraid to speak up. This is because you aren’t afraid to lose your job since technically you don’t need it anymore. Thus, you are willing to speak your mind and not be afraid of repercussions.  If you feel like something is not fair in the workplace, you can point it out.

You are more likely to ask for a raise or negotiate a different schedule. You are more likely to request to work remotely. You are more likely to ask for a sabbatical. You have nothing to lose, so why not? Being financially independent allows you to make work fit into your life, and not the other way around.

Work is better when you don’t need the money. You do not have to put up with the stressors of work. Nor do you have outside financial stressors that interfere with your workload. It allows you to approach work with a different mindset. 

Now that I am financially independent, I never take a job I do not want. I make sure I am compensated fairly and always negotiate my pay. I am usually the advocate for others at work, who are too afraid to speak up since they are dependent on their job. I also make sure I am treated fairly and do not have to work more than I expected to. 

Even though I have chosen to continue working after reaching financial independence, it makes work even better!

Asia Trip 2024

During my 3-month sabbatical in 2024, I planned a trip to Asia with some friends. We started in South Korea, then went to Vietnam and Cambodia, and ended the trip in Malaysia. I was really curious about Vietnam and Malaysia because I have heard a lot of Americans slow travel there. The US dollar goes far in those countries. You can rent a high rise furnished apartment with views and a/c for $300/month. 

South Korea was probably my least favorite from the Asia trip. Seoul felt like being in NYC where it took 1 hour to get anywhere whether by metro, car, or foot. I expected it to be more futuristic like Japan but they wouldn’t even accept credit cards at the metro station. It just felt like being in a big city. It was my first time eating Korean food and I was impressed by the Korean barbeque and the Korean fried chicken (I normally don’t even like fried chicken). 

Vietnam ended up being my favorite place on the trip. We started in Hanoi which introduced us to the chaos of Vietnamese scooters and mopeds. There weren’t many traffic lights and we just had to cross the street and hope for the best. The humidity hit us really hard coming from Seoul. One of my favorite parts was taking a day cruise along the Halong Bay. It was absolutely beautiful! I especially enjoyed being able to kayak and swim there. Hourly massages in Vietnam only cost $7-8 so we got one daily which was a nice perk. 

We also visited Danang, Vietnam which I preferred over Hanoi. It’s on the beach (which is always a plus for me) so you had the breeze from the ocean that made it cooler. The city is more modern and it seems like they are doing a lot of construction there to build it for tourists. The water at the beach was cool which was perfect for a warm day. We spent one day in Ba Na Hills. This is where they have the famous bridge with the hands. It ended up being an amusement park similar to Epcot at the top of a mountain which was pretty cool. 

We went to Cambodia to visit Angor Wat. I had seen a similar temple in Thailand before, that I believe is almost a copy of Angor Wat in better shape. So, I mostly went to Cambodia to appease one of my friends. I didn’t look forward to spending an entire day of sweating to death. We did a sunrise tour which was worth it because by the time the sun came out and made it feel unbearably hot, we were done. It was extremely humid in the morning and everything in my purse got soaked form the humidity. I did enjoy the food in Cambodia and the people were really nice. 

We ended the trip in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which was really cool. I liked the city vibe because the architecture of the buildings is so unique. My favorite part of Malaysia were the night markets. I have heard from a lot of people that the food in Malaysia is amazing. Now I know why. The food in Malaysia is a mixture of Chinese food, Thai food, and other Asian foods. The night markets had so many options of cool things I have never seen before. It may even be hard to describe. 

Some things we tried were grilled calamari on a stick, huge bobba balls in ice cream, spicy soy sauce chicken, mango sticky rice, tempura potato sticks with sauce, iced coffee in a bag, layered mango crepe etc. We also went to the Batu Caves which is a Hindu Temple. It was an interesting experience and yes we climbed all of these stairs.

Overall, I had a great time in Asia. I saw so many incredible things and the people were so friendly. I am open to spending a month in Vietnam and Malaysia whenever I decide to slow travel. It was worth the 24 hours of flying to and from, and the week it took to recover from jet lag.