Hey, friends! I’m doing something a little different today, and giving you some insight into one of the aspects of travel nursing: Housing!
First off, yes, I get a housing stipend! How much the housing stipend is depends on the area I’m in. For example, my housing stipend for this assignment in Puyallup, WA is more than my housing stipend was for my assignment in Salisbury, NC, because cost of living is higher here than in NC.
Obviously where you’re living during an assignment is super important, especially if you have to take call. I have found that hospitals require you to be within 20-30 minutes of the hospital if you are taking call, which can be tricky if you don’t know someone in the area, or have to take housing farther away. I have been lucky in that the places I’ve stayed have been within 30 minutes from the hospital, and also the hospital I’m working at right now doesn’t have travelers take call unless they want to (whoohoo!!).
I’ve done a couple types of housing. With my first assignment, I went ahead and went through a third party, hired through the agency. The person I worked with found a couple places that looked nice, and were within my budget and needs (i.e. one bedroom, one bathroom, good location, no pets). Every week, a certain amount of money was taken out of my paycheck to pay the monthly rent, utilities, and furniture rental on the apartment, and the rest came back to me. I used some of what was left over to pay for cable and internet, and the rest went into my savings or fun money.
The advantage of doing it this way is that there was basically no effort from me to find a place. I handed the reigns to someone and said, here you go, find me something good. I also didn’t have to find furniture, because they found a furniture rental place and included that in my weekly take-out.
The disadvantages, were that I had to bring ALL my own stuff. Kitchen supplies, sheets, trash cans, shower curtains, etc, was all on me. That meant that my car was STUFFED to the brim with, well, stuff. That also meant that when I left, I had to give some things away that didn’t fit in my car. Oops.
With this second assignment, I decided to get an AirBNB. I did the leg work, I paid the down payment, and everything has been on me. I’ve heard a lot of things about scammers on Facebook, AirBNB, and Furnished Finders (which is another app for travelers to use for long term rentals), but I have never experienced a scammer first-hand (knock on wood). Honestly, it was kind of scary pushing the button to pay for the AirBNB because I didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into. Pictures can be from anywhere.
Fortunately, I lucked out. My hosts are incredible (they brought me kale and lettuce today, and have let me pick delightful rainier cherries off the tree out front), and they’re knowledgeable about the area. The only downside is that we can’t cook bacon in the house, because I don’t think our host likes the smell, and we have to take our shoes off at the bottom of the stairs, because germs.
The advantages of getting an AirBNB over other types of housing is that they’re furnished, they usually have basic kitchen amenities, and you immediately have someone to contact if things go wrong, or if you need advice on places to eat and things to do. I didn’t have to pack a kitchen with me, which meant a couple less boxes of stuff. I also didn’t need to bring towels or sheets. It’s completely furnished. There is internet.
The disadvantages of AirBNBs are that they seem easy to scam, so you have to be careful. In all things, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. If you are a traveler, you might not know the area well, so you may end up in a not so good part of town–do your research.
All in all, I’ve had two great experiences with my assignments. I’m leaning toward AirBNBing more, because I like that they have mostly everything I need, and I don’t have to pack as much.
I hope you enjoyed this different kind of segment. I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I do for housing, so I figured I’d answer it this way!
Enjoy your Independence Day weekends! Be safe around the fireworks, and around each other, and have fun!
ShutterbugRN Travels 