Thought I'd chime in with a little assistance too, and thanks for the mention of my book jbizzle ;-)
One thing you will learn about travel nursing is that although most companies sign the same contracts with the hospital, they will not all pay the same. What happens in most instances is that the travel company will sign a "blanket" contract with the hospital. After all, the hospital is not going to draft a new contract for each traveler that applies with a different company, so they sign a blanket agreement which usually allows for a certain rate for all the travelers they use.
So, let's just say that a hospital signs a contract with a travel company that states that they will pay the travel company a rate of $85 an hour for a travel nurse (not an exaggerated rate by the way). Then the travel company turns around and signs a contract with the traveler agreeing to pay a rate of $32 an hour. Okay...where did that extra $53 an hour go? Well, welcome to the world of allocation.
While every travel company that contracts with the hospital might be making $85 an hour, not every travel company will allocate that money in the same way. Some companies will give their travelers a higher pay rate, some will put more money toward nicer housing, some will have better health care and benefits. Now days, you also have travel companies that will offer an "a la carte" menu of benefits. Maybe you want all your benefits and will earn $26/hr. Give up health insurance, make $28/hr. Give up housing, it jumps to $33/hr. Even companies that don't advertise such choices will often work with you in allocating the monies that they are paid by the hospital.
Sorry if that's too much info, after all, ask a writer a simple question, get a novel in response :-)
Now, the real answer to your question will require some research on your part. Often, to this correctly, you will need to join a handful of companies. The only TRUE way to compare travel companies is by finding the same assignment with two companies and compare apples to apples. In over 15 years as a traveler, this has only happened to me once.
l wanted to get back home (Columbus, Ohio) to spend the summer. I ended up calling all my recruiters and saying, "First one to find me a Columbus assignment wins". It was only a short time later that I ended up with two companies with Columbus assignments, but not only were they in the same city, but they were in the same hospital and even the same unit (an EXACT apples to apples comparison).
Company "A" (my preferred company) offered $28 with $800 housing subsidy. Company "B" offered $1 more an hour, but also $1200 housing subsidy. I was in a great position to negotiate, so I told company "A" what company "B" had offered. My recruiter came back matching their rate, but said she was stuck at only being able to offer $800 for housing. I went back to company "B" and told them that the company I had been with the longest just matched their rate (I neglected to mention the $400 less they were going to pay me in housing). So company "B" came back $1 more an hour and I think it was an extra $50-$100 in housing. Even though the healthcare coverage was probably better with my preferred company (since they allocated more money toward a great policy for their travelers), I chose company "B" since I rarely needed to use my healthcare coverage. This is the only time I have ever been able to directly compare companies and shows how allocation can affect hourly rates and other monies such as housing subsidy.
Now for the short answer (too late). If you want to earn top dollar, yes, some of the smaller companies might pay better. The larger companies tend to take more off the top for themselves, but this is not always the case as the aforementioned "Company B" was one of the "giants" in the industry and gave me a better rate than a smaller trusted company. However, if anything went wrong on my assignment, "Company A" would have fixed it to my satisfaction whereas "Company B".....well, let's just say I have heard some things that would not make me want to be working with them if there were any bumps in the road.
Better pay can often sacrifice service and smaller companies are more willing to take contracts at any facility, even those that have a history of canceling contracts. You must also take into consideration the area of the country and an ICU or tele contract in Iowa will not compare to one in Northern California. Texas has a history of lower pay, but I have also seen some desperate hospitals in that state with pretty nice completion bonuses (just depends on what is going on at the time you are looking).
You can also enlist the help of your recruiters for the best paying assignments. I have told recruiters before that I would consider any contract with a rate above "X" amount hourly with at least a $2000 bonus (in that instance I secured a contract with my asking rate and a $3000 completion bonus).
I hope that you will consider all factors when choosing your travel company as those with the least benefits and higher pay might not be the companies you will want to be with should you encounter problems while on the road (you can probably find some travelers on here that would echo that sentiment).
If you would like any recommendations, feel free to email me at david@travelnursesbible.com. I work with a LOT of first-time travelers (and even those with experience) in navigating travel company selection. Let me know if pay is your only motivation or you would consider some trusted companies that pay well, but also give a little more peace of mind. If you like, I can give you the names of some of the people I use at the companies I use and trust.
I hope this helps in choosing a company.
David
http://travelnursesbible.com
