Questions to Ask a Travel Nurse Recruiter Before You Sign

A travel nurse recruiter’s job is to fill a contract. Yours is to find out exactly what you are agreeing to before you sign it. The questions below are the ones whose answers change what a contract is worth or whether it can be ended early, grouped so you can work through them on one call. For each we say why it matters and what a good answer looks like. TravelNurseCalc is a pay calculator and data site, not an agency, and nothing here is a statistic about recruiters; it is a checklist.

If you do not yet have a recruiter and want help finding a contract, our find a travel nurse job page works like this: tell us what you want and, with your permission, we introduce you to a partner recruiter, or say so if none covers it yet. We do not place anyone ourselves.

Pay package

1. What is the taxable hourly rate, and what is each stipend per week, as separate numbers? Everything else depends on this split. Overtime, a night differential, holiday pay and any pay calculated from hours use the taxable rate; the stipends are a fixed weekly amount. A good answer is three figures in writing: the hourly rate, the weekly housing stipend and the weekly meals and incidentals stipend. A recruiter who gives only a blended weekly total is giving you one number where you need three. Our guide to reading a contract offer shows where each sits on the page.

2. What does the weekly gross assume about hours and shift? A quoted weekly figure usually assumes a set number of hours (often 36) and sometimes assumes nights or a specific schedule. Ask what hours the figure assumes and whether it changes if you take days instead of nights. A good answer names the hours and says whether a shift differential is included or added separately.

3. Is there overtime, and at what rate is it calculated? Ask whether overtime is available, what rate applies and whether it is calculated on the taxable hourly rate alone. Because the stipend is not pay for hours, overtime on a package with a low taxable rate is worth much less than the blended figure suggests. The overtime ROI calculator models an extra shift at the taxable rate, after tax.

4. Does the agency pay travel reimbursement, licence or certification costs, or a completion bonus, and under what conditions? A reimbursement that depends on finishing the contract is worth less than one paid up front, and a bonus paid at the end is lost if the contract is cancelled. A good answer states the amount, when it is paid and the condition attached.

5. Can I see the full pay breakdown in writing before I accept? This is the one question that makes the others verifiable. Run the written package through Contract Grade to see how the taxable rate compares with our labelled estimate for the state and specialty, and whether the stipend sits under the GSA ceiling.

Stipends and tax home

6. What GSA locality and month were the stipends set against? For a traveler with a qualifying tax home, the weekly housing ceiling is the GSA lodging rate for the assignment locality × 7; the combined per diem ceiling is (lodging + meals and incidentals) × 7. In GSA’s FY2027 standard-rate areas lodging is $113 a night ($791 a week) and M&IE is $68 a day ($1,267 a week combined). Many localities are seasonal, so a contract that crosses months can cross rates. A good answer names the locality and shows the stipends sit at or under the lodging figure for housing and the combined figure overall. Check it yourself with the stipend calculator and the per diem pages.

7. Is the housing stipend measured against the lodging rate, or the combined rate? A housing stipend set against the combined per diem figure can run hundreds of dollars a week over the lodging ceiling. Any amount above the ceiling should be treated as taxable wages, and overstating a stipend is the direction that creates audit exposure for you, not for the agency. A good answer distinguishes the two numbers without prompting.

8. What does the agency require from me to pay stipends tax-free? Stipends are tax-free only if you maintain a qualifying tax home and are working away from it. An agency may ask you to attest to this. A good answer explains what the attestation covers and what happens to the package if you cannot sign it, which should be that the stipend amounts are paid as taxable wages instead. The tax home validator walks through the IRS tests.

9. If I do not qualify for tax-free stipends, what is the fully taxed equivalent of this package? The honest comparison for a traveler without a tax home is the whole package taxed as wages. Ask the recruiter to quote it, then model it on the tax calculator.

Hours and guarantee

10. How many hours per week are guaranteed, and who pays for them? A guaranteed-hours clause means the facility or agency pays for the contracted hours even if you are sent home. Ask whether the guarantee is paid by the facility or absorbed by the agency, because an agency-paid guarantee is more likely to be limited. The guaranteed hours guide covers the clause wording.

11. How many shifts can be cancelled per pay period without pay? A guarantee may carry an exception for a set number of cancelled shifts. Ask for the number, and whether it is per week, per pay period or per contract. A good answer is a number you can find in the contract.

12. If a shift is cancelled, is the stipend reduced as well as the wages? A contract may prorate stipends when hours fall below the contracted level. Our post on low census cancellation explains why that matters when you are already paying for housing. A good answer says in writing what happens to the weekly stipend when a shift is cancelled.

Cancellation

13. What notice does the facility have to give to cancel the contract, and what notice do I have to give? Ask for both periods and for what is paid during the notice period. Ask separately what happens if the contract is cancelled before you start, after you have signed a lease or booked travel. Our cancellation policy guide sets out the clauses to look for.

14. What counts as a cancellation for cause, and what can I be charged? A contract may allow the agency to recover housing, travel or bonus costs if you leave early. Ask for the list of recoverable costs and the circumstances. A good answer points to a specific clause rather than saying “it depends”.

Housing

15. If I take agency housing instead of the stipend, what is deducted and what do I give up? Agency-provided housing replaces the housing stipend. Ask what the housing is, whether utilities and furniture are included, and what the stipend would have been, so you can compare. Our agency housing vs stipend post covers the trade-off, and the stipend vs rent post covers the arithmetic.

Licensure

16. Which licence does this contract need, who pays for it, and when must it be in hand? The Nurse Licensure Compact pertains to RN and LPN/VN licences only, per the NLC’s own FAQ (read 27 October 2026), so a multistate licence covers compact states; a non-compact state needs its own licence, and a late licence can delay or void a start date. Ask whether the agency reimburses the fee and whether reimbursement depends on completing the contract. The compact license lookup lists the states we hold on file.

The hospital

17. What unit is this, what is the ratio, what charting system, and how long is orientation? These determine whether you can do the job from the first shift. A competency gap found during orientation is a cancellation risk, not a negotiation point. A good answer comes from the facility, not the recruiter’s guess, and a good recruiter finds out before you sign.

18. What is the float policy, and does the role include call? Ask which units you can be floated to and whether call is required, with the call and call-back rates. Floating terms are covered in our floating clause guide. A good answer puts the float units and any call rate in the contract.

Before the call ends

Ask the recruiter to send the full written package and the contract template, then work through it with Contract Grade, the stipend calculator and the red flags checklist. For how to turn the answers into a better offer, see the contract negotiation guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most important question to ask a travel nurse recruiter?

Ask for the taxable hourly rate and each stipend as separate weekly figures, in writing. Every other pay question depends on that split: overtime, differentials and any pay based on hours are calculated from the taxable rate, and the stipends are only tax-free up to the GSA per diem ceiling for the assignment locality and only if you maintain a qualifying tax home.

How do I check whether the housing stipend a recruiter offers is legitimate?

Compare it with the GSA lodging rate for the assignment locality times seven, for the months you will be there. That is the weekly housing ceiling for a traveler with a qualifying tax home. The combined per diem ceiling, which adds the meals and incidentals rate, is a different and higher number; a housing stipend should be measured against the lodging figure alone. In GSA’s FY2027 standard-rate areas lodging is $113 a night, or $791 a week.

What should I ask about guaranteed hours?

Ask how many hours per week are guaranteed, how many shifts the facility may cancel per pay period without paying them, whether a cancelled shift reduces the stipend as well as the wages, and whether the agency or the facility pays for the guaranteed hours. The answer should be a clause you can read in the contract, not a verbal assurance.

Should I ask a recruiter about the hospital itself?

Yes. Ask for the unit, the nurse-to-patient ratio, the charting system, the float policy, the length of orientation and whether the role includes call. A recruiter who cannot answer should be willing to find out from the facility before you sign, because each of these affects whether you can do the job and whether the contract can be cancelled for a competency gap.

Data reviewed 27 October 2026. GSA figures are GSA’s FY2027 CONUS standard rates. Compact wording is from the NLC’s FAQ page as read on 27 October 2026. This is a checklist, not tax or legal advice, and it contains no statistics about recruiters or agencies because we hold none.