Travel nursing involves taking temporary assignments in various locations, offering professionals a unique blend of career opportunity and geographic flexibility. The duration a nurse can remain in one assignment location is determined by contractual agreements, federal tax regulations, and state-level licensing requirements. Understanding these constraints is necessary for planning a career trajectory and maximizing financial benefits. The ultimate limit on a travel nurse’s stay depends on maintaining their status as a temporary employee working away from a permanent home base.
Standard Contract Duration and Renewal Practices
The initial length of a travel nursing contract is typically 13 weeks, which is the industry standard. This three-month period allows a healthcare facility to address short-term staffing deficits, such as seasonal patient surges or staff training cycles. Contracts can range from four to eight weeks for rapid response needs, up to 26 weeks for longer-term coverage.
Many travel nurses choose to extend their initial contract if they enjoy the assignment and the facility still needs temporary staff. Renewals are often offered in 13-week increments, allowing a nurse to stay for six months or longer at the same hospital. However, facilities and staffing agencies often impose a maximum length of stay shorter than the federal tax limit. This internal cap, often around six months, ensures the position remains temporary and is not a substitute for a permanent hire.
The 12-Month IRS Tax Rule
The most significant constraint on a travel nurse’s duration is the federal tax code governing temporary work assignments. Travel nurses receive a portion of their compensation as tax-free stipends, or per diem payments, which cover the duplicated costs of meals, housing, and incidentals while away from their permanent “tax home.” To qualify for these stipends, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires the assignment to be temporary, lasting one year or less.
The IRS 12-month rule stipulates that a nurse cannot work in the same general geographic area for more than 12 months in any rolling 24-month period. Exceeding this threshold reclassifies the work location as the nurse’s new tax home, retroactively making the assignment “indefinite.” This change has financial consequences, as all stipends received during the entire assignment period lose their tax-free status and become taxable income.
To maintain tax home status, a travel nurse must demonstrate they are incurring duplicate living expenses by maintaining a permanent residence in a separate location. They must also keep strong ties to that location, demonstrated through maintaining a driver’s license, voter registration, and paying state taxes in the home state. Failing to meet these criteria, or exceeding the 12-month limit, eliminates the primary financial advantage of travel nursing.
Facility and Agency Policy Limitations
Even if a travel nurse has not reached the 12-month IRS limit, healthcare facilities and staffing agencies often enforce internal limitations on assignment duration. These policies manage workforce dynamics and financial considerations beyond federal tax compliance. A primary concern for hospitals is preventing the high pay rate of temporary staff from creating resentment among permanent, lower-paid staff nurses.
To mitigate this friction, some facilities cap assignments at shorter durations, such as nine or ten months, or require a mandatory break before a nurse can return. Hospitals may also prevent hiring a travel nurse who lives within a certain radius or who recently resigned from the facility’s staff. These internal rules help the hospital avoid the appearance of creating a permanent position with a temporary contract, which negatively impacts staff morale and retention.
Staffing agencies also manage assignment length to ensure contracts remain compliant with tax law and to maintain facility relationships. If a facility notices a pattern of temporary staff staying for nearly a year, the hospital might adjust its policies. Agencies often counsel nurses to take breaks or move to a different city well before the 12-month mark to protect the nurse’s tax status and the agency’s reputation.
State Licensing and Residency Considerations
A long-term stay in a single assignment state introduces complexities related to professional licensing and legal residency status. The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) facilitates working across state lines, allowing a nurse to hold a single multi-state license based on their Primary State of Residence (PSOR).
If a nurse establishes significant ties to the assignment state—such as obtaining a driver’s license, registering to vote, or filing tax returns there—they risk having that state legally declared as their new PSOR. This change requires the nurse to surrender their previous multi-state NLC license and apply for a new one in the assignment state. This administrative burden is significant, especially if the nurse plans to return to their original home base or take assignments in other compact states.
The state of residence dictates where a nurse pays state income taxes, which can become complicated after a long assignment. Some states may require a nurse to file as a part-year resident if they have worked there for more than 180 days. Maintaining clear documentation of ties to the tax home is necessary to justify the continued use of a multi-state license and simplify tax filing across multiple jurisdictions.
Practical Strategies for Maximizing Your Stay
Travel nurses who wish to spend the longest duration in a preferred city must employ specific strategies to remain compliant with tax regulations and facility policies. The most important action is to maintain rigorous proof of a separate tax home by retaining documentation of duplicated living expenses, such as rent, mortgage, or utility payments for the permanent residence. This documentation is the primary defense against an IRS audit questioning the temporary nature of the assignment.
Taking a break is a practical way to manage the 12-month rolling clock, though it does not reset the entire period. Returning to the tax home for a month or more between assignments demonstrates a lack of continuity in the assignment location. Nurses should also consider changing to a different metropolitan area outside the “general area” of the previous assignment to avoid accumulating months against the 12-month limit. Changing hospitals within the same city is generally not enough, as the IRS considers the “general geographic area” to be the limit for protecting tax-free stipends.