For nurses
Before you sign that nursing contract, check these three things.
Whether it is a travel assignment or a staff offer, a nursing contract can include more than hours and pay. It can decide what happens if the assignment is cancelled, what you owe back if you leave early, and where you can work next.
This travel assignment lets the facility cancel shifts unpaid and takes back the full sign-on bonus for any early exit.
Full bonus repaid for any early exit
The full amount comes back even if you leave in the last week, and “for any reason” includes reasons outside your control.
Ask for
Look at the amount and how it reduces over time, and ask for it to reduce across the assignment.
- Cancelled shifts are unpaidHigh · Payment
- No work at the facility through another agencyMedium · Restrictions
The numbers
In May 2025, there were 3,379,720 wage and salary jobs for registered nurses in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $97,550.
These figures count jobs, not people, and do not include self-employed work — so they say little about how many registered nurses work freelance or run their own business.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national estimates for SOC 29-1141. Public domain.
Cancellation, repayment and non-competes
- Cancellation — Check whether you are paid if the facility cancels or cuts hours, and how much notice is given.
- Repayment clauses — A sign-on bonus or training cost that must be repaid if you leave early can be a large sum. Look at the amount and how it reduces over time.
- Non-compete — Check whether a restriction stops you working for another facility or agency, and for how long.
Check the contract before the assignment starts
Nursing contracts decide what leaving costs. Free: one analysis every 30 days, no card. Each analysis gives a risk read of the key clauses, quotes the contract's own words for its findings, and turns each flagged clause into a specific ask.
Analyze my contract — free- Encrypted in transit & at rest
- Files auto-deleted after 30 days
- Never used to train models
- Informational — not legal advice