| Weekly pay | Up to $2,500 on a 12x3 schedule of 36 hours per week |
|---|---|
| Shifts | Day, Evening, and Night shifts available |
| Schedule | Three 12-hour shifts per week (12x3) |
| License | New York RN license required (not a compact state). No temporary permit for endorsement, so the full license must be in hand before day one. |
| The big decision | NYC or upstate. The two markets pay, cost, and feel completely different. |
| Extras | Weekly pay and a dedicated recruiter. Stipend and benefit details vary by contract; your recruiter breaks down every package. Call (866) 680-2920. |
| Pay updated | June 2026 |
Most job pages save licensing for the middle. For New York it belongs at the top, because the timing rule here is the one thing that can cost you a contract before you ever start. The short version: get your application in early, because there is no fast lane once a contract is in front of you.
New York is not in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate license does not let you practice here; you need a New York license by endorsement from the State Education Department's Office of the Professions. It is a Form 1 application with a $143 fee plus verification of your existing license and education, and most complete files clear in about 6 to 8 weeks.
Here is the catch that surprises travelers: New York issues no temporary permit to endorsement applicants. Unlike states that let you start on a temp license, New York requires the full license in hand before your first shift, which means the calendar, not the paperwork, is your real constraint. The single slowest step is your nursing school sending education verification (Form 2) directly to the state, so request it the same day you apply. The upside, once you are through it: no fingerprinting is required, and your New York license is then valid for life with a simple three-year registration renewal.
$143
Application Fee
6–8 Weeks
Processing Time
For Life
License Validity
Your New York assignment is one application away.
Speak to our recruiter now.New York is really two travel markets wearing one state name, and picking the right one matters more here than almost anywhere else.
The city is the largest, highest-acuity hospital market in the country. NYC Health + Hospitals is the biggest public hospital system in the United States, and it shares the city with several top-ranked academic medical centers. Contracts here mean big names on your resume, the highest stipends in the state (NYC carries one of the highest GSA housing allowances anywhere), and the highest cost of living to match. You come to NYC for experience and pace, not to bank the easiest savings.
Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and the Long Island suburbs are the quieter, often smarter-paying half. Contract rates stay competitive while the cost of living drops sharply, so the effective take-home on an upstate assignment frequently beats a city contract at the same headline number. If your goal is to save rather than to chase the marquee hospital, upstate is usually the better math. Your recruiter can run both side by side before you choose.
We Care Staffing's current New York contracts pay up to $2,500 a week on a 12x3 schedule, three 12-hour shifts and 36 hours, the standard full-time pattern. For benchmarking, New York RNs earn a median of about $51 an hour (roughly $105,600 a year) per BLS data, well above the national average.
What is unusual about New York is the direction of travel. Union strength keeps pushing wages up: NYC nurses won 19% raises in their 2023 contracts and ratified new three-year agreements in February 2026 with further annual increases, and travel rates have risen alongside staff pay. Your package combines a taxable hourly rate with tax-free housing and meal stipends for travelers who keep a qualifying tax home. New York's graduated income tax (plus a NYC local tax for city residents) applies only to the taxable portion, and your recruiter will show you the real net before you sign.
Taxable Base Rate
Competitive hourly wage
Housing Stipend
Tax-free, GSA-based rates
Meal Stipend
Tax-free daily allowance
Weekly Pay
Transparent breakdown every week
$51/hr
NY Median RN Wage
$2,500
Max Weekly Pay
200,000+
RNs Employed Statewide
Because so much of New York's demand sits in academic centers and Level I trauma programs, high-acuity and specialty experience is especially prized. We Care Staffing places nurses to major systems. The specialties in steadiest demand are ICU, ER, med-surg, telemetry, L&D, NICU, OR, and psych, and with more than 200,000 RNs employed statewide (the fourth most in the country), contracts turn over constantly.
The work itself is the bedside fundamentals carried at New York pace: sharp assessments, fast escalation, accurate EMR documentation, and steady communication across a large multidisciplinary team. A 12x3 week means three days on and four off, which in New York is its own kind of benefit, whether you spend it in the city or in the mountains upstate.
We Care Staffing places nurses across New York's major health systems. Demand spans from the five boroughs of NYC to Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and Long Island, with more than 200,000 RNs employed statewide, the fourth most in the country. Contracts turn over constantly across every specialty.
"As a new grad, I was nervous, but We-Care supported me. They landed me my first job in a supportive environment. Thank you!"
Brandon Lee
RN
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