| Weekly pay | Up to $2,500 on a 5x8 schedule of 40 hours per week |
|---|---|
| License | Not a compact state. An Oregon license by endorsement is required, so apply early. |
| Shifts | Day, Evening, and Night shifts available |
| What sets it apart | First state to put nurse-to-patient staffing ratios into statute, across a wide range of units |
| Extras | Weekly pay and a dedicated recruiter. Stipend details vary by contract; your recruiter breaks down every package. Call (866) 680-2920. |
| Pay updated | June 2026 |
Oregon's signature feature for nurses is a law. In 2023 the state passed House Bill 2697, the first legislation in the country to write minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios directly into statute, across a wide range of acute-care units including emergency, ICU, labor and delivery, and the OR. The ratios phased in through 2024, with complaint-driven state enforcement following in 2025, and they set a floor: individual unit plans can staff better than the law requires, but not worse.
This is worth distinguishing from California, the other ratio state. California's ratios came through regulation and have been in place for years; Oregon's came through legislation and are newer and broader in the number of unit types they name. For a traveler, the practical effect is the same kind of protection: a defined patient load and an enforcement mechanism behind it, including an end to the old practice of nurses doubling their patient count to cover a colleague's break. If working a capped, protected assignment matters to you, Oregon is now one of only a couple of states that guarantee it.
We Care Staffing's current Oregon contracts pay up to $2,500 a week on a 5x8 schedule, five 8-hour shifts and 40 hours. Oregon is consistently one of the higher-paying states for nurses per BLS data, buoyed by strong union pay scales in the Portland metro that set a high bar for staff wages and pull travel rates up with them.
Your package pairs a taxable hourly wage with tax-free housing and meal stipends following GSA rates for travelers with a qualifying tax home. Oregon's income tax is graduated and runs up to about 9.9%, applied only to your taxable base, and the state has no sales tax, a quiet daily saving on everything you buy during an assignment.
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
$2,500
Max Weekly Pay
0%
Sales Tax
HB 2697
Staffing Ratios Law
Oregon is not a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so you need an Oregon license by endorsement from the state board of nursing even with a multistate license. Compact legislation has been discussed but not enacted, so for now every traveler needs the state license. Apply before you start your contract search, since processing and verification take time, and a complete first application is the best way to protect your start date.
Your Oregon assignment is one application away.
Speak to our recruiter now.
We Care Staffing places travel RNs across Oregon in the specialties facilities need most: med-surg, telemetry, ICU, ER, labor and delivery, and OR, all of them covered by the state's staffing-ratio framework. The work is core bedside nursing carried as a full member of an established team: assessments, care plans, medications and treatments, EMR documentation, and patient and family education, inside a defined and enforced patient load.
We Care Staffing places nurses across Oregon's major metro systems and regional hospitals. Demand concentrates around Portland, with steady needs in Eugene, Salem, and the state's smaller regional facilities.
"We-Care found me the perfect ER nurse assignment quickly. Their communication was fantastic throughout the entire process. I couldn't be happier!"
Jessica Miller
Travel Nurse
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