Nurse staffing agency fees, explained.

Permanent placement fees

Typically 20 to 30 percent of first-year salary, paid on start. On a $90,000 nurse that is $18,000 to $27,000 per hire. Some agencies offer a guarantee period (often 60 to 90 days) with a replacement or partial refund if the nurse leaves. Nothing is left behind after the placement: no campaign, no database, no learning.

Travel and contract bill rates

Travel nurses are billed hourly at a rate that includes the nurse's pay, stipends, and the agency margin. Bill rates vary widely by specialty, market, and urgency, and the margin between what the hospital pays and what the nurse receives is commonly a meaningful share of the rate. Crisis rates during shortages have run far above normal.

Conversion fees

Hiring a travel or contract nurse into a permanent role usually triggers a conversion fee, often a percentage of salary that declines with contract length, or a flat amount. Read the contract before offering the nurse a permanent seat.

What the fee buys

Speed, a candidate you did not have to find, and someone else absorbing the screening work. For an emergency or a rare subspecialty, that is worth paying for.

What the alternative costs

A recruitment funnel you own: campaigns that reach employed nurses, a 60-second reply that books interviews before competitors call, and a candidate database that makes each hire cheaper. Provido engagements run $5,000 to $8,000 per month plus a one-time $7,500 setup, ad spend billed direct at no markup. For any organization making more than a handful of nurse hires a year, the retainer is less than two placement fees, and it keeps producing. The full comparison is on recruitment marketing vs staffing agencies vs job boards.