Healthcare staffing glossary
24 terms you will meet in offers, licensing and pay, in plain words.
A
- Assignment
- A fixed-term contract at one facility, typically 13 weeks for travel roles.
C
- Credentialing
- The facility and agency process of verifying your license, certifications, education, work history and health requirements before you start.
- CRNA
- Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, an advanced practice nurse who provides anesthesia.
D
- Differential
- Extra hourly pay for less desirable shifts such as nights, weekends or holidays.
E
- Effective hourly rate
- Weekly gross pay divided by hours worked. It lets you compare offers that split pay differently.
- Endorsement
- Licensure in a new state based on a license you hold in another state.
F
- Float pool
- A group of staff who work across units as the facility needs them.
G
- GSA per diem
- Federal per diem rates for lodging and meals by city, published by the General Services Administration and widely used as a stipend benchmark.
- Guaranteed hours
- The minimum number of paid hours per week promised by a contract.
H
- HCSS certification
- The Joint Commission Health Care Staffing Services certification, which Valorem Health has held since 2022.
L
- LCA
- Labor Condition Application, a filing with the U.S. Department of Labor in which an employer states the wage it will pay a foreign-born worker on certain visas.
- Locum tenens
- Temporary physician or advanced practice provider coverage for a defined period.
M
- M&IE
- Meals and incidental expenses, the daily amount for food and small costs in a travel stipend.
- MSP
- Managed service provider, a company that manages a hospital's contingent workforce program.
- Multistate license
- A nursing license from a compact home state that allows practice in other compact states.
N
- NLC
- Nurse Licensure Compact, the agreement among states on multistate nursing licenses.
- Nursys
- A service many boards of nursing use to verify nursing licenses.
P
- Per diem
- Shift-by-shift work with no fixed schedule or commitment, or the daily allowance used in travel stipends.
- PERM
- The labor certification process an employer uses before sponsoring a foreign-born worker for a green card. Wage offers in these filings are public data.
- PSOR
- Primary state of residence, the state where you legally live and which issues your multistate license.
S
- Shift Report
- The free email from Valorem Health with pay at named employers near you and the roles open now.
T
- Tax home
- A regular place of work or main residence you maintain, which decides whether travel stipends can be tax-free.
- Taxable rate
- The wage part of a travel package, taxed like any wages.
V
- VMS
- Vendor management system, software hospitals use to manage staffing vendors and orders.
See what employers near you pay.
Tell us your role and city. Within 24 hours you get an email with three things, by employer name. It costs you nothing, because employers pay us.
- 1Pay for your role at other hospitals
The hourly pay at named employers near you, so you see who pays most.
- 2What they are offering now
The pay range and median across current postings, and how many were posted this month.
- 3Roles open for you right now
Every current opening near you with pay, shift and start date. Reply with one click.
Get your free pay report
Tell us who you are and what you do. We email the report within 24 hours on business days.
Your RN pay reportyour city · pay published by hospitals, collected October 15, 2026
1Pay for your role at other hospitals
- Veterans Health AdministrationSan Antonio, TX · 5 postings$62.40/ hr$36–$87
- Military Treatment Facilities under DHAFort Hood, TX · 3 postings$55.88/ hr$47–$67
- BrightSpring Health ServicesIRVING, TX · 4 postings$50.00/ hr$44–$55
- Select MedicalDallas, TX · 3 postings$46.19/ hr$32–$53
Median posted pay per hour, with the range each employer published.
2What they are offering now
124 RN postings with published pay in Texas, 105 of them posted in the last 30 days. Month-by-month history by employer comes with your full report.
3Open now: 124 RN roles
- Registered Nurse (Critical Care) - Education Debt Reduction Program AuthorizedPermanent$86k–$174k/ year
- Nurse (Clinical/Ambulatory)Permanent$107k–$139k/ year
+ 122 more in your report. Each one has pay, shift and start date.