my first job- per diem in a jail

[bymysoultosqueezeRN]

i greaduated in may and i was offered a per diem position at a county jail. the paperwork took forever to verify but finally i received the official offer letter and now im waiting for a phone call to start. my question is how likely am i to be a full time employee and how long does it usually take to change from per diem to ft. also i know per diem is not a good first job but at this point i am glad to even have a job as a rn. from your experiences does per diem nurse have a lot of work? meanign a lot of days to work?

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

The time frame for going from per diem to full time depends entirely on the employer. Two things have to happen: they have to be satisfied with your work, and they have to have a vacant position. The number of days you get is also usually dependent upon the employer, and the number of open shifts. Some employers also have maximum numbers of hours that per diem nurses can work at a time. I work for a state department of corrections, and our per diem nurses are limited to 80 hours per month. Because of state personnel regulations and differences in classifications, if an employee works more than 80 hours it changes his/her status in terms of classification and benefits.

I started in my agency's per diem nursing pool. Originally I was working 2-4 12-hour shifts per month. I was offered full time in about six months.