[Janine SNLCC]

Is agency nursing only home health care?
What are different agencies?
Just a curious student
~Janine

[Tweety]

No.

Many hospitals use agency nurses either contracted for a specific amount of weeks, or per diem on a daily basis. Many agency nurses work in hospitals all over the city they work in. Nursing homes use agency nurses as well.

[Janine SNLCC]

Do you do patient care? I would like to do that, but not at a nursing home...in NICU or PEDS or OB would that be possible?

[suzanne4]

The specialty areas require that you have a few years of experience under your belt for most facilities.

For agency work, almost any area is possible: free standing out-patient surgery centers, any type of clinic, dialysis, etc. Plus all of the customary areas that you can think of.

[Janine SNLCC]

How do you get more information on it?

[Tweety]

Nursing agnecies are usually listed in the phone book and most have websites. Most advertise in nursing magazines as well.

I work staff for a hospital, so I really can't offer much more. Our hospital has used agency nurses before. It's a good way to make good money if your flexible and a strong experienced clinician.

[Daytonite]

Nursing agencies are nothing more than temporary employment agencies that specialize in placing nurses into temporary nursing jobs. The client who calls the agency for a nurse, pays the temporary employment agency for the nurses services and the temporary employment agency handles the responsibility of paying the wages to the nurse. By being the one in control of collecting the money and paying the nurses wage, the temporary employment agency makes sure they get their income. If the nurse is being paid $15 an hour by the agency, the agency is very likely billing the client upwards of $20 to 25 and hour or more for the services of the nurse. These nursing agencies are in business to make money and it is because of the nursing shortage that they are able to stay in business.

These agency nurses work in all kinds of facilities that might need a nurse as well as some private duty cases. The private duty cases are often home cases where the patient is severely handicapped in some way or another and requires around the clock nursing care. The classic cases are what are called "million dollar babies" who had extensive surgeries to repair congenital anomalies, but need tube feedings, have tracheostomies and are often on ventilators. There is often an insurance company paying for the nursing services or they are paid for from money gotten by a lawsuit settlement. Travel nursing is an extension of this temporary employment concept. The large difference is that the agencies are able to procure a contract with a hospital or nursing home for the temporary nurse to work there for 13 weeks (one quarter of the year--this is the average contract length). This guarantees an agency and the nurse it represents 13 weeks of income for themselves and the nurse. There are several large nursing agencies and travel nurse agencies across the country. The travel nurse agencies, in particular, advertise very heavily in the nursing journals.

The attraction for nurses is that they can have total control over the days they work. In some cases their hourly wage is higher than what hospital workers make, but the trade off is that they don't always get work. To my way of thinking agency nursing is no different than being a float nurse. With the nursing shortage in some places, some hospitals have had to resort to using agency nurses to keep their hospital staffed. If a hospital or nursing home has last minute call-offs and can't find one of their own employee nurses to come in to work it is very easy for them to pick up the phone and call one of these agencies to get a temporary nurse to fill their immediate need. Two of the larger national agency chains have offices in the area where you live: Favorite Nurses and Nursefinders.

[jen42]

I do correctional nursing per diem with Medical Staffing Network. The pay is amazing. I think you can get agency work in pretty much any area of nursing, perhaps except for school nursing, and there doesn't tend to be much in an office setting...

[poohbear6301]

I have worked for an agency for the past three years now off and on. I enjoy the freedom of not having to work weekends. The trade-off is I don't have any insurance or other benefits, as to have that I have to purchase it and it is cost prohibitive. I have a special needs daughter, 15 years old who attends school during the day so I work during that time and am home when she is. Mostly I do high-tech cases...ventilator dependant adults and pediatrics. I have been nursing for almost 30 years so when I started school...we WERE RT and was taught alot of the ventilator skills now adays only RT is allowed to do....