[Larrythenurse]

Hi there! Great forum here. I serve a DD population residing in group homes in the Portland, OR area. I work full time for a company and make visits to the homes where I do assessments, write care plans and protocols, and teach staff. Recently the OR Dept. of Human Services, Seniors and People with Disabilities Service started to solicit RNs to work as contract RNs for them, essentially doing the same thing I am. Through my contacts I have been offered similar contract work directly from an agency serving DD folks. So, long prelude, but here is my question:
What should I charge?
And a bunch of sub-questions:
Charge differently for profit vs. non-profit?
Flat rate for teachings?
Fee for delegation?
Milage outside of a certain area?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

[Newbie4]

Hi Larry:

I was scanning the DD posts and came across your unanswered post. I live in Oregon as well and am interested in DD nursing. I'm hoping to enter Nursing School in 2005. I have a son with autism. So, what is the update on your situation? Did you put a proposal together and did it lead to a position with OR Human Services?

[pammelton]

[ QUOTE=Larrythenurse]Hi there! Great forum here. I serve a DD population residing in group homes in the Portland, OR area. I work full time for a company and make visits to the homes where I do assessments, write care plans and protocols, and teach staff. Recently the OR Dept. of Human Services, Seniors and People with Disabilities Service started to solicit RNs to work as contract RNs for them, essentially doing the same thing I am. Through my contacts I have been offered similar contract work directly from an agency serving DD folks. So, long prelude, but here is my question:
What should I charge?
And a bunch of sub-questions:
Charge differently for profit vs. non-profit?
Flat rate for teachings?
Fee for delegation?
Milage outside of a certain area?

Any advice would be most appreciated.[/quote]

[spiderman]

Larry- I worked as a consultant to the DD population on a very part time basis. My duties were different than you described. I was payed a flat fee/day plus the time to develop the report. It was a good way to earn some extra money and gain expereince without being committed to a regular part time postion.

I would assess the current pay for nursing staff in your area. Also find out what the nurses in the state DD program are getting.
Are you going to be paying your own health insurance, and other costs that are currently paid by your employer? Add this to your costs because insurance is expensive. Add malpractice insurance costs.
Also, determine the program development time for the teaching. Are you developing the programs also?? Many costs for consulting are hidden in development portion. You can spend a great deal of time developing the teaching programs. If so, add this to your cost. (Once you develop, them I suggest you protect them with copyrights.)

Good luck!!

[Larrythenurse]

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you. Thanks for the tips. I had already done most of your advice. So far it is going well. There is a DD nurse program here in Oregon but there are not too many of them. And they are, to put it nicely, not too competent or complete with their work. I continue to work 40 hrs a week with my full time insurance-paying job and have all the private consulting work I can currently handle.
Be well!
(And if you have any money left over at the end of the year, PLEASE send some to a disaster relief agency.)

Originally Posted by spiderman

Larry- I worked as a consultant to the DD population on a very part time basis. My duties were different than you described. I was payed a flat fee/day plus the time to develop the report. It was a good way to earn some extra money and gain expereince without being committed to a regular part time postion.

I would assess the current pay for nursing staff in your area. Also find out what the nurses in the state DD program are getting
Are you going to be paying your own health insurance, and other costs that are currently paid by your employer? Add this to your costs because insurance is expensive. Add malpractice insurance costs.
Also, determine the program development time for the teaching. Are you developing the programs also?? Many costs for consulting are hidden in development portion. You can spend a great deal of time developing the teaching programs. If so, add this to your cost. (Once you develop, them I suggest you protect them with copyrights.)

Good luck!!