Per Diem, pool, ect.......

Since I got hired as a per diem RN I can only tell you that it means "non-benefited" where I work - no vacation, health insurance, etc. I get a higher hourly wage to compensate.

Per diem is like where they were saying above where you don't get any benefits, will be called off for low census first and are not guarenteed any hours, but you get more per hour. And per diem can be float pool, where they work all over. Staffing pool or staff float would get benefits, guarenteed hours, and maybe a couple bucks extra (for RN's) for floating around the hospital- but they are considered real staff and don't get paid as much per hour as the true per diem or registry people. It's complicated.

Per diem employees fill in shifts that are understaffed in the schedule. You usually call to see what hours are available for the current schedule, or sometimes they might call you to see if you can fill in that day. Depending on where you work and how well they are staffed, there may be lots of shifts for you to pick up or you could go for long periods of time with no hours available. Right now in the current economy, there might not be so many shifts open for per diem employees.