Re: what is per Diem position means ?
If you don't have transportation or childcare or other obligations, I wouldn't take a per diem position. It varies hospital to hospital. Mine basically calls in per diem nurses if they know someone is going to be out on a medical/personal leave, if someone is on vacation on a unit and there's not enough staff/float personnel to cover or they'll call them last minute if there's too many call outs for the floats to cover. They'll also have an on-call list where they can put themselves on a list for a block of days and if they're needed, they'll get called about 3-5 hours before a shift to come in, so you can't plan anything around it just in case they call. Sometimes they work weekly, sometimes they won't get called for a couple of weeks. No benefits, no guaranteed hours but more money per hour.
Just check with whichever hospital you're working at/planning to work at. I, personally, like a steady, consistant paycheck and our benefits rock.
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