Agency or Per Diem??

[brina]

Hi everybody! I was wondering which pays more: Agency or Per Diem. I will graduate on December 16th, and after I get my year of experience I will want to have a schedule with more flexibility. So which one would you all do, and for what reasons? Thanks

Brina

[suzanne4, RN]

Depends on where you live as well as what specialty that you plan to work in. Also if you need the benefits or not. Agency will give you the most freedom, many hospital per diem jobs do have a weekend and a holdiay requirement, as well as a certain number of shifts per month.

Be aware that even though they get paid more, they are also the first to get cancelled. So again it depends on where you live, and if there are high and low seasons. Can you survive on some weeks with only one day of pay...........this does happen in some areas, unless you have quite a bit of experience behind you, such as years, adn have experience in many different areas and are able to cover many different units.

[eddy]

If extra money is not the primary motivation but rather scheduling flexibility you might also consider part-time OR shift sharing with another person. A lot of facilities allow this.

If you are looking for full time but flexible scheduling and still want some benefits, you will probably (depends on your area and it's demand) benefit more from being with an agency since they provide more diversity (more than just one facility so more opps for flexible but somewhat consistent scheduling). Just make sure they have a good benefits package and that the area has a good demand for agency nurses.