Attitude towards Per Diem's?

NightOwlPsyRN · Jun 6, 2015

At the psych hospital I work at, PRN requires that I work a minimum of 4 shifts a month, with at least two of those shifts being on a weekend. Throughout the time I worked there, the policy changed to having PRNs being on call for at least 1 night shift (though it wasn't strictly enforced).

The policies vary from facility to facility. It was great where I work because the need for nurses was always high, so as a PRN nurse I worked full time (32-40hrs/week). Considering the differential given to PRNs, I made pretty good money...and you can pretty much make your own schedule. However, the downsides are no benefits, no accumulation of PTO, and frequently getting cancelled if the demand is low.

momathoner09, BSN, MSN, APRN · Jun 6, 2015

I have a pretty set schedule (about 2 months out) and get 2-3 shifts/week. I can easily work 24-36 hours in these 3 days though (not traditional 12 hour shifts, it can vary). I never heard of a minimum though.

number41 · Jun 6, 2015

Thank you for your responses! Do you feel that Per Diem's who are only to fulfill the minimum, or around the minimum, are frowned up or talked about? I was consistently doing around 2 - 3 shifts a week until grad school began so I now I pretty much do around 3 (min.) - 6 a schedule and other nurses have an attitude about it. I was curious if my interpretation of per diem is wrong or not?

NightOwlPsyRN · Jun 7, 2015

Yeah the full-time nurses can be sour about it sometimes...I think mostly because there are times where there isn't sufficient coverage if someone calls in sick or takes vacation leave, on top of staffing issues, if any. Many expect one person to be super flexible (especially if you started out working a ton) and fill in the gaps when needed, but a lot of times they forget that normally you give your availability up to a month in advance, and if you aren't available to work that shift/day for whatever reason, you already let your supervisor know in way in advance. Each facility should have a pretty large amount of pool staff with varying availability anyhow, so that if any one person can't fill it, they can look at persons A, B, C, etc.

I was PRN at my first job for 2 years, and a common misconception for PRNs is that since you aren't core staff, your knowledge and skills were at a deficit. However, because I worked full time as a PRN and floated to every unit in the hospital, I knew a lot more than they took me for.

If there's any confusion about your facility's policy on per diem, I would request it in writing. But if you are at least fulfilling the minimum, I wouldn't have anything to worry about. You have enough on your plate with grad school!

Baloo · Jun 7, 2015

We are grateful for the per diem nurses in our facility. If they didn't fill in the gaps, our workloads would be that much more. So we are thankful and help them in any way that we can whenever they are there.

RN-APNstudent · Jun 7, 2015

I currently have two per diem jobs, one of them I was full time for a year and have been contingent for almost three years. My coworkers joke and call me a full time contingent because I work anywhere from 3-5 days a week (up until recently). Some nurses are pretty bitter towards contingents working a lot which I don't understand because it's not like (at my facility) They are missing out on any hours or something. I have been there a long time and most people don't look at me as contingent I even precept most new nurses that come through there. Us contingents are what hold up a place when they have such a bad rate of retention of FT staff (leaving us short and sometimes even to the point of being inoperable if contingents weren't there to fill in the spots ). Now agency nurses are a whole different story.. From my experience working with a few of them, they do not care about anything but getting there hours and nice paycheck and leaving, there is no accountability when it comes to patient care and they often sit and do nothing all day. I know not all agencies staff nurses like that but the ones I've had the pleasure (sarcasm intended) of working with have been pretty awful.

momathoner09, BSN, MSN, APRN · Jun 7, 2015

I haven't seen that attitude but we are a very small department. It is basically one full time person & 2 of us per diems that together make another full time person. I did orientate full time for 6 weeks before I was allowed to be per diem.

Candogal · Jun 7, 2015

Every facility is different regarding per-diem scheduling and you only need to hold up to your end of the bargain with management. I don't understand why the other nurses are giving you a difficult time, they did not hire you, nor are they paying you your salary. Just keep your head low, stay out of drama/gossip, do your job and leave. Best of luck.

number41 · Jun 8, 2015

Thank you all so much for your responses. I don't get it either. I am in grad school, I watch my children, and I hold down 2 PRN jobs. Both places have this attitude like "you don't want to work more?" if I don't do over the minimum requirement. When I was hired, I made it clear what I had going on in life and that I would do my best to help when I can. My mistake was working so much up until now, I think they think they own me. I get a long really well with everyone at both places, I always take new admissions and difficult patients and stay late to never leave anything behind. It's like I'm a PT person. I don't get the attitude from some, like I'm a PT person who is never on the schedule? It's making me want to leave one of the places but I don't want it to reflect poorly on my resume. I just really need to focus on school right now. Thanks again this made me feel much better!