Begging For Advice About PRN & Critical Bonus Pay

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Specializes in Psych.

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I am a student nurse about to graduate soon. I have been working as a PRN student nurse for my hospital and I was not told that if I work above my shift requirement of two days in a month, I should qualify for critical bonus pay for the extra shifts worked. I did not know this and always worked extra shifts. Now that I am seeking bonus repayments, they are giving me various rules they did not hold other employees to. I am not sure what I can do and I fear I do not have legal rights as PRN, even though I worked full time schedule for some months. 

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

This is all going to be facility specific, so your best bet is to read the policies related to PRN and critical bonus pay. I can say that in my facility, PRN does not qualify for the same bonuses as full time staff who are picking up above their FTE requirements.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

My facility also has different requirements for per diem employees related to incentive pay. It should be clearly laid out somewhere in either your employment documents or the current bonus payment criteria. 

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Specializes in Psych.

The policy is clearly laid out. I was not able to sign these forms for my bonuses because I did not know I was supposed to be getting them. They are now holding me to rules that are not listed on the forms and using them to deny the bonus. They have not provided me where the additional polices for critical bonus are. 

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Specializes in Psych.

My employers have seem to exploit me to work above my PRN requirement by not telling me that it was only 2 shifts a month which has saved them thousands in bonus payments over a year. I am trying to fight for these payments as other student nurses received them and have been unsuccessful. 

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On 12/2/2022 at 8:02 PM, 0newnurse said:

The policy is clearly laid out. I was not able to sign these forms for my bonuses because I did not know I was supposed to be getting them.

So according to their policy you were eligible for bonus pay even though your position was only PRN,  but in order to get the bonus pay you were supposed to submit forms?

Have you spoken to anyone in HR about this or just your direct unit leadership?

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
On 12/2/2022 at 8:02 PM, 0newnurse said:

I was not able to sign these forms for my bonuses because I did not know I was supposed to be getting them.

It's very unfortunate that hospitals are supposedly rewarding people for helping them out with staffing problems but then going back on that to save money by coming up with BS reasons not to pay. I would definitely go to HR not just your manager, and try to get more clarification. Good luck. 

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