compensation for taking call

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Hello everyone,

I have recently started interviewing for NP jobs, as a graduate this May. My most recent offer was to work part-time in an internal med clinic (26 to 30 hours per week) and take call every 3rd weekend. Call would consist of taking any calls from clinic patients who call in, rounding in the hospital on current inpatients on Saturday and Sunday for 2 docs, doing any new admissions, and taking calls from the RNs on inpatients. Call would start Friday at 5 pm and would end Monday at 7 a.m.

How does this work where you practice? Are you paid on an hourly basis for both your clinic and hospital/call hours? Do you get a base salary and then additional compensation (flat rate) for weekend call? Or do you get a base salary for your clinic hours and then are paid hourly for the weekends you take call? If so, how much are you compensated--flat rate or otherwise?

Also, let's say you work 28 hours per week in clinic--considered part-time. If you took call every 3rd weekend, would that make you full- time then (and therefore eligible for full-time benefits), since there are 62 hours between Friday at 5 and Monday at 7 a.m.?

The physician with whom I interviewed had not worked out all the logistics of how this would work yet, so I was hoping to get some advice so I know what would be considered a "fair offer". I want to be compensated for the work I am doing and not be taken advantage of.

Thanks in advance...

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I work in a large nephrology practice where I work 40 hours/week. I have call every 5th weekend. For my "call" I go to two hospitals about 55 miles from where I live, round on all the nephrology pts, do consults, H&Ps for new patients, discharge summaries for pts going home and also take phone calls from 15 dialysis units. My hours are 0700 to 1900. I have a physician on with me too who is at other hospitals. For this, we get an additional $6000/year in addition to my base salary.

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I am usually on call every 5th-6th week. I just take a compensation day off....

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