CRNA Locums

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Hi to all the practicing CRNAs,

Those of you who have done locums, can you share your experiences? I am still 16 mos away from graduation, and several more years after that away from locums, but am looking around on gaswork.com and such. Just curious to see others' experiences, pros/cons, etc.

I am especially interested in the malpractice portion of it. Many of the ads state that they cover your malpractice. Do they provide enough coverage, or do many locums CRNAs provide their own in addition to that from the agency/contracting group?

Thanks in advance!

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I am a student

I am currently rotating at a site were lot's of locums work

I spoke to this guys at length when i work with them. The usually pay for their own , they are responsible for their own healthcare and pensions. Some of them work in other areas where they do their own billing, while others allow the institution/group to do the billing for them. If and when they do not work they do not get paid, simple. You are working for yourself. Unlike an employee, if you do not work you get PTO. Malpractice unfortunately if a state by state thing. So, some of them have a malpractice premium for NJ and PA. Some just for PA. They pay a ryder(sp) to work in endoscopic only settings, even though some locums would negotiate for the ryder to be paid by the facility. You get paid what you negotiate. It needs a strong work ethic. Unfortunately most of the guys i met as locums none of them has less than 15 years experience under their belt.

Then the agency CRNA, usually this an agency negotiates the contract with the facility/group. That agency sends you a paycheck, weekly or biweekly. The may take out 8-12dollars from your hourly rate and call it malpractice premiums, some may provide healthcare, 401K, STD, LTD. They may also provide housing and transport. Most of the CRNA's I saw under this group have 5years or less of experience.

I can tell you that these guys initially worked at one facility after they graduated, that facility usually was big, tertiary teaching facility before they moved into this practice arrangment.

I hope there are some of them on this forum who would add some insight to this discussion

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Just bumping a post from before...anyone with anything to add?

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I think all new grads should strongly consider working in a larger medical center after graduation. Polish your craft and get some practical experience under your belt before launching off on your own. As has been said, you can be your own corporation and contract with either agencies or anesthesia groups/hospitals. If/when you do that, understand that you are similar to a small business owner who must pay taxes quarterly, provide for health care and retirement, suck up vacation time with no income, and obtain liability (malpractice) insurance, etc. I don't believe that a new grad can buy this insurance through CNA until they have been out of school for over four years. There are upsides and downsides to all practice settings and situations. Probably the best idea is to lay it all out on a spread sheet so that you can compare "apples to apples" and see what you think.

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I think all new grads should strongly consider working in a larger medical center after graduation. Polish your craft and get some practical experience under your belt before launching off on your own.

Absolutely - I agree 100%. I was just asking for future reference...i.e. many years down the road.

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