Flexible Schedules

I think it depends on how much experience you have. Home health, registry and or per diem work all have flexabilty, but they also require a min of 1yr experience.

Self scheduling can be a plus, but typically schedules are made further in advance then one week. At our hospital in which we have self scheduling our schedule is for one month and is finalized two eeks in advance of start date. Once the schedule is posted RNs are free to switch days amongst themselves, providing it doesn't create OT. Self scheduling works best when there is a lot of cooperation amongst staff and each are mindful of their coworkers needs.

As previous poster has stated the PRN position gives you greater control and flexibility but you often get no benefits or paid time off in those positions.

I switched to per diem when my sons were born, and have been very satisfied.

I scheduled myself for six weeks at a time. When you work, you have some control over when you work, within reason. I was able to work in a couple of 4 and 8 hour shifts.

Where you work depends on the supply and demand of nurses. In a large hospital like mine, I floated between 10 different units, so there was always a need somewhere, the house sup decided where I went.

Along these same lines, I want to move into CCU in a few months; however, I don't want to work full-time. Has anyone ever heard of a nurse with no prior critical care experience being hired into CCU for part-time? I know I'm probably dreaming, but just thought I'd ask.

Try float pool nursing. They get great experience and typically can choose their own schedules. Our float pool also has much fewer holiday and night requirements if that is important to you, too. And full benefits.

Your post sounds like you are not a nurse and are looking into nursing in order to have a job that fits your schedule. If this is true, you must realize that until you have minimum of a year of experience as a nurse, but generally you will need more experience, you will be very unlikely to get this type of fly-by-night scheduling that you want. The only way to get a schedule on a weekly basis is to work agency nursing or for an employer that does not require it's PRN staff to work certain shifts/hours/schedules. Some hospitals will pay PRN wages but they highly restrict how and when you work. When you work PRN you must realize that there may be many times that you have scheduled yourself to work and then you get cancelled with as little as one hours notice before the shift begins. If you need the money, you will then have to reschedule the rest of your week to make up for this loss of a day's pay. There are times that you will be cancelled every day that you schedule. If you are dependant on the money then this is not a good idea. If all you are interested in is a flexible schedule and you do not have a nursing degree, I would not recommend going to nursing school in the hopes of having the schedule that you want. There are many other jobs that will give you the schedule that you want without having to spend the money to get a degree, get and keep a nursing license. And the stress of a nurse is a lot for someone who merely wants a little bit of income on a part time basis.

Along these same lines, I want to move into CCU in a few months; however, I don't want to work full-time. Has anyone ever heard of a nurse with no prior critical care experience being hired into CCU for part-time? I know I'm probably dreaming, but just thought I'd ask.

I've never heard of that happening, but trust me ... it's a bad idea. The learning curve is extremely steep in CCU. I took a CCU job in '05 with 12 years' experience in cardiology, working my way up from EKG tech to echo tech to stress test tech to tele nurse, plus an elective clinical in the cath lab, and *still* found it overwhelming.

I only lasted 6 months. The unit was way understaffed, management was in transition, my preceptor was nasty, and night shift badly messed up my mental health. It's unfortunate, because I was just starting to catch on to a lot of things. But there were no openings on days, and when a day shift office job opened up, I couldn't bail fast enough.

Still, I miss the adrenaline and part of me wants to go back to critical care. It would still require a significant re-orientation and it would *have* to be day shift.

YMMV; if you are flexible with shifts, a high-quality orientation program is available, and you can stick out the first year FT, you should be in good shape. Hope it works out for you!