HARDER to get a PRN job???

[c.dom]

So I was cruising job listings out of boredom (I'm still a student, May 2017) and came across this while reading a job description:

Must have previous experience since this is a prn position

Part time jobs simply said experience highly preferred. I just find it weird

Are PRN jobs harder to get??

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

No but prn jobs provide less supervision, and no one is going to spend a lot of time and money orienting and training someone who only works once in awhile. A PRN is expected to have the skills already and require only the training needed to work within a particular institution.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

No but prn jobs provide less supervision, and no one is going to spend a lot of time and money orienting and training someone who only works once in awhile. A PRN is expected to have the skills already and require only the training needed to work within a particular institution.

Agreed. If you are a PRN employee, they expect you to be able to hit the floor running after orientation. And given that PRN salaries are often higher than FT/PT salaries, they feel they should have to. They don't have the time or the resources to hold your hand or teach you Nursing 101.

That being said...my first job as a new grad was PRN. Our salutatorian had worked there as a tech and they took her on as a RN; she put in a good word for me the valedictorian

All employees, PRN or permanent, experienced or novice, got the same 30 days orientation. I got lucky and was partnered with excellent nurses who went above and beyond to help me get started. And they were so short-staffed that I was essentially working full-time hours for the first year before I went permanent.

[elkpark]

Also, many prn positions are the float pool for the organization, and you are expected to be able to float to a variety of different settings and specialties and be able to function on short notice, with minimal orientation. Lots of places don't necessarily specify in their job postings that they require X amount of previous experience, but they do require it. Few (legitimate) organizations will hire new grads, or minimally experienced nurses, into prn positions, and the ones that do aren't doing the newbies any favors. Basically, they're saying that they don't care if you crash and burn, that's your problem.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

It is worth noting also that it is not uncommon for floors to give the PRN or float nurses the worst assignments on the unit to give their overburdened regular staff a break. Therefore if you aren't already well established in your skills and ability to manage both time and stress level, you will not do well.

[LessValuableNinja]

After 5 or 6 years of agency and prn... Yes, what they said. Keep in mind that 1 year is the minimum. Most new nurses would not enjoy most prn jobs. There are some gems out there that are mostly butterflies and sunshine even with just a year, but those aren't the norm.