Have you ever done freelance nursing?

[James Huffman]

I'm doing research for some articles I'm working on. Any help you folks can give would be deeply appreciated!

1. Have you ever done any freelance (contract, agency, private duty, etc.) nursing practice? (Fulltime or parttime).

2. If you have, have you continued doing it?

3. If not, why did you quit? (Just didn't like it, didn't work out, whatever ...)

4. If you have not done so, are you thinking about it for the future?

5. Finally, what -- if anything -- is keeping you from doing freelance work?

Thanks again for everyone's help, and have a good weekend!

Jim Huffman, RN

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

Yes, I did freelance nursing as a self-contracting RN consultant for several adult day care companies. I really liked it, but moved from the area. Where I live now, there are not many elderly or retired people, so there is no market for adult day care here.

I now do dialysis and have no idea how to self contract for that. I live in a small city.

I do believe you wrote a book on the subject of nurses self contracting. Am I correct?

[jemb]

Yes.

I worked agency on a per diem basis for many years and loved it. The pay was good, although the cancellations made it necessary to keep on top of a budget all the time. The cancellations and lack of work seemed to be during certain periods of time, instead of intermittently, so I was always able to budget effectively.

I had worked per diem at several facilities for many years, and had always paid for my own health insurance and had a retirement account of my own.

The reason I no longer do it is because I was offered a job in a clinic at one of the facilities where I previously worked per diem. Since I was getting physically worn out with bedside nursing, and loved the clinic experiences I previously had as a per diem, I took the job. It was also in my specialty -where my heart is, so to speak-- and agency work frequently was in other areas.

I've been at that job several years now, and still love the job. But I hate the politics, and eventually, if I live long enough, I want to do something independent again.