Know a Nurse with 2 jobs (or more)?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 9, 2015

I have not had a second job in more than three years, but prior to that time, I used to work two jobs all the time.

My primary job was a weekend double shift gig at a nursing home. It consisted of two 16-hour shifts every Saturday and Sunday. I was paid for 40 hours and received full benefits. My second job was a wild card: sometimes I worked PRN at a psychiatric hospital, sometimes I worked PRN at another nursing home, and other times I accepted a full time 40-hour per week job during the week.

Seaofclouds, BSN, RN · May 9, 2015

I have not had two jobs as a nurse, but I know many that have. A lot of the nurses I know with two jobs work as a nursing instructor and have a bedside job they do to keep their skills up. I also know a few school nurses that do the same thing. For them, their second job is usually a prn job so they can pick when they want to work.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · May 9, 2015

I have held 2 jobs as a nurse before. I started working per diem at a boarding school when I was still working at the hospital. Then, I left the hospital and worked a part-time home health/case management gig 30 hrs/week while working at the school 16 hrs/week. That got to be too much and I stopped doing the second job when I got a promotion/full time opportunity at my primary job.

Many nurses that I work with now work 2 jobs. Some pick up a PDN shift once/week and work full-time elsewhere. I'm not interested in the 2 job thing anymore, too much work, not enough play.

Dranger · May 10, 2015

I know a lot of nurses in the reserves or national guard. That is almost another full time job depending on what they do.

heron, ASN, RN · May 10, 2015

I worked with one nurse who held two full time jobs ... She worked 6 twelves every week. Her kids were out of control and she was still in debt in spite of earning over 125K/yr. She felt she couldn't afford to cut back so her life pretty much sucked. It made me sad.

RNperdiem, RN · May 10, 2015

I also work with several nurses who have a full time job in nursing, usually a non-bedside position like teaching or research and then they work a per diem in my unit to keep their skills up to date while earning extra money.

I really have not met anyone who has a job outside of nursing as a second job unless you count my unpaid homemaker/stay-at-home mom time as a job.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 10, 2015

I had three, I dropped down to two. But I never worked to the point that I was sacrificing the well-being of myself and my family.

kidzcare · May 11, 2015

I have two jobs. My main job is as a school nurse, so that is M-F. My second job is at a SNF every other weekend. So during the school year I work M-F and then Saturday and Sunday and then M-F again. Then I have weekend off. So, 12 days on, 2 days off. I pick up extra time at the SNF during breaks from the school.

I took the school nurse job knowing that it was a massive paycut, but I wanted the schedule to spend time with my kids. I'm a single mom (no child support and nothing the courts can do about it) and the child care in the summer alone would be a killer. Easily, it would be $800/week for 3 kids, full time.

It's coming to the end of the school year and I am feeling the affects of my schedule. I'm very much looking forward to more time off in the summer.

What's good is that I have my budget based on my school paycheck and working 4 shifts a month at the SNF, so any extra I pick up is play money. The shifts I picked up over spring break will pay for vacation for me and my kids this summer. Or I can pick up a shift to cover unexpected car repairs. While I wish I didn't have a financial need to work two jobs, it is nice to be able to make extra money in that way.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · May 11, 2015

I currently have 3.

I work full time (non-nursing position), part time (acute hospital floor) and per diem for a LTC facility.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · May 11, 2015

I also work with several nurses who have a full time job in nursing, usually a non-bedside position like teaching or research and then they work a per diem in my unit to keep their skills up to date while earning extra money.
I really have not met anyone who has a job outside of nursing as a second job unless you count my unpaid homemaker/stay-at-home mom time as a job.

Pleased to make your aquaintance :) My full time job is outside of nursing and not at all related to nursing.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · May 11, 2015

I have always pretty much worked 2 jobs or worked full time and gone to school as a nurse. We cannot afford to live off my full time job alone, but get ok benefits from it so I stay. If I was at home we would be spending waaaaay too much money anyway.