Pay Difference Between Full Time and PRN?

It's usually the full time employee that gets paid less per hour. However, full time also (usually) comes with benefits such as insurance, PTO, merit raises, and stable hours (not frequently cancelled). If I worked full time years ago, my pay would have been cut in half. I had insurance through my husband as well as a couple agency jobs to pick up hours when I was cancelled, so there was no way I'd work staff.

The only time I've seen PRN get paid the same per hour was if there was no commitment to work weekend, holidays, or many days at all (Ex: day shift, works one 'wednesday' a month (chose this day as an example, usually not a day that people insist on having off)).

I cannot remember ever seeing a PRN employee make less, something doesn't seem right.

PRN is typically paid higher to compensate for lack of benefits as others have pointed out. Is your hospital unionized and how long have the two of you been working at this place? Reason I ask is because the union contact at my facility dictates when pay raises occur. Base pay changes on "years of experience" and those "years" are defined by hours worked. A full-time employee, particularly one who works periodic overtime will see that base pay increase much sooner than some one working part-time or per-diem.

Hey, I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but usually PRN staff are paid more. Oh, wait, every single person has said the same thing over and over again? Shucks, maybe we ought to try reading a post or two before replying.

It's always good to try to negotiate pay as others have mentioned.. One way to do it is to find out general rates for your area...I've found sites like this one helpful. That way you know what you're aiming for as lowest and can work from there. Always ask for more than you're willing to work for and then be willing to drop a bit.

Thanks for the tips! Now that I have 2 years of acute experience I will make sure to negotiate at my next PRN job!