per diem nurses

live4today, RN · Nov 28, 2005

:balloons: hello cshelly12! welcome to allnurses! :)

i have worked both as a travel nurse and a per diem nurse before. a travel nurse is one who works in various locations for a contracted period of time for a set wage written into the contract. a per diem nurse works on an "as needed" basis, but gets to choose how many days they wish to work. nursing agencies offer per diem, and so do many hospitals.

the pay is often more per hour when a nurse works as a travel nurse or a per diem nurse. there are limited to no free benefits offered to travel or per diem or pool nurses. nurses on staff at a hospital who work full time, or part time do earn benefits (such as health insurance).

travel nursing companies now offer health insurance and other benefits for their nurses as extra incentives. some companies pay for these benefits for the nurse, and some do not...the nurse pays out of pocket for these expensives. it's all in the contract what the nurse gets, etc.

a nurse who "floats" can be a staff nurse, a per diem nurse, or a contract (travel) nurse (if it is written in his/her travel contract to be a floater).

hope my responses are helpful to you. :)

suzanne4, RN · Nov 29, 2005

Travel nurses are normally placed into the regular schedule of a unit and are there usually for at least a thirteen week contract. If the travel nurse is more than 50 miles for, their home base and doesnt travel to their after their shifts each night, etc., then they can get the benefits that are offered, such a per diem allowance, housing paid for, etc.

Per diem agency nurses work on an as needed basis. When they wish to work, and if the facility has a need for that day. Depending on where you are located, the work can be more seasonal with more cancellations at certain times of the year. Per diem will usually get cancelled first, as the normal travel contract covers guaranteed hours for the week.

Quite a few hospitals now have set up per diem pools for their in-house use. These pay more than the regular shift as no benefits are included.

Then you have what is called a "house float position" -- this is usually paid at the regular salary, or just a little more, because the nurse is able to work more units, but they receive full benefits.

All of these positions normally require at least one year of experience. And since each contract can vary so much, it is important to get it in writing as to what will be covered and what will not. The hospital based positions usually have a minimum work requirement, where agency does not.

Hope that this helps................:)

tntrn, ASN, RN · Nov 29, 2005

Where I work, per diem nurses will not be cancelled before travelers because the PD RN's are employees of the facility, which the travelers are not. If the traveler has a guaranteed number of shifts, and a shift with a traveler and a per diem nurse is a low census, then they'll both be there, doing paperwork or something else. To cancel an employee before a traveler would be a slam-dunk winnable grievance for the per diem nurse. Ask me how I know!

suzanne4, RN · Nov 29, 2005

Doesn't work that way at all facilities. Per diem workers are subject to cancellation at many places first over travellers. Agency per diem first, then the per diem of the hospital, then the traveller, then the regular staff.

If they are float pool, then they are the same as the regular staff.

Again, it depends on the facility.

Haunted · Nov 29, 2005

I once got literally sabatoged into becoming per diem at a facility that I worked registry regularly. They started sweet talking me when a lot of staffers quit to "join em" and I said no, I was faithful to my agency and didn't wanna fool around. They started cancelling me fairly often and so I finally bit the bullet and joined this lyin cheaten home wrecker of a facility.

I still saw my registry on the side, in secret but this facility kept providing me with shifts, gifts, baubles, things my registry took for granted. I was smitten, I was in deep smit and slowly began cutting off all ties to my registry, I stopped returning phone calls, cards, letters. The one thing I couldn't bring myself to do was give back my badge. I would gaze at it from time to time and snicker to myself at my new found lover, the facility.

But too soon the honeymoon was over and I started to notice things about the facility I had overlooked at loves first blush. They say familiarity breeds contempt, how was I to know it would breed a nasty rash up and down my neck?

This place really let itself go. All the well wishers who had been so supportive trickled away one by one, soon it was just me and the facility. The communication stopped, the hostility reared it's ugly head, the housekeeper quit, my assistant was let go, the facility no longer seemed interested in what I had to say. It was cold and lonely. It was only a matter of time before I packed my locker up for good and flung the facility badge at their feet, never to set foot there again.

Thank god my registry has a forgiving heart and took me back. We are slowly working on our trust issues and I see real hope for our future. Even our communication is improving. Who knows, we may even branch out and create our very own little "registry".

tntrn, ASN, RN · Nov 29, 2005

Suzanne, you're right. I should have mentioned that we made sure it was in our contract that employees would not be cancelled before contracted nurses. They tried to get away with it once or twice, stating they had a "contract" with the traveler. We pointed out they had a "contract" with the per diem nurse also.

lexcourben · Nov 29, 2005

Haunted,

:lol2: :lol2: My dog is sitting here looking at me trying to figure out why I'm laughing so hard. Very clever.

Sandy

palesarah · Nov 29, 2005

Suzanne, you're right. I should have mentioned that we made sure it was in our contract that employees would not be cancelled before contracted nurses. They tried to get away with it once or twice, stating they had a "contract" with the traveler. We pointed out they had a "contract" with the per diem nurse also.

At my last job, travelers were never cancelled. The hospital had to pay them whether or not they were there, so they never cancelled them. At the hospital two of my former coworkers are at now as travelers, it's the same deal - per diem and regular staff will be cancelled, but they always go in.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Nov 30, 2005

At my last job, travelers were never cancelled. The hospital had to pay them whether or not they were there, so they never cancelled them. At the hospital two of my former coworkers are at now as travelers, it's the same deal - per diem and regular staff will be cancelled, but they always go in.

It was the same when I worked as a traveler BUT travelers were the first to float. A pretty crappy trade-off if you ask me. As a traveler, most of my living expenses were covered. I would much rather have been cancelled than have them try to send me to some strange unit where I have no experience.