Per diem premium at your facility?

[dreavt, BSN, RN]

Hi all,

I interviewed for a per diem position on Tuesday, on a unit & at a hospital that I really want. Spoke to a friend who works on the unit this evening, and her impression is that I got the job -- trying not to get too excited, of course, till it's official, but... I'm kind of excited.

Per diem will be rough for me because I carry the insurance for my whole family, so I will have to keep my current 20 hr/wk (secretarial) job. New grad training/orientation, though, is full time hours and lasts for 12 weeks. So I will (*if* I'm hired!) effectively have a 36-40 hr/wk job + a 20 hr/wk job for 12 weeks. GAH! And yet, in this job climate, I don't feel I have the luxury to hold out until this unit has a benefitted position for me. Once I have my foot in the door, I really think (based on what the unit mgr said, and what my connection says) that a benefitted position will be available to me by the end of the year.

So, my question -- in the paperwork I was given at the interview, there are lots of details about payscales, differentials, etc. but no mention of what we call at the hospital I currently work at teh "per diem premium" -- the extra 1-3 bucks/hr you get for *not* having benefits. Does your facility have this? Is it standard?

I guess I am just trying to make the idea of working like a crazy person seem more palatable by imagining how much money I'll be making...

Thanks in advance!

[DeLana_RN, BSN, RN]

In my last PRN position I did not get a pay premium... actually, I got less (full-timers were entitled to a BSN diff, but PRN staff were not. Go figure). In this day and age, unfortunately, we have to take what we can get (I'm in the same position as you).

However, mine may have been an unusual situation (hospital). Hope it's different for you!

Good luck to you,

DeLana

[rn4babies63]

I currently have 2 jobs. Job #1 does not pay a per diem rate. We have casual staff which have no benefits, no guarantee of hours which make the regular rate. Job #2 pays about $34-36/hr. I make close to $27.00/hr as a casual. I don't do perdiem there because the minimum hour requirement is too much with my full time job and you have to do holidays. As a casual, I am only required to do 16 hours in 4 weeks with 8 hours call, no holidays and I tell them when I want to work. Guess it depends on the facility.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

I work PRN or perdiem. My pay is about $5 more an hr (or at least it was) I don't get raises, OT unless it is over 40 hrs a week, I don't get benefits. I do get the time and a half for holiday.

[dreavt, BSN, RN]

Thanks for the replies! It does seem to vary a lot.... I just figured since we have it at my current job (where I am a secretary, not a nurse, but I know nurses get the premium too), it would be everywhere -- perhaps not! Even without a premium, the starting RN pay/hr at the hospital I am *hoping* to get hired at is more than double my current pay/hr, so I can't complain too much....

[Jules A, MSN]

I guess it depends on where you are and how tough it is to get a job but in my area per-diem nurses usually make close to $10 an hour more than employees. That sounds impressive but good insurance is really expensive so if you don't have access to health benefits this isn't worth giving up a benefited position, imo. I do a 1/2 time job for the great benefits and a per-diem job for the bucks.