PRN Differentials

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I am running into real surprises looking for a PRN job, and I want to know how common it is to see what I'm seeing now.

I went to a job fair in February, and after talking with HR, I discovered that hospital offered no PRN diff and I would make less than my current FT rate. I was absolutely floored because I thought PRN jobs always paid more as a rule to compensate for the lack of benefits. I assumed this particular offer was because they were a hoity-toity teaching hospital who thought their fecal matter didn't stink and I rejected it.

Hoping for a true PRN diff, I interviewed at a separate hospital system in a different metro area about an hour from where I live now. I ended up taking that offer - for $22.30/hr PRN. At least it's a hair more than what the other hospital tried to offer.

I would have laughed at this point last year if any of you tried to tell me I'd take less for a PRN job than a full time one, because at that time I was making $11/hr more than the FT staff as a PRN in another state. Considering my current FT job offers overtime plus incentive pay most shifts, I will on average make $300-$350 less per shift working a PRN now as opposed to picking up at my FT job, and that just feels crazy. I still think the benefit of having my foot in another door outweighs the money lost, so I don't necessarily regret accepting this offer, but the feeling comes pretty darn close to regret when I think about the numbers.

So, I want to know - is this behavior from hospitals more common than I thought or is it just my area? Does your hospital offer more money to PRN employees to make up for the lack of benefits, or do PRNs just get shafted like they do around here?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I worked PRN at a workplace for three years, from 2010 to 2013. My PRN rate of pay was $11 more than the full-time wage that had been offered to me by HR.

In the metro area where I live, only nursing homes offer no PRN differential.

[Caffeine_IV]

I work for 2 hospital systems PRN. One pays you the reg rate you would receive as a FT nurse so you get annual raises. I just did.

The other pays a slightly higher rate (for me it is 4.50/hr over my reg rate). It is based on years of experience. 0-5 and then 6+. No diff for degree type. No merit raises.

[RNperdiem, RN]

When I started as per diem, the hospital had just raised the per diem rates in order to build a hospital float pool and eliminate the need for travel or agency nurses. As a newish nurse, the per diem rates were high. Years and more years have gone by, the wages have remained the same.

[Seaofclouds, BSN, RN]

The place I currently work has one flat rate of $39 for prn nurses. They are able to get shift differentials, but do not get merit raises each year. The only way their rate changes is if corporate decided to do a market adjustment, and even then it's not guaranteed. The $39 is above most of the rates for full time, but if a nurse is coming in at the top of our pay scale for FT, they are not far off from that and could pass that if they stayed with the company long enough and earned enough on their merit increases each year.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

At the hospital I work at now, new grads get $20 base. Prn staff get $28 base. PRN also doesn't get raises unless the hospital raises the rate for all of them.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

My hospital's PRN rate is very good. I was surprised when an agency nurse and I got to comparing hourly rates, and I found out that she makes $10 less than I do.

[macfar28]

My health system offers a $40/hr prn rate whether you have 6 months or 26 years of experience. That baffles me. They get shift diff but no raise or bonus pay (not that us FT staff have either in the last few years).