PRN position & Regular staff

HomeBound · Dec 11, 2018

You are definitely ambitious, I will say that. I also had this in mind when I started out.

The thing about PRN RN is that some managers see you as a "if you arent sitting by the phone waiting for me to snap my fingers when i need you, and be there within 30 minutes of my call, we are not interested". You need to gauge what this department needs and expects (yes, they have expectations on your time or else they would not be hiring you) and if that fits in with what you can provide.

If your schedule is static at your FTE job, it makes the PRN gig easier to manage. When you have last minute scheduling problems at FTE...your PRN job suffers. These people hire you and rely on you to fill gaps...its not a hobby job, to ditch when you feel tired from your FTE.

There is something many hospitals are doing now....requiring a minimum commitment of hours, and that may not jive with your FTE schedule. In Oregon, there is a law now that requires RNs to disclose all prn or part time RN jobs outside of the primary FTE position. Their view is that the FTE position should be your main priority if you are so anxious to work extra.

All that said. I did work PRN as an FTE. Exhausting. Simply, utterly, exhausting. I was required to have a week of hospital orientation at PRN job, which meant asking for or arranging to switch days so I could do that. Then unit orientation. I depends on how duplicitous your new employer is....they may be hard nosed and force you to make a choice....us or them. They want you to choose them and leave the other employer. PRNs may make a few bucks more and get no bennies which sounds like a deal for them....but staffing wise, they want a perm player who they can plug in and know they are a given asset.

I left PRN as well as staff, and went traveling. I wanted the experience, yes...but it was about money and time for me. I wanted to do the least amount of work (TIME WISE) for the most money....and travel was it. I made on average $2300 per week take home, for 3 days of work and rabid employers kicking you out the door ensuring not a minute of overtime.

Is money the motivator? Then I would get a local company who provides PRN labor and do that...no time commitments and no direct employment with any facility. If its IM in particular that you want to get your foot in...i know their jobs are like hens teeth in availability....i would try to do what they want but put a time limit to it....you will burn out very quickly if you think working 6 days or even 5 days a week is something do able. There is a REASON for laws that limit the number of hours a nurse can work, not just in a shift, but in a week. Dont be so ambitious that you lose both jobs as well as hurt yourself or someone else in the process.

My PRN job paid $44/ hr. It was a tiered system. You commit to > than such andnsuch per week, you get higher rates. I was floated. A lot. I was ED and for some reason people think we just can do it all, kinda like ICU. Not true, of course, but hospitals will try it.

PRN is tough. If they want you for a shift and you just cannot make it...some managers will make you pay for that by not scheduling you for months. Whats the point in having the job there if they dont use you? You think this is a job where YOU are in control, but its not really like that. They have an agenda, be it to poach you or to use you as a FTE...they are not losing here. Decide what you are doing this for and plan accordingly.

Eventually...like I said, i came to the conclusion most money for least time commitment...and did travel. There is such a thing as local travel too. I never regretted it because i paid off my house and every bill i had in one single year. I have a serious savings cushion under me and i can say that i can walk into pretty much any s***show and let it roll. I left it so i could go into another specialty, which takes training. Travelers dont get that.

I am, however, at this point, working PRN in my former profession, transitioning back to it and either out of nursing altogether or maybe pick up a shift here and there. My former profession pays $50/hr PRN and $42/hr FTE, which I was asked to do, but I am making the transition at my own pace.

I would never do FTE RN and PRN RN again. The politics and wrangling are too much for the meager pay you get. Besides. Are you not offered overtime at your present faciliy? Because 1.5x your base rate is surely better than straight PRN at IM? Unless, of course, you are attempting to jump ship and cant get into IM any other way. If this is the case....be prepared for some very, very, very long and fatigued weeks to months ahead....and IM may still not offer you FTE.

Good luck.