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if full benefits were available for nurses working a minimum of 24 hours would that be an attraction for you, and if so, would you work only the minimum or would you remain working a typical 36 hours or 3-12's? i know it would be an attractive option that might get more nurses that only want a part-time schedule to work for hospital rather than an agency with no benifits unless purchased. i know some nurses that do not work want to work full-time hours but are working for the benefits. having the option of picking up extra time (and pay) for the full 36 would be nice and knowing that you would not have to on weeks when the kids,further schooling, etc demand more time. it would really be a benefit for nurses going on in their education to have the benefits and less hours. how many of you work for at least two hospitals? if so, what are the major reasons for working for another hospital verses the additional hours at one hospital? my wife worked for two hospitals both per diem. it was a nice change for her when she got exasperated/burned out at one. she would put in more time at one hospital one month then switch the next month. being per diem, she had to compete for hours on the sign up sheets and having a backup hospital was a nice "insurance" that she got her time in when one was full up on the schedule. on the downside, she had twice the educational "upkeep" that needed to be done for each hospital. much of which was redundant. if benefits/salary were enhanced for employees working at least 36 hours one week and 48 hours the next, would you be interested or is 48 hours in one week a total turn-off? when i was working in a hospital on the floors or in er, working over the 36 hrs would have put me over the edge. mainly due to the full bore, non-stop flow of patients, admissions, paperwork etc. it was not uncommond for at least one of the nurses i worked with to have a mini-melt down after about 10 hrs. (mostly due to insufficient staffing for the patient volume/acuity level.). i or my wife would not like the 48 hrs in one week. there is a trade off for benefits/salary vs quality of life that most people with families would prefer not to take. working 4 - 12hr shifts in a week is exhausting both mentally and physically. little time is left after work/sleep to do the daily family/household/child attention that is necessary for a happy nurse.

I believe they paid me in chickens back then....or was it 9.00/hr? That was for the medical floor night shift. (also known as new grad hell) It's been so long ago. Almost didn't seem worth it then. That was in 1984ish A.D. Now I make a great salary and don't need the chickens. I think new grads now are starting out at 19/hr here.

I started out working on the ambulance as a advanced first aider, first responder, EMT-B and finally a Medic. Things just kind of kept pointing me toward that career choice. I had just started a good easy factory job when the union went on strike. Stupid niave kid that I was, when offered triple time to cross the line, I did. I spent everything extra I earned on fixing the damage (I believe they prefered to call modifications) that the union individuals did to my car for crossing their picket line. I was laid off after the strike. All my friends and EMS cohorts said I should go get my RN license. Since I had nothing better to do, I did. Now I enjoy my job and the autonomy I have. And am even furthering my education and hopefully licensure in a few years. I met my first wife when I started EMS and when I left EMS I left her too. (couldn't handle my study hours?). My current wife met me while I was an RN and I bet she's glad I'm staying in nursing! Walkin a thin IV line.

My wife works as an RN at a local hospital and gets a whopping 25 cents more an hour for her BSN than she did with her ADN. Not much incentive for someone who wishes only to remain at the staff nurse level to get their BSN. It seems to benefit only if you want to go into managerial or pursue a higher degree and licensure. As far as experience and pay level, I have always started out at the highest pay level for any facility I've worked at in the last 20 years. Even starting as a new grad 23 yrs ago I had an advantage due to a big background as a medic first. I believe they are doing good locally in that aspect. Too bad about the BSN incentive. Most prospective RN students I have talked to are going for their ADN's due to the fact that they have less school time and are aware of the mostly equal pay for the ADN level. Nursing an educational headache.