Question re:agency vs per diem pay?

suzanne4, RN · Jul 16, 2005

No you cannot work agency at a hospital that you are signed up for per diem or prn.

Problem with working per diem at several different facilities as they each usually have minimum requirements that you must work each pay period or schedule, as well as holiday requirements. So if you were to go per diem at 3 different facilities, you could easily be working every major holiday each year.

Depending on where you are located, some per diem contracts are the same pay as agency, some are lower.

gypsyatheart · Jul 17, 2005

Yes, that makes sense. I'm in Southern Cali at the moment, coming off a contract soon, but don't want to leave this area yet....agency may be the way to go. Thanks!

MikeRN1 · Jul 17, 2005

I've worked Per Diem and agency. Agency nursing gives you a greater amount of freedom. The pay was comparable, but Per Diem required so many hours a schedule and so many of those were off shifts and weekends. The only good thing I could say about Per Diem is that they usually give you a longer orientation period. Hope this helped a bit.

Anna123 · Jul 17, 2005

I am wondering if agency pay is better than being per diem at the hospital/s?
What is the benefit to working for an agency? Vs. just being a per diem nurse at different hospitals? Thanks!
Also, if you are per diem at a certain hospital as well as signed up w/local agency, can you work at the hospital you are per diem for...probably not, I would suspect....?

I liked working agency because I got to try out a lot of different hospitals yet it didn't junk up my resume by making me look like a job hopper.

The only problem I had was being cancelled a lot, so I got tired of it. One day I got there and the Nursing Supervisor was still begging other nurses to stay so she could send me home! How insulting!

I went to pediatrics and that really ruined my agency gig. Be careful of your specialty if you want agency. Stay with something that's in demand, such as telemetry or ICU.

gypsyatheart · Jul 17, 2005

Thanks for the info...very helpful!

HarryHK · Jul 24, 2005

In some areas, notably the San Francisco Bay area, there can be a considerable difference between agency per diem and the hospital. Agency pay is between $38 and $42 an hour in the Bay, hospital per diem tops out at $55 to $65 an hour (depending on experience). So agency is good to pick up some hours while on a travel contract or with very limited hours for whatever reason, hospital is better for regular hours and pay.

And some hospitals do allow one nurse to have staff hours, per diem hours, and agency hours all in one pay period (cuts down on overtime). Of course if you are in house per diem, you would be unlikely to do agency work.

virtuous915 · Sep 10, 2007

I'm from Lancaster, California doing ICU work. Does anybody know if San Francisco hospitals offer per diem jobs, like 5 days a month? I plan to work the first 3 weeks of the month in Lancaster and do per diem on the fourth week in San Francisco. Any ideas? Help please...