Switching hospitals

Nurses Career Support

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Specializes in Women's Services.

I am a full time RN at my current hospital. I love my job, but there are a few things that are causing me to look at other hospitals. The biggest problem I have with my current job is the high nurse to pt ratio, which is 8:1. (No matter what the pt acuity is, it is 8:1.) So, a friend told me about a position which was coming open in the same type of nursing in a different hospital. My friend is a nurse who started out in this same prn position and is now taking a FT position that just came open there. She says her hospital is much better with the nurse to pt ratio and it would be better pay. However, it is a prn position. She says she gets all the hours she wants and can work overtime if she would like to. According to everything she has told me it sounds like the perfect job for me. So, I put in for the job, got an interview with the manager last week and he liked me. Today, I had a peer interview and it also went really well. So, if he offers me the job, do I quit my FT job with benefits to go to a job that is prn with no benefits? I love this hospital. It is a teaching hospital with an excellent reputation. My current hospital is a for-profit hospital with a not-so-good reputation.

Have any of you taken this type of leap where you leave a FT position for a prn position? If so, how did it work out for you? What should be my deciding factor?

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

No, I would not quit a FT position with benefits for a prn position unless benefits were available from my spouse. However, you can still take the prn position in addition to your FT position and try it out. If a FT position comes available there and you enjoy the hospital, then quit and make the switch.

Specializes in Women's Services.

I know it sounds nuts to even think about quitting a FT job for a prn position. (We get our insurance with my husband's job.) I keep going over the pros and cons.

Pros:

1. This is a really great hospital with a wonderful reputation.

2. It would get my foot in the door for a FT position in the future.

3. I would be able to make my own schedule and work around any of my kid's events (ballgames, concerts, etc.)

4. I would make more money per hour (approx. $6.00/hr more)

5. Nurse to pt ratio is based on acuity and they do not go over 6:1

Cons:

1. prn's get called off first, I'm so afraid I wouldn't get my hours. (Although, my friend who works this same job

assures me that she always gets her hours with overtime available alot of the time.)

2. Further to commute, by about 20 minutes more than where I work now.

3. Leaving the security of a FT job where I already know what I'm doing

Specializes in Women's Services.

The manager left a message on my machine Friday that they want to offer me the position. I called and left a message for him that I would call him back this morning. I'm making a list of any and all questions to ask him about this prn position. I have talked to many other nurses, my husband and my family members about what to do. Everything points to accepting the prn position but asking to stay on at my current FT job. I can't do both and be here for my children. So, I'm now thinking of accepting the prn position and also asking my manager at my current job if I can stay on there prn too. Also, I think it is going to be $10 or more per hour more than I make now. Gotta go call the manager back. :)

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