Taking a pay cut to work PRN

[fungez]

I've always assumed that PRN staff makes more, usually base plus another 15%. Well, you know what they say about assuming.

In the HCA owned hospital in Austin, I took a $2.50 pay CUT to go from part-time to PRN. To add insult, I then made $5.50 less an hour than at my other PRN job.

Ascension Hospital (non-HCA) $33.55/hr PRN

St David's (HCA) $28.00/hr PRN $30.50 parttime

So I talked to the CNO, showing her my Ascension paystub as proof how much less they were paying me. I told her I didn't expect her to match Ascension wages, but thought it was reasonable to make the same amount of money for the same job I had been during a week earlier. She told me that HCA wages where set by God or someone equally important and she had no power to change them. At which point I had to quit.

I hated to quit, I really liked the patients and my coworkers, but with such an egregious wage difference I just couldn't continue to work there.

Anyone have an similar experience?

[pielęgniarka, RN]

That's exactly what it is where I work. The PRN staff I work with make $2.50 less an hour than the scheduled nurses. PRN status classification is not eligible for call-on bonus pay like the scheduled nurses are either.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

your story points out the importance of asking all the right questions before making a decision. To me it makes sense to pay employees better than prn as prn staff cannot be depended on to come in when needed. Some do, but many do not.

[GM2RN]

If PRN staff cannot be counnted on to come in then maybe they should be paid better and they would come in. It also makes sense to pay them more since the PRN doesn't get benefits.

At my hospital, PRN staff are paid the same hourly wage as PT or FT employees for pre-scheduled shifts. If they are called in within 24 hours of starting a shift, they are paid time and a half. But this applies to PT and FT employees as well.

I made really good money when I was PRN. My hospital was always needing extra staff and I worked it so I was called in for the extra dollars most of the time. Technically they were only supposed to give me the extra $$ if they called within 24 hours of my shift, but I could usually negotiate the extra $$ even when they called 2-3 days ahead.

I worked FT+ hours most of the time, but I got no benefits this way, plus I grew tired of never knowing where I was going to work before I got there since there were floors that I didn't like working.

They do have a system in place so they will call you for only the floors where you want to work, but obviously that would limit the possibility of getting the hours I wanted.

The hospital now has an on-call system in place as well. You would tell them which days, it could be all of them if that's what you want, you agree to be on call and you get $3/hr for call. You get paid time and a half, plus the extra $3/hr, plus shift diff, if they bring you in. However, if you agree to be on call you must go in if called. In that scenario, even a new RN with less than 1 year experience would make $41/hr.

To top it off, this is a union hospital so we also get our yearly raises.

[iwanna]

I thought that PRN usually got paid MORE and not LESS than pt or ft. I know that one of my jobs, I was a little disappointed when my status went from PRN to PT. My pay rate was cut, however, the trade off was the benefit of PTO. And, the pro to per diem was that you can tell them when you are available. I believe the PRN should always be paid more than pt or ft.

[SnowStar4]

Our PRN staff makes about $10 more an hour. They have to be flexible and do not get benefits so they hospital compensates them. We have several on our floor that work almost full time hours but are PRN just to make more money.

[GM2RN]

PRN can be very lucrative, and if you have a spouse that provides the benefits, it can be the best of both worlds.

[RNperdiem, RN]

The hospital raised the wages of per diem staff a few years ago. The idea was to create a large enough pool of hospital staff nurses who work per diem and eliminate the need for agency or travel nurses.

The hourly wages are set by shift with nights and weekends making a higher hourly wage. The wages are no secret; they are the same for all per diem employees and can be checked on the HR website.

Sure I value money, but I value freedom to set my own schedule more.

[Batman25]

Ours make $6 more an hour. If you don't need the benefits and can afford to work sporadically it's a nice deal.

[caliotter3]

When I found out that another person was being paid $4 an hour more than me, and I was brushed off when I asked about it, it did not take long to fade away from that employer. Disparity in pay is a very good reason to leave, as long as you have another job around the corner.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Where I work, PRNs and permanent staff start off with the same base pay and diffs. However, permanent staff get yearly increases to their base pay based on performance, while the PRN base pay never changes.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

Where I work, PRNs and permanent staff start off with the same base pay and diffs. However, permanent staff get yearly increases to their base pay based on performance, while the PRN base pay never changes.

That hardly seems fair.

I work PRN at two different facilities. At one of them I am paid approximately $6-8/hr more than ft staff. I am eligible for staffing bonuses, and I get time and a half for holidays. I also get a 20% increase on my base pay rate for working weekends or nights. My other facility pays more, so I end up making around $10/hr more than ft staff. I am eligible for time and a half for holidays. The downside is this facility only does $1/hr to work nights or weekends. The benefit to job #2 is that I don't have to work any weekends.