Using prn staff instead of posting day position

[Lifeofanicunurse]

I work as a full time on nights, some of my coworkers have been on nights over 10 years and are still waiting for a dayshift position to open up. Day shift is consistently staffed by contingent staff who are technically night shift who work full time hours. There are many days where day shift will be short and they ask nights to help out. These contingent nurses have been abusing the system and using it as full time hours without the commitment. How is this okay? What about all the night shift people who want to work days!? Especially since night shift is over staffed. Most days there are 8 nurses on, with 4 continents and sometimes a traveler float nurse. I am just feeling so frustrated. It seems the only way to get on days is to go contingent but work full time hours. Has anyone else experienced this?

[TriciaJ, RN]

On 1/12/2020 at 5:17 PM, morelostthanfound said:

I'm not entirely sure why you are angry with contingent nurses This is your nurse manager's attempt to control costs and maintain staff nurses in difficult to fill positions (night shift). Also, although per diem nurses are paid a higher hourly rate, they typically don't receive benefits (insurance, 401K, paid holidays...) and as such, are a big cost savings for the hospital. Fair practice? no. Commonplace practice? Yes, sorry

I agree with this. My first thought when I read the OP is that day shift holes are a lot easier to fill with per diem, agency, whatever. Night callouts are way harder to fill. It makes sense from a management point of view to keep night shift well staffed and use itinerant labour to cover days.

Of course it's crappy for night shift nurses trying to get onto days. Completely unfair.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

I am not understanding your issue. You do realize that many PRN nurses work FT elsewhere and are not at the beck and call of what full-time staff want?

I work FT days...I refuse to pick up night shifts at my contingent position, even though night shift is really short. The day the force me to work nights is the day I quit.

PRN staff give up quite a bit to go PRN for one benefit only: flexibility. And they shouldn't have to give it up because some whiny snowflake feels entitled to better hours.

[turtlesRcool]

I will say that from a patient perspective, having a revolving door on day shift isn't good for continuity of care. I recently went through the patient side when my mother was very ill, and it made such a difference to be able to talk to someone who had her the day before. I'd ask for updates, and keep hearing, "well, it's my first day with her..." When she had a nurse for the second or third day, it was like gold.

Not that night shift continuity isn't important, too, but day shift is when the doctors are rounding and decisions are being made and family is asking questions. There are definitely times I've been able to intervene and advocate for a patient simply because I'd had him or her for the last day or two, and was able to clearly discuss changes with new doctors. It's a lot harder to do that when the nurse is starting from scratch each day.