Per diem question

hey all, so I am considering working per diem on the side. I was wondering if it is best to apply directly to hospitals or if I should use an agency instead. Is the pay better through an agency? What are the drawbacks?

Thanks

Pay is usually better through an agency, but when you work per diem with an agency, they might send you to many different facilities. If you stick with a hospital, you probably won't make as much, but you won't have to deal with going to different facilities all the time.

I see. Are there any agency companies that will agree to only send you to 1 or 2 facilities? Also how much time in advance is usually required if you want to work?

You can specify if you only want to work at 1 or 2 different facilities, but you will severely limit your assignment options. The notice to work at agency is usually very short- less than a day, because you're usually covering sick calls. You might get more notice to cover things like planned absences or maternity leave.

I did some flu clinics with maxim healthcare this year, the pay was really bad, but it was a n across the board thing for lpn or rn's, so for an lpn i think it would have been pretty good. I just did it to be able to get out of the house once and a while..

if your looking to do per diem to actually make some money, i would recomend doing agency. when i was in mississippi, there was an agency down there that just did per diem for the state, and most of the nurses only worked at one hospital. you might could find something like there whereever your at.

it would also depend on the area of the country you are in in some places there really aren't agencies providing staff. When I've worked perdiem I've just gone with the hospital I wanted. Most of them have some requirement that you work a certain number of shifts per month but you tell them when you can work and they tell you if they need you then. The pay is usually a little better then staff but that's because you don't get any benefits.

Thanks for the input. So when you apply directly to a hospital, how does training work? Do they give you a few days of orientation?