Full-time and per diem nursing are very different jobs. Full-time nursing usually offers job security, steady income, and sometimes employer-paid benefits. It may also offer a community and culture of co-workers and residents you’ll get to know as fellow nurses and friends. And over time, you may start to get in a comfortable and productive rhythm at the facility. However, there are also benefits to per diem nursing, especially given new technologies at your fingertips. And you may run into some problems as a full-time nursing professional.
Complications of Full-Time Nursing
Unfortunately, some facilities are unable to adequately staff their facilities, leading to regularly understaffed shifts. You may find yourself working unpaid overtime regularly when schedulers have a hard time booking per other nurses for overtime shifts. It’s also common for a facility to ask for your schedule availability months in advance so that they can pencil you in, even when your schedule changes due to personal or family reasons, for example. Over time, this can cause you and your co-workers stress that can lead to burnout (click here for more on how to address burnout). And when you’re working at a place that stresses you out, it becomes increasingly hard to be happy, social, and make connections with your coworkers and residents. And when you’re not happy, you’re not productive, negatively impacting the quality patient care, your passion for nursing, your ambition to advance your career, and more importantly, your quality of life.
Complications of Per Diem Nursing
The typical drawbacks of per diem nursing are different. As a traditional per diem nurse, you’ll enjoy more schedule flexibility but you may have to sacrifice job security. When the per diem jobs rely on a last-minute phone call, there is no guarantee that that call is coming or that you’ll be available to fill that shift when it comes. You may find that you’re left without a support system of a facility, often working as a 1099 employee as opposed to a W2 (for more on 1099 vs W2 nursing, click here). This means you typically won’t get employee benefits nor employer paid taxes. And when taxes are due, you may end up with an unaccounted cost. But with new technologies and data science harnessed in easy-to-use apps, you can get the freedom and flexibility of per diem nursing with the stability and support of full-time nursing.
Weighing Your Options
So, it’s important to weigh each option for what’s best for you. If you’re someone who would rather get in a rhythm at the same facility and is willing to risk getting locked into a stressful schedule so that you can establish a predictable schedule and relationships with your coworkers, then a full-time nursing job at a facility might be right for you. However, if you’re stressed out and feeling the symptoms of burnout due to a rigid schedule in a demanding work environment, then per diem nursing is right for you.
As a per diem nurse, you have freedom and flexibility that keeps your passion for nursing fresh. You’ll make new connections, solve new problems, and learn from new experiences that help you advance your nursing career. Because of new apps and developments in data science, you’ll maintain job security, benefits, and competitive pay rates by using simple apps like our app for IntelyPros. We harness cutting-edge data science, empowering you to maintain your freedom and flexibility without sacrificing pay rates, benefits, and a support system that may come in a facility environment.
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To take advantage of both full-time and per diem staff efficiently and cost-effectively, request a demo of IntelyCare Scheduling and Staffing for your facility today!
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