Hi all, I'm a big lurker here.
:
I'm a nurse with 5 yrs experience doing ER, ICU, Float pool, telemetry, agency nursing, basically everything in the hospital setting except L&D and NICU. I have been working PRN (as needed) for about 2 years. I usually work 24-32 hours a week with VERY good hourly rate. I absolutely HAVE to work and this has been nice so I didn't have to work full time hours and I can make the same $$. THe current job I'm in is very feast or famine- and lately, I've been put on call (meaning they don't need me and I sit at home waiting to be called in) for a whole week at a time. I got 5 hours work and 52 hours of call on my last paycheck which is really putting a damper on Christmas as well as bills. We also fell behind on our personal health insurance we had with BCBS. So now the kids and I are uninsured. Insurance through DH's work is $850/mo which we simply cannot afford as he is a police officer and that would cut his salary in HALF. So I am in need of a new job. I don't know if I should find another PRN job to supplement my current job (which pays so well I can work 24-32 hours a week) or if I should get a full time job with benefits. Another thing that has hurt us immensly is since August we've had full time child care which is $1080/mo bc DH has been at the police academy. The nice thing about my current job is I can work whenever I want and I can work myself aaround DH's schedule so we don't have to pay child care.
So what I really want advice on:
Do I work full time (3- 12 hour shifts) and get benefits and take a significant pay cut?
Do I get another PRN job at another hospital to supplement when times are slow?
Do I look for another area of nursing that might suit my needs better? I've been thinking of trying home health which has pretty flexible hours.
The problem with option 1 is that I will probably have to take a job I don't like. I will probably have to work nights to work around DH's night schedule. And I am so burned out of ER/Tele stuff. It makes me sick to think of working one of those places full time again.
I'm a nurse with 5 yrs experience doing ER, ICU, Float pool, telemetry, agency nursing, basically everything in the hospital setting except L&D and NICU. I have been working PRN (as needed) for about 2 years. I usually work 24-32 hours a week with VERY good hourly rate. I absolutely HAVE to work and this has been nice so I didn't have to work full time hours and I can make the same $$. THe current job I'm in is very feast or famine- and lately, I've been put on call (meaning they don't need me and I sit at home waiting to be called in) for a whole week at a time. I got 5 hours work and 52 hours of call on my last paycheck which is really putting a damper on Christmas as well as bills. We also fell behind on our personal health insurance we had with BCBS. So now the kids and I are uninsured. Insurance through DH's work is $850/mo which we simply cannot afford as he is a police officer and that would cut his salary in HALF. So I am in need of a new job. I don't know if I should find another PRN job to supplement my current job (which pays so well I can work 24-32 hours a week) or if I should get a full time job with benefits. Another thing that has hurt us immensly is since August we've had full time child care which is $1080/mo bc DH has been at the police academy. The nice thing about my current job is I can work whenever I want and I can work myself aaround DH's schedule so we don't have to pay child care.
So what I really want advice on:
Do I work full time (3- 12 hour shifts) and get benefits and take a significant pay cut?
Do I get another PRN job at another hospital to supplement when times are slow?
Do I look for another area of nursing that might suit my needs better? I've been thinking of trying home health which has pretty flexible hours.
The problem with option 1 is that I will probably have to take a job I don't like. I will probably have to work nights to work around DH's night schedule. And I am so burned out of ER/Tele stuff. It makes me sick to think of working one of those places full time again.