Some Things to Consider When Thinking About Working For a Nurse Agency
By: Karen P
Submitted: 2011-10-21 18:28:53 | Word Count: 523
An employment option for a nurse is to work for a nursing agency. The agency contracts with healthcare facilities and provide temporary nursing staff when needed. The assignments are temporary and can be anywhere from a day or two to several months. Most agencies require a nurse has at least one year of experience and the proper education and license. Licensing must be up to date at all times.
Working for a nursing agency allows the nurse to set their own work schedule as well as time off. A nurse can usually schedule work around other priorities rather than scheduling activities around work. There is always the risk, however, that your schedule does not permit you to take some assignments, and you may end up with more down time than planned. In contract work circles, down time equals no pay. On the other side of the tongue depressor, your schedule may permit you to take additional assignments that will add to your personal finance. In the end, it should all even out.
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Most agencies will offer a benefits package to help attract quality nurses. Those benefits might be a 401(k) plan, medical and dental insurance, or a cafeteria 125 plan. Benefits typically do not include paid vacation or sick time. The pay scale is usually much higher than a staff nurse, so it may compensate for not having all the typical benefits of being a permanent employee at a health care facility. If lack of benefits is a concern, working for an agency might not be for you.
Before you work for a new facility, you may be required to do an orientation with that facility. It might be an hour or it might be half a day. If you are compensated for that time, it will most likely be for a small amount of money that the agency will pay you. You may not be paid for that time until you have worked a certain amount of shifts for the agency. Your orientation will usually involve shadowing a staff nurse around on her rounds and watch the routine. You will learn the protocols, where everything is, how things are done, etc. It will be time well spent if you spend a lot of time working at that facility. The learning curve at a facility for an agency nurse is pretty much nonexistent, and if you are to hit the ground running, as will be expected, you will need all the help you can get.
Ask your agency about the cancellation policy. If you are to work a shift at a facility and the facility cancels your shift, are you compensated for that time or is it pay lost? Find out if there is a time frame for compensated cancelation. If the facility cancels your shift less than two hours before it is set to begin, are you paid for those two hours? Will the agency find you another shift someplace else if your scheduled shift is canceled? Answers to these questions might help you decide if agency nursing is for you or if you should be on board with more than one agency.
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