An Agency Nurse Just Might Provide the Opportunity You Are Looking For

An agency nurse does not work at a specific health care facility but will go where the work is. A nurse who has contracted with an agency will work on a short-term basis, a per day or per shift basis. It might be to fill in for vacations, a general nursing shortage, for someone on maternity leave, during a high incident of illness among the nursing staff or any other reason outside personnel will need to be brought in to supplement the permanent staff. It is an ideal arrangement for a nurse who may want to work on a day off or who may want to work part time. It is also possible for an agency nurse to work full time. It may be a working alternative for a nurse winding down to retirement or a retired nurse who wants to keep current with the nursing profession. New moms or nurses wanting to get back into the workforce may find this venture amenable to their schedule or as a way to ease back into the working world.

Nurses who contract such work need to be extremely flexible as working conditions and locations change constantly. Nurses need to adapt quickly to a new location as this type of employment does not come with much of a learning curve. Being an agency nurse has its upside and down side. It depends on your ultimate goal to determine what is up and what is down for you.

Typically, an agency nursing contract is short term, perhaps a week or two or maybe a month. It can also be as short as a day, if that is what you want. The nurse may be on call to fill in at the last minute, or scheduled for the short term with advance notice. If the patient population suddenly changes to the lower side, the agency nurse is usually the first one sent home. Unless the contract calls for a nurse to be paid for the entire shift in a case like that, you may find your pay check on the light side for that day.

The nurse's employer is the agency that has a contract with a healthcare facility. Whatever benefits that might accompany the contract are courtesy of the agency. Those benefits may include higher wages, access to medical and dental insurance, a 401(k) or retirement program, Cafeteria 125 plan and reimbursement for contact time classes. Typically paid vacation and sick time are not included, and you may only receive holiday pay if it is part of the contract. Higher than standard wages are usually enough to compensate for the unpaid vacation and sick time.

Working as an agency nurse enables you to work in a variety of places with a variety of people. This is an excellent opportunity if you would rather not work at the same place and with the same people all the time. This is also a way to avoid "office politics" and just concentrate on the job at hand. Working at different facilities will help widen your nursing skills and perhaps sharpen some that might have stayed a little on the dull side.