A nurse is what you do. It is what you are……………

Nursing is continuously will be a inspiring and challenging profession. Nurses hold people's lives in their hands and to continue to be great nurses, we must always strive to recover the excellence of care we provide. That isn't easy if we don't have proper feedback, and the information necessary to help us improve. Response is vital to helping nurses thrive and grow in their roles.  In today's healthcare environment we meet many challenges every day that perhaps didn't exist even a few months ago. One major goal no matter what your niche is to reduce costs while maintaining quality. The challenge then becomes how to work smarter and not harder because reducing costs can also translate to cutting staff.  That works only if you have the buy-in of everyone, and the information to help staff understands what and why. In home health and hospice, for example, Medicare drives the ship and regs change frequently. If we don't help staff understand the purpose and the effects of those changes, we don't get the buy-in we need to be successful. Hospitals have gone through many changes in the past few years as well.

The key element is meeting reimbursement and providing quality care, Schedule flexibility, work-life balance and engaging in regular self-care activities are some of the most important issues of today’s nurse. When considering which nursing career pathway to pursue, one should decide what is most important to them regarding these issues. Full-time staff nurse positions are usually less flexible in scheduling, but offer stability related to income, benefits and paid time off. Agency nursing can be very flexible in scheduling; however they do not offer reimbursements or remunerated time off. There is a lot to reflect. So to help you navigate both staff nursing positions and agency nursing positions, we’ve created this easy list of pros and cons:

STAFF NURSING PROS:

·         Stable Income

·         PTO & Benefits

·         Build Rapport with Colleagues

·         Comprehensive Orientation with Mentor/Preceptor

·         Facility Provided Continuing Education

·         Quickly Adjust to Facility Policy and Protocol

AGENCY NURSING PROS:

·         Higher Pay per hour

·         Schedule Flexibility

·         Ability to Travel to New Places

·         Meet New People

·         Learn more about Nursing

·         Gain Additional Experiences

STAFF NURSING CONS:

·         Less Flexible Scheduling

·         Increased Work-Duty Demands from Facility Management

·         Less Pay per hour

·         Inability to Take Vacation When You Want

AGENCY NURSING CONS:

·         Hours Not Guaranteed

·         No PTO & Benefits

·         Limited to No Orientation

·         Hours Depend on Patient Census

·         Limited Facility Access/Restricted Access

·         No Facility Provided Continuing Education

·         Possibility of Being Away from Family and Friends During Contracts