In the ED where I work, I am one of only 18 nurses who work there. Two of those 18 nurses are PRN (I am one of them). Of those 18, two of them just got transferred to a different location, one just took a job in another department, and two quit. Doing the math, we just lost a quarter of our nursing staff. That tends to happen with nursing- it’s difficult to find good nurses, and competitors try to hire them away.
They are trying to hire more and have had a few interviews, but no one who has been offered the job has accepted. I’m guessing it’s because nursing pay in the area has climbed again and my employer is offering less than the candidates are being offered elsewhere. They will be forced to raise starting pay again, which is the only way to get a raise- about every two years, change jobs for more money.
At any rate, we still need to staff the place, and to do that, management has declared a critical need. When they do that, the bonuses come out. For the months of July and August, any shift you pick up in addition to your contract gets you a bonus: $33.33 per hour ($400 for a shift) on weekdays, $41.67 per hour ($500 for a shift) on weekends. Since I am PRN, I am only contracted to work one day per week, meaning that I get that bonus for every day that I work in a week beyond that first one. Even if I only work full time hours, I get $800-$1000 per week in bonuses.
The best part is that it is the slow season for emergency departments around the state, so our workload is low. High pay and low work? Of course I jumped on it. I am working a bunch this July, but I am going to make about $20,000 this month alone. When the August schedule gets done, I will try to do the same.
That just adds to the retirement fund. I will be busy, but still working less and making more than I would if I were full time.
4 Comments
footintheforest · June 28, 2026 at 9:12 am
The tax man thanks you for your “voluntary” contribution. IMHO now would be a good time to fortify the 401k with personally held 1/10-ounce gold eagles.
Divemedic · June 28, 2026 at 10:54 am
Im reducing my tax burden by maxing out our tax free accounts.
Grumpy51 · June 28, 2026 at 9:29 am
The profession has done it to itself with the help of federal government.
Medicare started it with federal money. Then EMTALA happened from a case in Liberty TX (1980s?). Now all of a sudden, NO ONE could be turned away without a medical screening exam (MSE) to ensure no emergency is happening. Every hospital I’ve worked in has taken this to mean that we (providers) have to see AND treat, even if an emergency isn’t anywhere near happening for the next 24 hours.
Now the PCP (primary care, not the drug 😎) are overloaded which pushes people to the ER – THE most expensive place to get treatment.
Add COVID into the mix where ICU bedside nurses were being paid $15k weekly (12H, 6D weekly) at the small regional hospital I’m at.
I moved to TX in 2000. Per the TX state board of nursing, the state was 50k nurses short….. in 2000. One hospital I worked at was a 225-bed hospital, but only had staffing for 40-45 beds.
When you hear about bed shortages, there are 2 DIFFERENT reasons, with 2 totally different solutions. The first is physical bed capacity – how many beds is the facility licensed for. A shortage here is a 2-4 year solution- build a new facility.
The second is a staffing shortage. This problem has a longer-term impact as schools have to be developed, faculty hired, and testing proven.
Hiring H1Bs has it’s own problems- not understanding English, not knowing generic v trade names (medications), different cultures (want to please despite medical orders – giving breakfast to a NPO patient for surgery).
DM – keep giving the information, it’s educational!
Steady Steve · June 28, 2026 at 10:05 am
Rake it in while you can, especially if the work load is low. And I agree with footintheforest, convert those FRN’s to hard money while the manipulators are holding the price down.