To consider giving up my full time job to be an agency nurse?

[TheWorldIsMine]

I currently work full time, 6 days a week and it's killing me. I miss out on a lot of social events, work a lot of weekends, as working all of the Christmas bank holidays - I just hate it.
Anyway I've just registered with an agency and found that they are offering shifts to suit with much better pay. I could drop down to 30 hours a week and still bring home £200 more a month than I currently do! Plus I could choose my own weekends and holidays.

Obviously only snag is it isn't guaranteed work but bloke in phone said it's more less a given that if get at least 30 hours a week.

I'm so tempted. DH works full time and we could get by short on his wage if it all went tits up and I could get another nursing job quite easily if I wasn't picky (worst case scenario).

How unreasonable would it be to not tell DH what I'm doing? He's not very understanding and can be a tad controlling so no matter how much I want to do this and believe it will work, if he says no I'll be stuck doing what I'm doing.

If I just go ahead and do it and in a few months admit it and show him how it's worked for us (more money for a start!) he'd have no cause for complaint

Just... Um.... Ok there are clearly wider issues at play here. Are you quite young?

I am also considering leaving my Nursing job ( only part time) and just going on the bank at my current unit. I am pretty sure I can still pay into the NHS pension if I just work bank shifts. My main reasons for doing this are the nightshifts ( which are soon to become 12 hours long) and inflexibility. I would not leave to do agency though, the unit where I work is trying very hard to move way from expensive agency staff.

Also I would strongly advise reviewing your pension situation. while you are young. I have been nursing for 30 years but have lots of gaps ( full time degree, worked abroad for 5 years and been quite part time due to raising family). I got my first NHS pension forcast last year and was really shocked at how little I am forcast to get !! I am in the fortunate position of having no mortgage and my dh has some savings ( although his pension forcast is dire too !!) but even so I am worried about our old age !

I don't understand how you can say you could manage on your dh's wages if things didn't work out , yet you say you can't afford to pay into a pension. Doesn't make sense.

The other thing (piling in) to remember is that you aren't on £21k per year. That's your base rate.

You're on £21909 at the moment. That's an hourly rate of £11.20. But you get Time +30% for Saturdays and nights (£14.56) and Time + 60% for Sundays and Bank Holidays (£17.92).

So although it will be more, you won't be able to calculate such a massive jump from your base rate. About half of my wages each month come from unsociable hours payments.

I'm not a nurse, but an HCP. I would say its a risky move in terms of your longer term career - you're likely to fall behind on training, development etc, and get fed up of bank - although you might find a workplace you like, and if They like you you might be able to get a permanent job with them in time. More likely you will get disillusioned and leave the profession. BUT, your current situation sounds intolerable, so I don't blame you for wanting to change it. Pinpoint a working environment in nursing that would suit you better, and work towards it. Also, I think you should talk to your partner about such a big decision.

I am an agency social worker.i make more money and can picks and choose when and where I work.
It freaks me out a bit that I do tb have guaranteed work, but I've never actually been without an offer.
The only down is if you are sick, want to take holiday you don't get paid for it-but it's fine if you save a bit of your extra cash to cover for those eventualities.
You could always do it for a year or two for a sort of rest, then go back to a permanent job later?

Someone above mad a good point about training, given you are newly qualified surely you still have a lot of training and development to do? Cannot see agencies paying for this!

I used to recruit for an NHS staff bank - we didn't allow nurses who were registered with an agency to also register with us as they could just drop the shifts we have them at the last minute if the agency offered them more money. I'd check your bank actually took on agency staff.

I do know some nurses who happily do agency work and make it work for them. I couldn't do it!

There is no loyalty for agency nurses, shifts cancelled at the last minute or you turn up and get sent home as you aren't needed. The agency can just stop offering you shifts without reason or rationale. I'd be questioning support for CPD and revalidation as well.

I used to work night shifts and was regularly on with agency nurses. I worked with some great nurses but without exception, none of them wanted to work if they weren't on with a regular Nurse so would have to take charge of the ward. I think in that respect agency work can be very de-skilling.

OP think hard about this if you are planning to have children, the NHS maternity package is great, an agency would give you precisely fuck all, and may stop giving you shifts when pregnant, I know a few people this has happened to.

I think you would be foolish to give up a permanent job for zero hours.

Also if you register with multiple agencies you will pay more tax on your 2nd job.

There are of course huge risks with agency work in terms of holiday and sick pay.

If you join NHS Professionals specifically do you get holiday pay and the ability to pay into the NHS pension (which might be a choice you could make in the future? I thought the whole point of NHSP is that it is the NHS's own pool of staff so you are encouraged to join by holiday pay etc. Please don't rely on this and I'm sure someone will correct me.

Certainly in my Trust staff are actively encouraged to join NHSP as all overtime or extra shifts must go through there.

I can totally understand why you are thinking of leaving your current job although of course there are massive risks to doing this.

If you are set on an agency you need to shop around. Certainly NHSP round here advertises paid annual leave and paid CPD (within reason -almost all non-mandatory training has had funding pulled at my Trust anyway even for permanent staff). I'm cynical enough not to believe that at face value. If it is worth checking out. You would also need to check the sick pay situation.

Sorry for second post! Will your own area really not let you reduce your hours? I can believe it but do they know you are considering leaving? Is it worth a flexible working request (they can of course refuse this) just in terms of reducing the hours? The hours you are doing now seem unsustainable.

No career progression.

No sick pay. If god forbid you're off for months with something serious could you manage?

I talked to NHS professionals the other day and they said they pay midpoint band 5. I said well what if you're top of band 5, she said you still get paid mid point.

Yes good point re pay. The ideal really would be to drop hours at work then top up if needed with NHSP.

Op what specialty are you in? I work in surgery and anaesthetics, there are some very good roles in this division that accommodate family life. I'm part time now but even at full time we do 4 9.5 hour days a week no weekends bank holidays or nights. Plus as we are specialist we can get double pay for any waiting lists which are optional and run on occasional weekends.

My point is it is worth having a look around your trust before jumping ship. Especially as you are still quite junior in post. Most agencies in this area want at least 3 years experience in acute specialties.

I do remember how hard it can be and always said I would have left nursing by now if I hadn't found this job, been here 5 years now and will probably stay until I retire ( a long way off) good luck

I'm agency and have been for 2 years now. I hadn't intended on doing it for so long but it's working out that way as I'm never short of work if you're willing to be flexible. Sign up to more than one agency and give them your availability in advance and you will get shifts. The further you're willing to travel, the more likely you are to get work.

When I first started doing it I was able to reduce my hours to 25 a week on the same rate I was on the NHS, but for the last year I've been full time to get some savings behind me.

With the whole not being allowed credit thing, if you have a 'stable income' from your agency Work you can still apply, but you just need to be careful because obviously if you stop working, you might not be able to pay. That being said, you can get sickness insurance to help if you are unable to work because of your health.

I guess if you are on 21k you are fairly newly qualified , so the pension entitlement is nowhere near what used to be offered , certainly not gold plated , more nickel plated !

I am intrigued by the suggestion that you re-direct your husbands pension contribution into your NHS pension , is this even possible ?

OP, I guess you're on a ward?
You haven't got enough experience for agency. They'll throw you anywhere and you need to swim or sink and it's not pretty, not when you have a pin to look after.
As a pp said, try and look into specialised roles. Critical care pays well, but you need to know your onions.
Or just change wards for now.
Agency is good for 1-2 shifts a month, they tax you 20% plus another 11% for NI contributions. So your £30 per hour turns into about £19. Do your maths. And pay into the nhs pension, don't be daft.

I am intrigued by the suggestion that you re-direct your husbands pension contribution into your NHS pension , is this even possible ?

I think PP meant that if you were going to choose a pension scheme to opt out of, then unless her DH also works in either public sector or civil services, then if they really can only afford one, they should sacrifice his, not hers, as hers will be a lot better (even if it is more expensive).

Although I get vibes of not-particularly-financially-clued-in coming from OP's posts. Which is making me think giving up a full time role when you are newly qualified is maybe not sensible.

I've not read all the comments but these are my thoughts.I currently still work in the NHS and work very part time for a premium agency. The money is amazing sometimes I have to pinch myself that Im really being paid this much! I've also in the past worked full time for a non premium agency. These are the things I think you need to think about. A lot depends on you as a person/nurse, you have to be really adaptable, and be able to hit the ground running, willing to learn, ask questions and be friendly and out going. How many hospitals have you worked in? Every hospital has different paper work, different prceedures, I have colleagues who say they'd hate theyd hate it. If your adult trained in my area south east/south west you might have to accept some work in nursing homes to maintain you're income, or work in places you might not necessarily know for example in the past I've done in a dention centre. Are you happy to give anywhere a go? If your urban based e.g. In London I suspect there would be lots of hospital work.
With regard to holiday pay you do get it. Some put it by every time you get paid then you request it, others pay it on top of your hourly rate.
Where I live there's loads of work I got endless texts yesterday about work today in my area and speciality and when I worked for a non premium agency they book you in advance, if you go somewhere and you're very good they'll often ask you to come back and book you in for any outstanding shifts that need covering for the next few weeks or take your number and call you 1st if something comes up. Working for a premium agency it's all last minute again currently in my specialities there's loads of work but you do have to be patient and not panic and also either keep looking at your phone for texts or logging onto to their website to see what's available which is not really permissible if your at work you can only do it in your break time and you might miss something. You could also deskill most places give agency nurses "easier" patients (certainly in my speciality). Finally if you work for a premium agency staff can certainly initially be quite hostile because they know your being so very well paid so your need to not only be hard working knowledgable and willing to do anything but also friendly. All now provide training and help with revalidation and pension schemes you can opt onto too..
I personally have always loved working for an agency, I'm naturally nosey so like seeing how other places do things, I've worked on wards I've never done before and learnt loads, most importantly you choose when you work and when you don't, I've turned down shifts due to commitments and just been offered others on different days it's no problem. I like being paid weekly, the premium agency I work for pays four times a week! You're not involved in work politics, no pointless meetings, link roles, etc you take holiday when you want, and on top of that it's more money.
I am currently thinking about leaving nursing for good but if I can't find anything suitable then I'll probably do agency full time.
I think I read in Nursing Times some months ago that there are 25 000 nursing vacancies across the NHS we are haemorrhaging staff like no tomorrow so it's not young to get better, removing student bursaries may make it worse so there's loads of work and I suspect will be for years to come.

Just to add everywhere is saying they're going to stop using agencies especially premium agencies they've been saying this for years which why I held out from joining a premium agency for so long. Well I've now been doing agency on and off since 2007 there's more work than ever before!

I'm really confused as to why you are working 6 days per week on a normal band 5 contract? Maybe you need to look at a new post that would be less stressful? Heaps of community roles with great hours and flexibility out there!

Nursenat in our trust if you refuse to work long days you have to work 6 short shifts a week if your doing days. Maybe the OP is doing that?