part time nurses

[southernms]

Am planning on starting nursing school in july. no problems with me working full time right now but with MS who knows what the future holds.

i was wondering if part time nurses are able to get health insurance? I'm hoping that the high demand for nurses gets added benifits that the general population doesn't normaly get?

[onlyairfare]

Depending on where you work, part-timers may be eligible for benefits including health insurance. At the hospital near to me, all employees (not just nurses) who work at least 24 hours per week are eligible for benefits, though some are pro-rated. For example, 24 hours per week is 60% so if the employee wants the education benefit, they are given $3,000 annually for tuition instead of the full-timers $5,000. That is a great benefit for those RN's who have a two-year associate degree but want to get the four year BSN - the hospital pays for it!

It seems more common to have a 32 hours per week minimum to qualify for benefits, and some places you have to work 40 hours per week or you don't qualify for any benefits.

There are also hospitals where you work three twelve hour shifts and are paid for 40 hours of work. If you can stand the 12 hours, it's not bad to work 3 days then have 4 days off.

[rainykatie]

different hospitals are different but my last job, before moving, i worked 24 hours, 2 shifts a week and had amazing benefits!!! new job does not offer benefits to part time.

[rgngsmom]

I work as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital. I work 24 to 32 hours a week, although it is usually 24. Everyone part-time is offered insurance. It is just much more expensive than for the full-time staff. As far as I know, there is no longer anything such as "pre-existing condition" where the insurance companies are concerned, but I could be wrong. Wouldn't
be the first time :-P
Best wishes to you.

[Jules A]

Where I have worked benefits are offered at a bit higher rate for 20+ hours a week but a friend recently told me that her hospital offers benefits at 16 hours a week.

Nursing is a very practical career choice, imo. There are so many different things we can do, the variety of schedules is unlimited and the money is pretty good.