Would you take a job with no benefits?

[NurseLau84]

A local hospital is offering RN students positions on some of their floors for per diem shifts (two 12 hour shifts per week), contingent on graduating of course.
It's two weekend night shifts per week at a rate of $51/hour, but has no benefits. I have health insurance through my husband's job, so I wouldn't need that part.
It's a great hospital. I'm applying for an internship with them next fall to get some experience before I graduate. It sounds like a nice deal, but what do you all think of the no benefits thing? I'm not sure if I should contact the recruiter about contracting for this, or waiting to see what type of full-benefit positions I could get later on.
There seem to be many pros and cons to this.....DH thinks it's a great idea, but I am going back and forth.
Any thoughts?:bbredface:

[SerendipityCrafts]

DH's insurance covers hospital stays (semi private), dental and prescriptions. The only thing I am not covered for on his insurance is life. That is still covered on my work insurance at least until they change my status from laid off to something else ... company closed or position terminated.

Are you missing anything on your husband's insurance that you would get if you had your own benefits? If not, I say go for it :)

If you take this job, could it not lead to a permanent position with benefits later on? If not at this place, as you say, it would certainly give you the experience and so you could apply elsewhere later on.

[NurseLau84]

DH's insurance covers hospital stays (semi private), dental and prescriptions. The only thing I am not covered for on his insurance is life. That is still covered on my work insurance at least until they change my status from laid off to something else ... company closed or position terminated.

Are you missing anything on your husband's insurance that you would get if you had your own benefits? If not, I say go for it :)

If you take this job, could it not lead to a permanent position with benefits later on? If not at this place, as you say, it would certainly give you the experience and so you could apply elsewhere later on.

That's a very good point! I didn't even think about life insurance.....I'm not sure if his ins. covers me under that category.
True about the experience also......maybe working per diem there would give me a shoe-in for a benefited position later on.
Thanks for your input!!

[SerendipityCrafts]

BTW - I just did a double take $51 an hour?!!!!!!! Foly Huck - no wonder all of our nurses are going down south, after they graduate!

Can I change my answer? LOL Unless the average starting salary is $75 an hour, you would be crazy NOT to take this job.

[NurseLau84]

BTW - I just did a double take $51 an hour?!!!!!!! Foly Huck - no wonder all of our nurses are going down south, after they graduate!

Can I change my answer? LOL Unless the average starting salary is $75 an hour, you would be crazy NOT to take this job.

Haha! Yes. But the rate is so high because of the no benefits thing. Normally RN's start around here at about $30/hour.:chimp:

[Brian's Bride]

I agree with Elizabeth. Sounds like a promising job, especially if it will lead to a benefitted position later on. Your hubby has you covered insurance-wise, so no need to worry about that!

[EarlyBird]

To be honest, not as a long term position.. i mean the benefits are wonderful and as a nurse, benefits are usually great and pretty standard.. if you know that you could live without the 401k and other benfits for a while, sure, it could be worth it. esp since you have health insurance..
by no benefits does that mean no holiday pay if your off?

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

Well, here's how I feel about bennefits. The company I work for will pay 1/2 of your health insurance but you have to use their provider (which is Kaiser Permanente) I love my docs (who are not with Kaiser) so I pay my own health insurance. My company also gives 5 paid sick days a year and 2 weeks paid vacation. THOSE are the bennefits that I love. I suppose it depends on if you are more concerned with the short-term or long term? The pay you mentioned sounds awesome and maybe that's what's best for the "RIGHT NOW." Also, you said it's 2 weekend shifts per week right? Do they offer bennefits for full-time employees? Maybe once you get your foot in the door, they will want to hire you full time when something opens up? Is this an option?? :) Just follow your gut and you will make the right choice!

[NurseLau84]

To be honest, not as a long term position.. i mean the benefits are wonderful and as a nurse, benefits are usually great and pretty standard.. if you know that you could live without the 401k and other benfits for a while, sure, it could be worth it. esp since you have health insurance..
by no benefits does that mean no holiday pay if your off?

I don't believe they give holiday pay for per diem staff, but I could be wrong. However, the benefits for full time employees are excellent. Maybe I will wait a while and see what they have for full time positions just before I'm due to graduate.

[Jacklynn]

My job provides life insurance (but not a lot, so I pay extra for more coverage) and they offer to pay part of a health insurance plan that they provide. It was still going to cost me over $600 for both DH and I and I knew I could have my own private insurance for less. So we instead have individual insurance instead of group work insurance. So for us it is almost like they provide no health benefits.

[WebLady]

Would you take a job with no benefits?
Sure if the money was right and it was a place I wanted to work.

Most of the time health insurance is the biggest benifit thing people want, but if you said you have that already. This may be a way to get some experience and get in the door as a FT employee at some point too.

:goodluck:

DH and I had private insurance for the last several years until recently when the company he works with (owned by his friend, where he is now partner) offered a group plan with the same company.

[WBandMe]

Personally, I wouldn't take a job without at least the option of insurance benefits, even if I didn't need them at the time. I know it's kind of pessimistic but you just never know what could happen. What if he loses his job or you guys are no longer together or something? I'm a big worrier and it's just in my nature to be overly protected with things like insurance, money in the bank, etc... so, if I were you I'd hold out for a FT position with benefits.

[NurseLau84]

Personally, I wouldn't take a job without at least the option of insurance benefits, even if I didn't need them at the time. I know it's kind of pessimistic but you just never know what could happen. What if he loses his job or you guys are no longer together or something? I'm a big worrier and it's just in my nature to be overly protected with things like insurance, money in the bank, etc... so, if I were you I'd hold out for a FT position with benefits.

I see your point. Losing his job is not an issue (there's a high demand for people w/ his degree here), but divorce is always possible. I'm not pessimistic either, but definitely realistic! People get divorced all the time, not saying we will, but you never know what will happen in the future.
My in-laws are just now divorcing after 30 years......:bbredface:

If I end up taking a job like this, it would not be long term. And, worst case, if DH and I (heaven forbid) were to split up one day, I could easily go anywhere in the country and work as a RN somewhere else. But, yes, I do want and need other benefits such as vacation, sick time, maternity (just in case), retirement, etc......

A lot to think about.

[SerendipityCrafts]

Do you have the choice to take FT position with benefits? If not, I see this as not much of a dilemma at all ie - it's better to have a job without benefits than not to have a job at all (assuming you need to work that is :rofl:).

Having a PT job without benefits certainly wouldn't stop you from continuing your search for a FT position with benefits :)

[NurseLau84]

Do you have the choice to take FT position with benefits? If not, I see this as not much of a dilemma at all ie - it's better to have a job without benefits than not to have a job at all (assuming you need to work that is :rofl:).

Having a PT job without benefits certainly wouldn't stop you from continuing your search for a FT position with benefits :)

Actually the positions are being offered to students now as an agreement for after graduation, and I am about 1.5 yrs away from that. I believe you sign a contract with the hospital to agree to work for them under those conditions for a specific period of time. And, seeing as how I am trying to get a student internship with them, I figured looking into their RN job offerings would be a good idea because I like their location, etc.

I agree that having a job w/o benefits is better than none at all, but RN jobs are plentiful here. It just seemed like an awfully nice deal to jump on.....working 2 days/week for a pretty darn good paycheck.

I think for now I will skip looking into it any further. I called the nurse recruiter today and she said if I do a student internship with them (which pays poopy, like 14/hr or something, but I want it for the experience) then that would put me first in line for a new grad RN position once I get my degree and pass boards (NCLEX).

The new grad positions are pretty good and pay in the $30/hr range, 3 12-hr shifts per week (which is full time for RN's) and full benefits. They also give you an extra $8/hour for working weekends, and an extra $5/hour for nights.

I would potentially make less money with a full time position if I didn't work nights or weekends, but I think the benefits would make up for that. At least, I hope so!

[SerendipityCrafts]

If I could stand the sight of most bodily fluids (and solids) + the smells of a hospital and if I was ohhhhhh 15 years younger, I might consider going back to school. :rofl:

[Ginger]

Absolutely not. No short term disability? Long term disability? What if you get pregnant, sick, or injured? I recently found out I had a brain tumor and had to have 2 brain surgeries in 6 weeks. Thank goodness I had STD, or I'd be in a serious financial pinch since I didn't have ANY time to plan.

[L.J.Aguirre]

i would do it... just to get your foot in the door to another position with them that gives you benefits.

p.s. 51/hr!!! omg!!..... *faints*

[Qtpie]

plus anything over 8 hours a shift is concidered time and a half.

[amisteratwisterandme]

If the average pay with benefits is $30.00 an hour, and without benefits $50.00 an hour, why coudn't you put the extra earning away so that if you did have some type of lack in coverage, you would have the money in the bank to get private insurance?

That could also pay for life insurance.

[NurseLau84]

If the average pay with benefits is $30.00 an hour, and without benefits $50.00 an hour, why coudn't you put the extra earning away so that if you did have some type of lack in coverage, you would have the money in the bank to get private insurance?

That could also pay for life insurance.

True. I didn't even think of that.

[NurseLau84]

Overall, it's not the money I am after....it's finding the right position on the right floor, at the best hospital I can get into. I did not go into this field to get rich anyway. :)
I've given this a lot of thought and I really would want the benefits. Not only life, disability, etc, but also tuition reimbursement because I want to get a master's degree in a few years, which is a huge expense. Most of the hospitals around me offer their full time employees money for continuing their education.
It was good to see so many different points of view, though, so thanks everyone for giving your advice! :santa:

[FutureKelley]

$51 an hour?! I wouldn't think twice about it! I actually can't even fathom it considering I work my butt off at $7.20 an hour. I think I need to become an RN. :huh:

[NurseLau84]

$51 an hour?! I wouldn't think twice about it! I actually can't even fathom it considering I work my butt off at $7.20 an hour. I think I need to become an RN. :huh:

Yeah, but remember there's no benefits, and it's only a 24 hour work week; each shift is on a weekend night from 7 pm to 7 am the next day. Also, living in the northeast is really, really expensive.

[Jacklynn]

haha btw, I also didn't see that you said it pays $51 an hour. With your two shifts you will make almost the same in a week that I make in a month, and I work 50 hours a week (salary), and one week a month I work 90 hours in a week (I live where I work at an Academy- a very unconventional job). And I still pay for my own insurance.

I'd take it in a heartbeat-- no matter where I lived. You would only work twice a week... heck that alone would do it for me :)

[sandy03]

I may actually be taking a position with no benefits starting in June and I haven't thought twice about it. I guess in some sense I don't really have a choice (I'm becoming an ordained minister so where the Bishop tells me to go, I have to go!) but I can have health insurance through my FH so I don't really care. Even when I get "benefits" we get a pension, but no 401k and i don't think any life insurance per se.

That really is a lot of money and while the hours may not be ideal, I would expect that you could at least put a little bit of your money away into savings or get some savings bonds or something if you want to start thinking about retirement stuff.

[Nekochanpurr]

In a heart beat. Heck, if i didn't have a job at all and they wanted me to work.. YES YES and YES! Then again, i'm in Michigan, land of the 'no job'. heh.

[tootsie]

I probably wouldn't take a job that didn't have benefits. It's good that you have health insurance. And that is a great salary, so you may be okay without the other benefits. My dad has really crappy insurance; he needs to have surgery to have a benign tumor removed from his back and it will cost him a couple of thousand dollars (out of pocket) and he can't afford it, so he can't have it removed. :(

[NurseLau84]

If by the time I graduate there is no longer a shortage of nurses for some reason, I would obviously take anything I could get. But, if I have a variety of choices, I will definitely take a full time with benefits position. Plus, the more I think about it, working EVERY weekend all night would be a poopy way to live. DH works Mon to Fri 7-4, so I wouldn't see much of him.

And....what would happen if I signed a contract NOW, as a student, and then decided upon graduation that we wanted to move out of state, or there was a job at a different hospital on a floor that I liked better?! I would be stuck in a contract.

Yeah. I'll get a student internship there since it's close to my house, and then see what happens with jobs in 2010 when I'm ready to take the board exam.

[WBandMe]

Sounds like a good plan!

[wannabeNurse2]

There is no way I am going to take a job without benefits once I graduate my RN! However, I plan on having babies as soon as my benefits kick in. I want paid vacation, paid sick days, paid personal time, and holiday bonuses even if I don't have kids! I'd see what other jobs are offering before you sign any contract.