giving up staff pharmacist job, going per diem in hospital, stupid?

[walgreen123]

I pretty much made the decision already, but come here to see how many people will say how stupid I am, maybe enough people will make me change my idea. Background, staff pharmacist working 4 days a week ($60/hr), per diem at a busy outpatient($85/hr, 6 day a month if no one takes vacation, I am the only per diem covers their vacation, they have 4 rphs take about 70-day PTO). New PIC wants me work 5 days a week. There will be schedule conflicts if I continue working on both, so I have to decide between quitting per diem or being staff. My goal is to get a career position in the hospital but it seems it's only possible when someone retires, probably in 3-4 years. It takes the last per diem 3 years to become a career). The reason I chose quitting staff is that I really don't want to work 5 days a week. I have been working too much that my kids both write: mom's favorite thing to do is WORK. which made me very sad. Husband has a good paid job right now, more than RPH, but may not be stable. Financially, we might be ok. I think 100-day of hospital per diem pay will get me through. It is a pity to give up a staff job, which is rarely opened up in our area now. The only full time job is PIC. It's very hard to jogging between two jobs, especially at the high season. Last Dec/Jan, I didn't show up at WAG for three weeks for covering the hospital, but the then-PIC was my good friend, so we worked out on the schedule. Now the new PIC will not allow me take many days off, so I have to choose staff or per diem+floater.

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[Deja]

wait you only work 4 days a week and thinks that's working too much? but also isn't sure you want to go per diem? so you want a job that's full time working 3 days a week?

 

[pencilandpen]

do what you gotta do

 

[SunshineDays84]

You seem like you already know what's best for you and your family. Per diem schedule can get annoying because of unpredictability but it is what it is.
And money wise-- if you're guaranteed at least 6 days/month and then some--the money adds up. If your husband makes more than rph salary, like you said, it should be fine.
It's hard to get into hospital these days, so if that's the direction you wanna go in the long run, lock in the per diem position and go from there.
Kids won't be home forever. Be the mom you want to be for them.

 

[PharmaSex]

you have the whole rest of your life to earn money... stay with the kids and give a needy student a chance at a job

 

[mentos]

you have the whole rest of your life to earn money...

Not in pharmacy though.

 

[Momus]

Per diem hospital + floating at retail will be close to full time hours. It's a no brainer for me.

You don't need to wait 3-4 yrs to be staff at the hospital. Once you have a solid 1 yr experience, you can apply to any hospital position.

You can always go back to be retail staff later when people quit/move/get fired.

The only problem I see is if your current commute time is 5-10 mins, I'd not trade that for anything.

 

[farmadiazepine]

If it was me, I would go where I get full health insurance. If that is not a concern for you, go where 1) there is more money 2 shorter commute 3) better quality of life. If health insurance is not a concern, and you do not need a stable income, go with per diem $85/hr.

I left full time work at a hospital for part time work at another hospital, and I do not regret it at all. Mind you, the part time did off full health insurance, benefits, a higher pay rate, and a shorter commute. You may not care about these factors now, but you will years later. I also took a per diem at a retail pharmacy and another hospital to supplement the income from the part time hours. I realized doing this provided me enough money every week, a good quality of life, a balanced work life, and a better schedule.

Also, best way to get a full time hospital job with zero experience is taking a per diem position or any RPh position to get your foot in the door. Once you are in the system, and depending on the system, it is easy to cross train in different pharmacy departments and move from department to department (outpatient to inpatient).

 

[BidingMyTime]

Are you working 8 hour days? I could picture your dilemma more by knowing how many hours you were working at each job. It's a tough situation, given the current climate, I would say hold on to both jobs. But given that you have children (and children grow super fast), I can also see saying no to working more hours. Any change you can stay on as PRN at your retail job?

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

I pretty much made the decision already, but come here to see how many people will say how stupid I am, maybe enough people will make me change my idea. Background, staff pharmacist working 4 days a week ($60/hr), per diem at a busy outpatient($85/hr, 6 day a month if no one takes vacation, I am the only per diem covers their vacation, they have 4 rphs take about 70-day PTO). New PIC wants me work 5 days a week. There will be schedule conflicts if I continue working on both, so I have to decide between quitting per diem or being staff. My goal is to get a career position in the hospital but it seems it's only possible when someone retires, probably in 3-4 years. It takes the last per diem 3 years to become a career). The reason I chose quitting staff is that I really don't want to work 5 days a week. I have been working too much that my kids both write: mom's favorite thing to do is WORK. which made me very sad. Husband has a good paid job right now, more than RPH, but may not be stable. Financially, we might be ok. I think 100-day of hospital per diem pay will get me through. It is a pity to give up a staff job, which is rarely opened up in our area now. The only full time job is PIC. It's very hard to jogging between two jobs, especially at the high season. Last Dec/Jan, I didn't show up at WAG for three weeks for covering the hospital, but the then-PIC was my good friend, so we worked out on the schedule. Now the new PIC will not allow me take many days off, so I have to choose staff or per diem+floater.

Good lord, hospital pays $85/hr for prn?! I need this job lol

 

[3boooda]

I pretty much made the decision already, but come here to see how many people will say how stupid I am, maybe enough people will make me change my idea. Background, staff pharmacist working 4 days a week ($60/hr), per diem at a busy outpatient($85/hr, 6 day a month if no one takes vacation, I am the only per diem covers their vacation, they have 4 rphs take about 70-day PTO). New PIC wants me work 5 days a week. There will be schedule conflicts if I continue working on both, so I have to decide between quitting per diem or being staff. My goal is to get a career position in the hospital but it seems it's only possible when someone retires, probably in 3-4 years. It takes the last per diem 3 years to become a career). The reason I chose quitting staff is that I really don't want to work 5 days a week. I have been working too much that my kids both write: mom's favorite thing to do is WORK. which made me very sad. Husband has a good paid job right now, more than RPH, but may not be stable. Financially, we might be ok. I think 100-day of hospital per diem pay will get me through. It is a pity to give up a staff job, which is rarely opened up in our area now. The only full time job is PIC. It's very hard to jogging between two jobs, especially at the high season. Last Dec/Jan, I didn't show up at WAG for three weeks for covering the hospital, but the then-PIC was my good friend, so we worked out on the schedule. Now the new PIC will not allow me take many days off, so I have to choose staff or per diem+floater.

I would choose hospital with no looking back

 

[minzi]

Good lord, hospital pays $85/hr for prn?! I need this job lol

This is probably Kaiser outpatient

 

[KARM12]

Depends on your financial situation. A lot of per diem staffing at hospitals has been cut or greatly reduced. This might depend specifically on your hospital and geographical area. If I needed benefits or financial reasons, I would keep the sure bet. Also, full time salary may be less than per diem pay...so if you end up getting an offer down the line it may decrease because your benefits are considered part of the offer package.

 

[wucool33]

This is probably Kaiser outpatient

Pretty sure Kaiser pays more than $85 for per diem

 

[Traziiramate09]

I pretty much made the decision already, but come here to see how many people will say how stupid I am, maybe enough people will make me change my idea. Background, staff pharmacist working 4 days a week ($60/hr), per diem at a busy outpatient($85/hr, 6 day a month if no one takes vacation, I am the only per diem covers their vacation, they have 4 rphs take about 70-day PTO). New PIC wants me work 5 days a week. There will be schedule conflicts if I continue working on both, so I have to decide between quitting per diem or being staff. My goal is to get a career position in the hospital but it seems it's only possible when someone retires, probably in 3-4 years. It takes the last per diem 3 years to become a career). The reason I chose quitting staff is that I really don't want to work 5 days a week. I have been working too much that my kids both write: mom's favorite thing to do is WORK. which made me very sad. Husband has a good paid job right now, more than RPH, but may not be stable. Financially, we might be ok. I think 100-day of hospital per diem pay will get me through. It is a pity to give up a staff job, which is rarely opened up in our area now. The only full time job is PIC. It's very hard to jogging between two jobs, especially at the high season. Last Dec/Jan, I didn't show up at WAG for three weeks for covering the hospital, but the then-PIC was my good friend, so we worked out on the schedule. Now the new PIC will not allow me take many days off, so I have to choose staff or per diem+floater.

You can't work 4 days a week? honestly even APPE interns work more days than that lool. Would you be working less than 4 days a week per diem? If your husband's job isn't stable maybe a per diem job where you're not working many hours isn't a good idea...

 

[walgreen123]

I work 4 days per week + per diem (6 -12 days per month), with kids. It's very hard to balance the schedules. It's official today that I will be floater from next month. Some one deserves the staff rph position more than I. The recent store closure and store hour cut made most of floaters only have 2/3 days a week in our area, which is what I want. I just hope WAG won't start to lay off RPH.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Everyone needs to make money. Why wait...