Agency Nurses

bethm24

Hi there,

Im an agency nurse, and it seems to be going through a really bad patch, I am getting offerred very little shifts, and its getting really annoying. I wont say what Agency im joined , but it is good. Just seems that there is very little work around.Anyone in the same boat? :mad:

tnkrbell

Can almost guess which agency you are with.I'm a HCA with an agency in Dublin and am also finding it hard to get work. I know a lot of nurses are working with the nursing bank in the hospital I'm training in as this seems to be a bit more reliable

wheresthebeef

I know a lot of people having this same problem both as agency carers and agency nurses.
I think a lot of hospitals are using internal banks that employ their own existing staff to cover extra shifts in other departments. AMNCH Tallaght is doing this for one. Other places i know of have relief panels which are similar but where the staff are not contracted for any minimum hours but are just on call to cover shifts on a part-time basis.
Another issue is that a lot of places directly book the same staff over and over again without involving the agency in the selection of the staff. Once you get your foot in the door somewhere, you might find you can directly book with that place again.

RobFowl

I know that the HSE is actively looking to reduce the use of agency staff , They are trying to cover more shifts but redeploying and reorganising existing staff. I have ti say it looks like its going to be the same for the next year at least

missannik

Is this just an issue with agency nurses or is it across the board in terms of nursing work? I'm hoping to score a job next year, but am scared about prospects, what with the whole economic problems.

RobFowl

missannik wrote: »

Is this just an issue with agency nurses or is it across the board in terms of nursing work? I'm hoping to score a job next year, but am scared about prospects, what with the whole economic problems.

It's both I'm afraid. I know there are lots of unemployed physios at the moment as a result of the "recruitment freeze". There will still be jobs about though check out http://www.careersinhealthcare.ie/ for public sector jobs (there are 34 nursing ones at present)

missannik

Thanks RobFowl. I guess I am lucky that I am willing to work in almost any city, so I have greater options. But I still don't like the fact that jobs are becoming scarce- hopefully things will change for the better in 5 months (when I plan to immigrate.)