Pros and cons, benefits and drawbacks, plusses and minuses. Everything in life brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages and you need to decide whether the pros of a situation outweigh the cons. For each person these will be different – what I may deem to be a positive, might just be a negative in your opinion.
With all that in mind, here’s what I consider the PROS and CONS of working as a midwifery/nursing locum:
Pros:
Better pay.
Choosing when and where to work.
Travel.
Meeting new people.
Better work/life balance.
Cons:
No sick leave/holiday pay.
No permanent home – living out of a suitcase.
No midsister family.
Often get all the less desirable shifts (lots of nights, late/earlys etc).
Breaking it down
So, as a leading Australian relationship expert would say, “let’s unpack this in further detail”:
Pay
Yes, the pay is significantly better but if I get sick there’s no sick pay coming my way. Similarly, if I take a day off work, there’s no holiday pay – so I always make sure I put money aside into savings to account for these situations. I have also adjusted the insurance on my superannuation so that if I can’t work, I can claim a benefit.
Travelling
I love to travel but sometimes you want your own space and home. I know I have chosen this life and for now am content roaming the country. However, at some stage I may want to settle down and when that time comes at least I will have trialed living and working in many different regions. Having that experience will help to narrow down the search for where I ultimately want to live.
Midsisters
I’ve met some great people travelling and made some new friends but sometimes I miss that familiarity of coming to work and hanging with my midsisters. It all depends on whether you thrive on routine or you prefer to change things up.
Rostering
When you work somewhere regularly it can be easier to get shifts to suit you (not always), but you know who’s doing the rostering and you can therefore put in requests and swap shifts as needed. When I’m on contract – I’m there to work, but it can be a killer going from nights to days, back to nights, doing 7 days in row….but as agency staff, we’re there to help out and fill the gaps. You could always request to do 0.8 (but honestly, I’ve found I always end up working fulltime anyway).
All in all
I’ve found the pros outweigh the cons. I am so much happier and less burnt out working as a locum. Right now, I can’t imagine ever going back to full-time work at just one hospital. So have I convinced you yet?? Come join me on the road!!!!
Image provided by Wide Open Road Photography.