Approximately 50 percent of nurses find ways to supplement their income.
Whether they need extra money to make ends meet or are saving up for well-deserved vacations, every other nurse takes on additional work and responsibilities to increase their earnings.
Read on to discover how most nurses supplement their income and how you may as well.
What does supplemental income mean?
Supplemental income is money earned on top of a regular paycheck. Examples of supplemental income include the following:
- Employee bonuses
- Extra commissions
- Passive rental income
- Investments
Different types of supplemental income may have varying tax implications. For example, nurses who supplement their income by picking up PRN shifts as independent contractors must pay self-employment taxes on their earnings.
What does it mean to work full time?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) defines a full-time employee as a worker who is employed for an average minimum of 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month.
Typical full-time nurse schedules include the following breakdowns:
- Three 12-hour shifts per week
- Four 10-hour shifts per week
- Five 8-hour shifts per week
Based on these typical schedules, full-time internal nursing staff typically are employed to work for 36 to 40 hours per week. Depending on a nurse’s contract, additional work could require extra pay and fall under the category of supplemental income.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine titled “How long and how much are nurses now working?” shares the following snapshot of what a full-time nurse’s schedule may look like:
- One-third of the nurses from the sample worked more than 40 hours per week.
- Over a third of nurses had worked six or more days in a row at least once in the previous six months.
- Nearly a quarter of nurses with more than one job worked 50 or more hours weekly. They were more likely to work many days consecutively and during scheduled time off.
- Single parents were as likely as nurses with more than one job to work 13–15 hours per day, 50–60 or more hours per week, and several days consecutively.
- Almost a quarter of single parents worked mandatory overtime compared to 17 percent of all nurses.
- Nearly 40 percent of the total sample and over 40 percent of hospital staff nurses had jobs with on-call requirements.
How do I supplement my income while working full time?
In 2024, Medscape invited US-practicing nurses to take a survey for its annual RN/LPN Compensation report. The report indicates that 53 percent of RNs and 50 percent of LPNs supplement their income. These percentages are higher than in previous years even though base salaries also increased for both groups.
The report suggests that many nurses need to supplement their income even after recent pay increases. However, another reason many nurses work extra shifts is because nursing care is in such high demand.
The following table shows how nurses typically supplement their incomes:
According to the report, the most common way to supplement income for both RNs and LPNs is to work extra shifts, weekends, and/or holidays. The next most common supplemental income opportunity for RNs is to act as a preceptor, while LPNs often look for a second job or seek out a side-hustle.
Nurses can work extra shifts in their places of employment by working overtime or picking up internal PRN shifts. However, many nurses use PRN staffing platforms to pick up shifts at various healthcare facilities.
Who uses PRN staffing platforms?
Most clinicians on staffing platforms pick up PRN shifts to supplement their income from employee positions. In 2024, Nursa conducted an electronic survey of its national clinician user base with the following results:
- Of over 2,000 respondents, 72 percent have full-time or part-time jobs, primarily in healthcare.
- Nearly one-third (28 percent) work exclusively through staffing platforms.
The 28 percent of clinicians who only work through staffing platforms are enrolled in school or pursuing further education. These platforms provide clinicians with flexible ways to generate income when they have other commitments, such as nursing school or another job.
Supplement income with PRN shifts
Of all the ways for healthcare professionals to supplement income, working PRN is arguably the most flexible.
Clinicians can commit to a single shift at a time, only working when they want to. This flexibility allows clinicians to work shifts around their work or school schedules and family commitments.
Working PRN also offers higher hourly pay than employee positions.
Granted, independent contractor jobs do not provide employee benefits. However, most nurses already receive employee benefits from their internal staff positions. Therefore, the lack of benefits from PRN work is not an issue for most.
Take control of your finances with Nursa
Nursa is a healthcare staffing platform that connects facilities and clinicians directly for PRN or per diem shifts.
Nurses and other healthcare workers can sign up for free and browse available per diem jobs on the app. They also receive notifications when jobs are posted near them. Clinicians can request the jobs that interest them and meet their schedules and desired pay.
If you’re looking for a way to increase your income on your own terms, sign up with Nursa today.
Sources:
