Posted by ss on September 6, 2007, 9:10 pm, in reply to "Higher payment for weekend shifts?"
71.204.117.39

OK boys and girls - let's try and understand a few things. 1) The things you see on gaswork.com you should take with a big grain of salt. Ask yourself why this group advertises there, especially if that ad stays there month after month. 2) If a place hires AA's, they will have the exact same job description and compensation as the CRNA's that are hired. We're all anesthetists - we do the same thing. If they have a weekend arrangement available, it's going to be available to everyone, not just the CRNA's, or not just the AA's. 3) If you want to become an AA strictly because of the money, as many of you seem to, you're going to be very unhappy with your career. You need to understand that anesthesiology is a profession, and that people in this profession are not 9-5 factory workers. Employers, at least the better ones, expect someone with some loyalty, some ambition, and a whole lot of initiative. If you've got to sit back and be told what to do, you're in the wrong spot. 4) There is absolutely no such thing as a "standard" when it comes to compensation packages. Each group or hospital is different, each has it's pluses and minuses. Some are straight salary, some are based on hours worked, some have shift differentials, some have weekend incentives, yada, yada, yada. Same thing with benefits packages - insurance, pension programs, vacation time, etc., all vary from place to place. Some groups are big, some are small, some are urban, some are rural, some just cover outpatient centers, some work mainly 7-3 M-F, others have staff in-house 24/7/365. Each and every one of those has a different way of compensating their employees based on what they think is important. There is no standard! Finally - regardless of your previous healthcare experience, whether AA or CRNA, you're starting at the bottom of the totem pole. NOBODY is going to give you the highest paying shift or the most difficult case or the primo of anything if you're just out of school. Period. Sure you're a professional, but you're the new kid, and until you prove yourself and until you step up and show that you actually belong there, you're like a fraternity pledge.

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Posted by Dave J on September 3, 2007, 11:46 pm, in reply to "Higher payment for weekend shifts?"
71.80.210.85

Weekend shifts in OB when I worked them years ago were 24 hour shifts. You got to sleep if nothing was going on. Most of the time you were up for the full 24 hours putting on labor epidurals, checking on the patient, perhaps doing a c-section (or two or three) and in some places, you also got to do the post partum tubals. I suggest at one place to break the two 24-hour shifts into four 12-hour shifts, one guy doing days, one guy doing nights. Each would get to sleep in their own bed and not be doing anesthesia asleep on their feet. I got looked at like I was nuts. I still think we flog ourselves too much when there are easier ways to do things.

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