Wow -- thanks for such an informative post! You know, it's ironic that a CRNA is the most contributive person on the forum. :-)
If you don't mind, I'd like to follow up on some of the points you made.
What kinds of facilities are locums workers placed in? Do they tend to be large public hospitals, etc.?
About insurance -- is it difficult to get the locums agency/employer to pay malpractice? Typically, is the AA/CRNA the one that has to pay? One of the things I'm most curious about: how much is malpractice (usually) for an AA/CRNA?
There is something else that I can't help but notice; locums jobs tend to pay *very* well -- I haven't seen a single job that doesn't pay at least $201,000/yr. Of course, most of the time, you're not actually working for a year straight, and if you are, no vacation weeks are factored into that income. However, let's say that you choose to work like this: a locums job for 2.5 months, then a 2-week break, another locums job for 3 or 4 months, then another two week break...and so on. Even taking those vacation weeks off in between each locums assignment, you'd still be netting some serious income, especially considering that your hotel, travel and per-diem would be paid. My question to is, howcome locums assignments pay so much more than full-time jobs? Are there any hidden "catches?"
When/if I become an AA, I would absolutely love to do some locums work; however, I would like to be aware of any truths/"painful realities" ahead of time.
