Top 4 Reasons Why you Should Become an Agency Nurse

Agency nursing job roles have become crucial for the majority of hospitals in the United Kingdom. This is mainly because of the shortage of nurses in NHS hospitals. Agencies provide vetted and trained short-term nursing staff to hospitals and medical care facilities throughout the UK. Here are some reasons why becoming an agency nurse is an ideal career choice.

 

#1 Flexible Hours

The biggest benefit of choosing a nursing agency in Chertsey is that you can pick the hours you want to work and plan other activities of your life accordingly. Nurses are responsible for overseeing the treatment of patients throughout their hospital stay. Since patients need round the clock care, permanent nurses are susceptible to long hours of work, night shifts, pulling double shifts, and even working on holidays and weekends. But working as an agency nurse allows you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. And if needed, you can work more by picking up weekend shifts. So, there is always the flexibility of choosing when you want to work and where you want to work. The best part is that if you choose to work on weekends, the pay is higher than working on weekdays. So, if you need extra money, you can work on weekends as well. There is no restriction on your work schedule.    

 

#2 Career Advancement

Working as a permanent nurse at the hospital will make you engage in the same job day and night and probably for the rest of your life. You cannot just switch your field within the hospital. This is the biggest disadvantage of working as a permanent nurse. However, if you join a nursing agency in Cornwall, you get the opportunity to explore as many specialities as possible in your short-term career. There are a variety of specialities in the nursing field. From cancer care to prenatal care, elderly care, working at rehabilitation centres, dialysis, and more, you can choose which field you want to pursue by being an agency nurse. This only makes way for solid career advancement. You will have something interesting to show in your resume after working only for 2-3 years as an agency nurse. As you make advancements in your career, your career portfolio automatically updates, leading to better pay as well.

 

#3 Benefits and Better Pay

Another perk of being an agency nurse is that you get benefits that the majority of the permanent nurses are deprived of. On top of that, the pay is incredibly lucrative than traditional hospital jobs. The nursing agencies in the UK follow the NHS bands of salary. The bands differ based on the specialisation, experience, and education of the nurses. For a beginner nurse who is just registered with the NHS, he/she can expect to start with a salary package of £22,128 - £28,746, which is also considered as the NHS band 5 grade. Apart from a lucrative salary, nursing agencies also offer benefits like pension schemes, housing and accommodation (especially if you are a travel nurse), paid training, and even paid holidays. However, these benefits vary from agency to agency. Agency nursing is all about your convenience. If you want to take up a job, you are free to take. Else, you can decline it.   

 

#4 Endless Learning

Since you will be working in numerous work settings, with different professionals from the medical field, and a variety of patients, you have the opportunity to upgrade your clinical skills and knowledge continuously. By working with multiple patients in different work settings, you get hands-on experience and training that no institute can teach you. And most importantly, you will be making lots of professional connections that will help you advance in your career.   

 

It is important to find a renowned agency in your locality so that you can get the maximum benefits of being an agency nurse. There is a hoard of nursing agencies out there. Do proper research before choosing one.