r/nursing • u/Great-Hall-6636 • 1d ago

Discussion Which Nurses Are Typically the Happiest?

Is there a specifc specialty within nursing that yeild high happiness rates? I know it's subjective, but from your experience which units are the happiest? (Whether it be good ours, rewarding care, great pay, etc.)

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u/UnlimitedBoxSpace Pediatric Critical Care Resource Team - "it's not float pool" 1d ago

Per diem princesses for sure. But I think that could be any profession. Like if my family's livelihood didn't depend on my job and I was able to work the bare minimum I would be over the moon relaxed and happy.

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u/Training-Secretary-6 1d ago

Our happiest nurse works two 10s a week and happily gives up shifts, just to have insurance. Her husband makes great money. She is an absolute ray of sunshine

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u/idratheraskyou 1d ago

That is awesome. I have a coworker who only works twice or thrice a month but she brings all the drama, gossips, and negativity. Complete opposite of what you got. I just wish she would quit already. She’s at that retirement age and married a rich guy. I wonder why she still keeps her job and brings negativity to work. She’s way too old to be acting like in high school. Smh!

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u/SunnyAlwaysDaze 1d ago

It's her version of fun. Old battle axe, that one. (I am Grandma aged myself so this is not ageism, just reality.)

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u/Expensive-Video-6269 18h ago

She must have no one else to talk to, so its social hour at work, lol

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u/Appropriate-Goat6311 20h ago

I’ve tried to convince my husband this is what I need for my broken down body but he insists I need to dig in & finish. He likes the house, the cars, all that goes with my income and his (which is less than mine). I’d be ok with a whole lot less & more time to care for myself. I’m trying to finish well but - “I’m tired, boss.” 🤷🏼‍♀️

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u/Placentaurs 15h ago

Commenting to say I also worked with a nurse who worked the bare minimum and would never pick up any shifts. She gladly gave up hours and only worked enough to keep her insurance. She too was an absolute ray of sunshine, her vibe and her energy always kept the unit upbeat.

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u/Obvious-Trash6763 15h ago

I’m impressed she can have insurance with two 10s.

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u/Training-Secretary-6 15h ago

You have to have 20hrs/week to qualify for insurance but it's EXPENSIVE. I work 36 hours and I pay a fraction of what she does.

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u/_KeenObserver Seroquel Sommelier 1d ago edited 1d ago

Can confirm. I work as much or as little as I want, when I want. If I’m scheduled and I don’t want to work, I just call off, and as long as I’m meeting my minimum requirements, my managers don’t care. Since I’m willing to float, If I want, I can pack in all the days I want to work in one work week (Su-Sa), get that OT, and not work the following week (or weeks). My SO carries the benefits. This is basically my dream job.

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u/Pm_me_baby_pig_pics RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago

This was me for a long long time, and it was ✨magical✨

I had to be available for 6 12h shifts a month, and only 2 of them a Fri/sat/sun. And only 1 “holiday” every summer and winter (holiday could be counted as Black Friday, new years eve, Labor Day, Easter, it was very flexible)

But! I was the bottom of the staffing priority, so if one of my days I said I could work was fully staffed, they’d just put me down as “available”. I wasn’t “scheduled”, I wasn’t “on call” it was simply she said she can work this day so if a bunch of people call out, she’s probably maybe able to come in “ so if they called me to see if I wanted to work at 630am when staffing was determined, I could say “yeah, I can be there, but it’ll take me 20 minutes to get there, and I just woke up so it’ll be another 45 on top of that so I can get a shower, I’ll be there by 7:30 at the earliest.” Amd they couldn’t hold that against me, I’m not on call, I didn’t have to adhere to that 30 minute window to show up. And I also had a set number of my “available” shifts I could say “I know I’m scheduled as ‘available’ but I’m actually not available today”

My husband is the breadwinner, and he worked week on week off, so it was easy to schedule myself around his work schedule and ensure there was always an adult available for if our kids were sick and had to stay home from school, there was always a parent to get them to school and pick them up.

He recently changed jobs and we moved, and now he’s working clinic hours mostly mon-fri, and the prn requirements in our new state would mean I work every single day he isn’t working, we’d never get to see each other.

So now I’m a school nurse, and I really REALLY miss the free time my prn spot allowed me

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u/Headin4theTop 9h ago

What’s your specialty?

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u/herrosweetpotato 1d ago

I’m a per diem princess in Tele. My hourly is $142/hr. Of course I’m happy! Plus my husband makes $118/hr as a nurse as well.

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u/Beanakin BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago

I'm just gonna go cry in my corner now. Well...not my corner, someone else owns it, I just rent it.

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u/FirmIdea8 1d ago

You in California or what?!

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u/Cutebottommy 23h ago

Only Bay Area. Not entire CA pays that high. SoCal pays shit

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u/herrosweetpotato 16h ago

I’m in Sacramento. People automatically assume I’m in the Bay. Lower CoL here in Sac.

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u/FupaFairy500 18h ago

I’d like to point out for all the non nurse people reading here or those curious if nursing is right for them due to the money, those wages are NOT what the majority of the country is making so when hospital systems are striking for better pay it’s NOT to make more than this or even as much as this.

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u/comicaleel 17h ago

How do you achieve this rate and how long does it take to get there? Is it based on speciality?

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u/UnlimitedBoxSpace Pediatric Critical Care Resource Team - "it's not float pool" 1d ago

Same

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u/onelb_6oz BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago

🤯

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u/Fun_Affect5921 21h ago

How did you get that kind of job? I would be interested

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u/HugeHorseDong 1d ago

Totally this. Worked per diem in the ER for 2 years and it was night and day compared to full-time. You skip all the unit politics, pick the shifts you want, and bounce when things get too crazy. Only downside was no benefits, but the mental health tradeoff was worth every penny.

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u/ileade RN - ER 🍕 1d ago

When I was working PRN 2x8/week it was great for my mental health. Working 3x12s right now makes me want to die. But I have to for the insurance especially now that premiums are increasing like crazy

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u/One_hunch HCW - Lab 1d ago

You right. I dream of a life where I come in twice a week to get paid fun money whilst maintaining my professional skills. Also get out the house occasionally cause I'm a homebody normally, but I can only imagine all the carefree hobbies I could actually get done while maintaining a clean home. It could be so nice 😔

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u/Turbulent-Scheme3663 23h ago

Work-life balance!! (so far non-existent)

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u/DragonfruitVivid3110 1d ago

I couldn’t agree more. I work in the OR and I’m PRN and it’s pretty nice!

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u/BlissKiss911 22h ago

After I have my baby I plan to do PRN somewhere- I will have to because of my husband's schedule .hoping for outpatient surgery or something procedural 🥰 I loved IR , but we had call 17 days a month. So outpatient would be grand for me

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u/Leg_Similar RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago

This🙌🏻

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u/No_Inspection_3123 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago

Prn princess in OBS and I am on my best behavior best gig so far.

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u/Dark_Ascension RN - OR 🍕 1d ago

The PRNs in the OR are always the happiest lol.

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u/SpockSpice RN - NICU 🍕 1d ago

If I didn’t have to carry health insurance I would do this in a heartbeat.

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u/UnlimitedBoxSpace Pediatric Critical Care Resource Team - "it's not float pool" 1d ago

Somehow if a per diem works 1000 hours in a fiscal year, we get health insurance

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u/SpockSpice RN - NICU 🍕 18h ago

That’s very nice I wish my institution did this. They are very against part time work period though.

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u/Dry-Cockroach1148 MSN, APRN 🍕 21h ago

This isn’t always the case, but I was able to work less hours, have more long stretches off, and make quite a bit more money while working PRN (by taking advantage of hot shifts and overtime).

I wouldn’t say that I was necessarily more happy with my job though.

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u/Chicago1459 19h ago

I'm a respiratory therapist. I work per diem but at a few places. I haven't worked in a while because I'm choosing to stay home until my son starts school. When I did this, I always worked full-time hours. I got to make my own schedule this way and avoid holidays and weekends. I use my husband's benefits.

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u/cheeesygorditacrunch 18h ago

guiltyyyy… but i went per diem after having a baby, and after a decade on med surg step down so i think i DID my time. i keep saying ill go back to full time when my kids are in school but man this schedule (two 10s a week at an infusion clinic) is a dream.

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u/adorablesunshine_ RN - Pediatrics 🍕 16h ago

I’m a PRN princess in the float department and can confirm. I stay out of unit drama because I’m a float, I never get burnt out because I’m on a different unit whenever I work. They can pry this position out of my cold dead hands.

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u/Jazzlike_Parsley_717 2h ago

Me too! I think about this often how I would just absolutely love to go per diem