Per diem nursing can offer a lot of benefits for nurses and health professionals who are looking to step away from full-time work. Leah Coaxum, med-surg per diem nurse, has taken advantage of those benefits to create her dream life and work schedule. As a per diem nurse, she’s been able to expand her opportunities and dedicate more time to achieving her goals and finding new hobbies. “I’m so thankful that I stumbled upon per diem nursing,” Leah shares. “I’ve been a per diem nurse for three years, and it has truly benefited my life.” Here are some of the ways picking up per diem shifts has benefitted Leah’s life.

Spend more time with family 

For Leah, it was important that she was able to spend time with her daughter, and when she was working full-time, she felt like she was missing out on important moments and wasn’t able to spend as much time with her daughter as she would have liked. Now, with her per diem schedule, she’s able to have more time to create memories with her husband and daughter.  

“Having a flexible schedule allows my family to have what we call ‘Friday family days,’ Leah shares. “Our Friday family days typically start with slow mornings. We make breakfast, or we go out to breakfast. A lot of times we’re shopping. We’re spending time at the library with our baby girl. And it’s our day to just set aside the world and just love on each other and spend time with each other… I really look forward to our Friday family days, and without having true flexibility over my schedule, I would be missing out on so many opportunities to create memories with my family.”

With per diem nursing, you can choose to only pick up per diem shifts or just pick up per diem shifts when you have days off from your full-time job. Your schedule is yours to create!

Pursue your hobbies or passions 

Working full-time can be a major contributor to burnout because of the lack of work-life balance. Working in healthcare is challenging, and it can often leave you feeling drained and burnt out, leaving you without enough energy to pursue your hobbies or recharge with your creative passions. But with per diem nursing, you can choose your schedule and how much time you want to dedicate to work each week. If you want to prioritize your hobbies and passions more throughout the year, picking up per diem shifts can be a great avenue. 

For Leah, she was able to create a schedule that gave her enough time to start her business that focuses on new nurses and spend more time doing the things she loves, like cooking. “I have created a business on my own that pours into new nurses, and I am able to spend time investing in new nurses because of the true autonomy and flexibility of my schedule,” Leah shares. “It’s so freeing to not be tied down to a job that takes away the majority of my time and does not allow me to pursue my personal interests. And so I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be able to do that.” 

Travel 

With Leah’s family being able to have flexible time off, this year, she’s able to do something she’s always dreamed of – visiting a location on her bucket list. Per diem nursing lets you take chunks of time off that you might not be able to take off in a traditional full-time career. “This year, I am allowing per diem nursing to explore opportunities out of the country. My husband and I travel a lot of times out of the country, but this year, we’re actually visiting one of the places on our bucket list and I’m so excited. And it’s all because of per diem nursing that has afforded us the opportunity to do this.”

Financial Freedom

Per diem nursing offers a lot of benefits if you want to create a more flexible schedule, but it also offers you an opportunity to find financial freedom outside of a traditional full-time career. For Leah, she’s increased her income by switching to being a per diem nurse. Not only has this given her the ability to live a comfortable life, but it also opens up the door for her to invest her money into businesses and causes that she’s passionate about.

Sign up for Medely

Ready to give per diem nursing a try? Check out Medely! Medely connects nurses and health professionals with per diem shifts in their area. Our easy-to-use mobile app allows you to choose the shifts you want and pass on the ones you don’t, giving you ultimate control over your schedule and work-life balance.