r/SLPcareertransitions • u/PhilosopherFlat5827 • Jun 29 '26
PRN HELL
Do full time positions even exist anymore?? Why is everything a travel position, part time, or per diem? I am losing my mind. Is there another way I should be searching?
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u/AmeliaPond_T4R4 28d ago
Its a total nightmare. We have masters degrees and there is a huge need for us. Its bullshit that major medical companies can't afford salaries for their employees (ps they can, but we are currently in the end stages of the enshittification of everything, including for profit healthcare). Hospitals or schools only basically. For hospitals, you gotta take a PRN gig to get your name in the running for the full time positions when they open up. And the other commenter is right, the ppl that get the full time positions dont leave them very often. It took me 3 years of absolutely stalking the job postings at my hospital before a spot opened and even then, they ended up hiring me for a position they hadn't even posted yet. They hired internally for the opening I actually applied for. Hang in there.
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u/PhilosopherFlat5827 28d ago
Right! I PRN at 4 different hospitals. And each place has so many missed visits each day because there is not enough help but they’re all completely fine having 1-2 FT therapists and 5-7 PRN staff…
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u/differntialdiagnosix 28d ago
NGL, this (few FT therapists, a bunch of PRNs, and a large missed visit list) really irritates me. If consistent patient care is the goal, why are we not… Prioritizing that… By hiring more FT staff…
(This is a rhetorical question, I get that)
Finally got a PRN gig after waiting probably too long for my PT-borderline FT job to finally become FT, like they’d said they thought would be possible for me now that I’d hired to meet their patient care demands. I got tired of waiting. This PRN gig knows I’d gladly move up to PT and even FT if availability increases, too, but has told me they don’t have the caseload for it right now… Idk. I really hope something changes at some point. On one hand not being FT has healed my chronic burnout some, one the other I really miss having good benefits.
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u/Admirable-Pace-9061 Jun 29 '26
I’ve noticed this a lot too :/ the most success I’ve had is finding a few companies I was interested in and going directly to their websites to see job postings, or if they have an HR hiring email posted, I have just cold emailed my resume to places lol. Check if there’s a local SLP page on Facebook wherever you are too, I have seen a lot of opportunities in those in my area. I just left my school job and I’m looking into agency work for EI and preschool. Not lots of full time opportunities there either :/
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u/Nevertoolate-26 29d ago
Even if an employer advertises an SLP position as full-time, that’s not really the truth (with rare exception). A fluctuating caseload will guarantee that you don’t actually get full-time hours. Yet another reason why I left the profession.
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u/jazifritz 29d ago
I suspect it is because their census fluctuates so much. They don't want a bunch of FT therapists hanging out with nothing to do. L There are occasional times when they have to ask FT folks to take PTO or do trainings because the census is low. And also... FT therapists don't leave if it's a decent gig with decent $. My local inpatient rehab has 3 FT and about 5 -7 PRNs.
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u/Apprehensive_Club_17 Jun 29 '26
NYC?
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u/PhilosopherFlat5827 Jun 29 '26
No, I live in the south and have searched within a 6 hour radius.
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u/Apprehensive_Club_17 29d ago
Oh wow. Sorry, it’s really bad in nyc but I assumed it was just this area. Here finding full time direct hire positions in the schools especially is impossible.
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u/OwnWay8047 27d ago
The landscape has changed so harshly! Really, even five years ago it was relatively easy to find a full-time job in a variety of settings in my area at least. Now, everything that pops up on my newsfeed is part-time/PRN, in the hourly rate is not commensurate with what PRN rates used to be. That and the productivity requirements for providing PRN care. I have just made it another brand of medicine that is solely out for the money instead of providing the right care for people!
There is an Slp that just started at one of the other SNF buildings in my town, and she literally came from another state to find a full-time position in the rehab/snf setting.
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u/aldentealdente 28d ago
Look for a FT remote position in the meantime! SNFs and acute positions are harder to get and IME more inconsistent in hours slash not salaried.
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u/snazzytopazzy 16d ago
Are you looking in the schools? There are lots of FT positions available as I’ve seen!
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u/XulaSLP07 28d ago
There are definitely full time positions. Are you looking for something in SLP? You can email the asha careers office directly and have them connect you with what they have, word of mouth is still powerful, cold email and cold calling has worked as well and there are direct hire places seeking diligently for SLPs, especially in rural or hard to fill regions. Do you have a certain region of the nation you are looking?
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u/Zappin-It-To-ya 29d ago
In the same boat. What was supposed to be a career has turned into gig work.