Since I'm not driving at the moment I'll say my hello. I'll also make my case for stopping the nurse mentality of taking an across the board pay.
How much is five dollars worth to you? It's s Starbucks coffe... or maybe not even...so is it really important to try to get that locum contract at 110 instead of 105/hour? They said it's as good as they can do and no one would ever say what they could do first. You negotiate your house purchase price, haggle for that $1000 on the car, take coupons to the store to save 5 bucks at the store. Why is it we have a problem asking for a raise?
Lets talk about that $5 you aren't worried about because you like the area or are kind of comfortable. 5 dollars multiplied by an less than full time 2000 hours in a year. That's 10,000 dollars. So, is it worth it? I've been locums for 7 years. That's $70,000 dollars... is it worth $5?
I always try to tell people they have options and need to negotiate. Think about ways that both can be happy. Then, go to work and kick butt. You can't be a slacker, be lazy, be a poor clinician and ask for more $$. Be strong, and with each assignment try to be happy, confident and ready to go each day. These places will be more willing to negotiate, want you back, and keep having you over and over again.
Well that's my 2 cents... back to vacation.