Hi all,

I am here seeking advice on how to appeal to CV OR nurses from a recruitment/work environment perspective. What is a compelling package to you? And, what are you seeking in the work environment (technology, physician engagement, team work, management support, etc) that would cause you to consider accepting an offer?

I know money is important. I'm also seeking wisdom on some of the intangibles that are important to you. And, when you interview with a hospital, how do you know that those intangibles are present?

My hospital has several openings for CV OR nurses. We have developed an enhanced compensation package that includes a base of $42.00/hr, relocation assistance, temporary housing and a 5% retention bonus after one year of full time work. Rather than guess about what else is appealing to an experienced CV OR nurse, I wanted to ask you all for specifics on what is compelling. Is this package attractive to you? What else would you like to see? This will help in my conversation with my CNO and my CEO.

Thanks all for your counsel.

Gillian

Denver, CO

My question is what do you want in a CV OR nurse? Are your nurses scrubbing? What kind of call schedule do you have? Do they cover cath lab also? What is the base pay in the rest or the OR? That pay sounds good to me but I'm comparing it to what I currently make, not to the standard for your area.

Are they straight CV, go home when CV cases are done or work regular OR rooms? One of our problems is when we are not doing CV cases we do OR cases, give breaks, lunches, etc but OR folks don't do the same for us. Is this just hearts? Or also vascular? Lungs? Is it busy enough enough to keep them working so they get their hours?

That's all I can think of right now, feel free to ask more questions or PM me if needed.

How many cases a day does each cvor do. How much call does the team take, how many people are rotating the call/how many teams are on call at the same time. What is the call pay rate? How many scrubs and circulators are assigned to each case? Is there a second circulator there at the start and finish of the cases, cabg/valve/transplant in particular? Do they cover transplants and transplant call? Is the place a center of excellence for chest pain? Sandras questions would also be included in my line of questioning.

I love cvor but would not move to denver to do it at $42 unless call pay was $6-10/hr with 100 hrs call given to me. I make that where im at now hourly but my call pay sucks @ $2/hr here. Im moving up to colorado in july and will be making that hourly to do ortho cases plus they pay $15/hr for call.

Also... relocation is nice, how much is it? Sign on bonus is nice too. None of that two year nonsense either. 12 months is better. 5% is ok but then renew it with a retention type bonus after 12 months.

What type of ancillary staffing do you have in the heart rooms? Anesthesia techs, surgical attendants? Sorry for the rambling .... im a cvor coordinator and these things are important to me for my people.

is this exempla healthcare ? just wondering as i got a cold call from there about a week ago... i would have the same questions as above... scrubbing required? thanks

hi all,

thanks for your responses and your questions. i have answered most of them below.

after reading this, let me know your insight about what is most and least appealing. also, what else could we do to make the opportunity more appealing to the cv or nurse (outside of compensation). colorado has a great outdoor lifestyle. are ski season passes compelling? season tix to sporting events, museum, theatre, etc...?

argo - if you don't mind me asking, where are you making $15.00/hr call pay?

relocation allowance = $3000.00 + up to 90 days temp housing (or cash equivalent of $4500.00). 5% of base pay retention bonus after 12 months of services. 24 month service commitment in exchange for the relocation and temp housing (sorry about the "nonsense.")

thanks again.

are your nurses scrubbing? the rn’s circulate only. we use scrub tech’s for scrubbing

what kind of call schedule do you have? on call every third week – 7 days on call, 3p-7a. on weekends 24/7.

do they cover cath lab also? no

what is the base pay in the rest or the or? that is dependent upon experience and internal equity.

are they straight cv, go home when cv cases are done or work regular or rooms? currently, the cv nurses float to the main or. we are exploring other models where the cv team would not need to do that.

is this just hearts? or also vascular? lungs? is it busy enough enough to keep them working so they get their hours?

cv includes thoracotomies, thorascopies, vascular access.

how many cases a day does each cvor do.

one room around 2 cases per week.

how many people are rotating the call/how many teams are on call at the same time.

8 people take call, every 3rd week. 1 team of 3 people on call.

what is the call pay rate?

4.50 hour

how many scrubs and circulators are assigned to each case? is there a second circulator there at the start and finish of the cases, cabg/valve/transplant in particular? do they cover transplants and transplant call?

1 scrub tech/nurse, 1 anesthesia line nurse, 1 circulating nurse (line nurse takes on additional circulating role after line completed)

is the place a center of excellence for chest pain? yes, we are an accredited chest pain center

what type of ancillary staffing do you have in the heart rooms? anesthesia techs, surgical attendants?

operating room aides only.

I sent you a pm with where im going to be working. Season pass for ski resorts a good bonus. Broncos tickets a good bonus. Lunch provided on busy days is a good bonus. Option for 12 or 10 hour shifts. Last on the list to be cancelled on low census days. 100% tuition reimbursement for related fields of study and certifications.

You also stated a $42/hr base rate for cvor nurses. Why can you not state similar rate of general circulators? Itheir rate is $41 as a base then it isn't wort it to hastle with doing hearts all day for $1/hr more...... what side of town is it on.... closer to the mountains the better.... do you have call housing for

people to stay in over night if they live further than 30 minutes? That's a good bonus. Where im going to be working offers a condo for call people with the ability of your immediate family to stay over night with you.

One other thing. Where im moving is offering $7500 with 12 months commitment. That's widely advertised by them on the net.

Thanks Argo, I got your PM too.

We do offer 10 or 12 hour shifts.

I am limited on what I can share about pay in this public forum. I've probably already said too much about the base rate for CV OR. Suffice it to say, we have developed an enhanced rate for CV OR nurses that is exclusive to them.

We are located on the west side of town. Quick jump onto I-70. Winter Park is about an hour and ten away.

No call housing currently - that is an interesting idea.

Thanks

also, a facility in frisco offers $7/hr call pay.... general call their pay is quite low though.... Durango in So Colorado is the same....

where are you moving from?

San antonio, tx

Looking at your hospitals job posting, there's only one position posted. It states BSN preffered.... that might sway applicants away... most I know are ADN. Im ADN, CNOR and have seen alot of postings across the country state adn OR cnor preferred. Your hospital also posts 800 cases a year.... that is super slow for a 12 OR suite.... my current facility does 7000 a year with the same number of rooms. Probably do 500 cabg/valve/thoracotomy/oscopy cases on the low side and I circulate 80% of those myself with my primary scrub techs. Last week we did 11 cabg/valves and 5 lung cases. I have 2 other RN circulators that rotate through for the overlapping cases. We have 2 dedicated heart rooms. Also... it seems your positions have been open for a WHILE. why not take a stand out student that has a desire to learn OR and pay their way through the periop 101 course then train them in cvor? I could have a RN without periop 101 circulating hearts and taking call in 3 months at my place or 6 months at a slower place.