[stuRN6]

Hello all! I am new to allnurses.com. I am a RN student who holds a LPN license but went right into a one-year LPN-Associate Degree RN program. I am graduating this May and moving to the seacoast area. I was wondering if anyone had any info on hospitals in the area and the availability of good orientation programs for new grads? Thanks!

[ldkrn]

MMC probably has the best program and never tires of letting everyone within earshot know they were voted one of the top 100 hospitals in America. It's the only teaching hospital in the seacoast area, I believe. Just so you don't die from the sticker shock, the cost of living around here is astoundingly high (I live in the Portland area) and Portsmouth is worse.

[stuRN6]

Hi. I think I will be living more south closer to Portsmouth,NH or Southern ME. My father and brother live in York and I would like to be really close to them. Do you know anything about any hospitlas down that way? How long a drive is it from York to MMC? Thanks!

[ldkrn]

Originally Posted by stuRN6

Hi. I think I will be living more south closer to Portsmouth,NH or Southern ME. My father and brother live in York and I would like to be really close to them. Do you know anything about any hospitlas down that way? How long a drive is it from York to MMC? Thanks!

It's about 40 or 50 miles from York to Portland, all turnpike though. There are actually quite a few small community hospitals in the York/Dover/Portsmouth area. Portsmouth Regional is probably the largest and is always advertising, especially for nurses to work in their cardiac surgical unit.

[palesarah]

MMC is a great hospital but Portland isn't really part of the seacoast area... I'm more familiar with the NH end of the area, as I live & work here. The area hospitals include Wentworth-Douglass, Portsmouth, Frisbie, Exeter, York, and maybe Southern Maine Medical in Biddeford. I graduated and was hired into WDH's new grad program 2 years ago and they have an excellent new grad orientation program- 1:1 with a preceptor for minimum of 3 months, as well as classroom time. I've also heard good things about Exeter & I believe Portsmouth has a good new grad orientation program as well. Now is definitely the time to start contacting these hospitals and getting your resume out! When I was applying to different hospitals 2 years ago, I started in mid April, and Exeter had already filled all its new grad spots and wasn't even taking applications. Also, 2 years ago, Frisbie didn't have a formal new grad orientation in place yet. I don't really know about York (they're pretty small) and I don't know anything about SMMC.

As mentioned, the cost of living here is very high, if you were to compare average salary to average housing cost it's one of the least affordable places to live in the country. But it's a great place to live, even with our looong, cold winters- the summers are nice (albeit way too short) and autumn in this part of the country is breathtaking. Where are you moving from?

[stuRN6]

Hi. I am moving from Brattleboro, VT. I was planning on applying to W-D, Portsmouth Regional, Exeter and York. Where is Frisbie? I had my resume almost done and all that stuff, but my mom just passed away and so I have all this schoolwork to make up in not enough time and won't have a chance to even send out apps for a week or so. It's making me nervous but there's nothing I can do about it unfortunately. I grad in mid May and don't have much time to get behind. I'm excited to live near the ocean. My family used to vacation up inthat area when I was little. Now my dad is there. Permanent vacation! I know it is expensive, but it'll be worth it I think. Did you apply online and post your resume or did you send out hard copies?

[palesarah]

Originally Posted by stuRN6

Hi. I am moving from Brattleboro, VT. I was planning on applying to W-D, Portsmouth Regional, Exeter and York. Where is Frisbie? I had my resume almost done and all that stuff, but my mom just passed away and so I have all this schoolwork to make up in not enough time and won't have a chance to even send out apps for a week or so. It's making me nervous but there's nothing I can do about it unfortunately. I grad in mid May and don't have much time to get behind. I'm excited to live near the ocean. My family used to vacation up inthat area when I was little. Now my dad is there. Permanent vacation! I know it is expensive, but it'll be worth it I think. Did you apply online and post your resume or did you send out hard copies?

Frisbie is in Rochester, about 10-15 minutes further up the road from WDH. I don't remember which hospitals I applied online to and which I sent hard copies to. For WDH, I brought my app in to HR before their "open house", and then brought another with me for the open house, which is where they interviewed new grad candidates. I was originally turned down for the job as they all went to internal candidates but I was the squeaky wheel, and the day I expected to hear from Frisbie (where I really didn't want to work, but it was my only other option if I wanted to go right into L&D) WDH called to offer me the job.
It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, and I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. But these new grad openings are filled fast, so if you can start contacting people by phone, even if you just call each hospital's HR dept ans ask to speak to the nursing recruiter, you'll be a step ahead. Ask about their new grad orientation programs, if they are having or will be at any hiring fairs, if you should apply online or send a hard copy.

Good luck! Despite the expense and the looong winters, this is a beautiful place to live. I love it here!

[stuRN6]

Thanks for the advice! I will try to get on the ball this week. I have a job search workshop at school Friday afternoon, where I will get feedback on my resume and then I will start applying. Anyway, thanks again.