Aloha....introduce yourself

Hi, I am Uropian nurse who has been working for 7 years in Canada.Total experience in EMER,Home care,MED/SURG is 20 yrs. Now,I want to work in Honolulu.

I'm a new nurse working in Honolulu at Straub hospital.

I can't over-state how much I'm lovin life right now... =)

Can u tell me more about Straub?
Are they using computerized charting and what kind?
Nusrse to pt ratio?
Do they have flexible sched?

"Can u tell me more about Straub?
Are they using computerized charting and what kind?
Nusrse to pt ratio?
Do they have flexible sched?"

Sure... although I warn you, I haven't been there long.

Straub Hospital is mod-sized... maybe 150-160 beds. It specializes in Open Heart Surgery, and some other things... I don't remember their spiel...

Its got an ER/ICU, of course... but its not a Trauma Center (Queens is 1/2 mile away) and I find we get super friendly patients who cooperate with everything I'm throwing at them.

HPH is the parent company... it also owns Kapiolani Womens/Children, and three other hospitals...

All of the other hospitals have computer charting, Straub is the last to convert with an expected date of Spring '07 I believe. We have labs/H&Ps/etc on computer, but not the charting yet. Frankly, even though I'm a tech-savy youngster (okay, not that young)... I've grown to despise comp charting and will take our flow charts anyday.

I work on the tele/step-down unit, so i'm not sure about nurse/pt ratio on M/S floors. For us our max ratio is 4:1 and its never broken...

As for flex-schedule... if you mean a system where you can readily change your days on a bi-weekly basis... then, no I don't believe they have that. My days are pretty set, but of course I can work with my floor-manager to get certain days changed or swap with other nurses. Its never been a concern. I only work 3-12s and really don't have a social/family life... so I don't care what days I work.

We get 200 PTO hours a year, and the pay is identical to union pay at Queens... as long as you've been a nurse for over 2 years (in the last 5 years) you get the max pay... You can find that pay scale here:
http://www.queens.org/jobs/rnsalary.html

These are the nitty gritty, but none of it really comes to mind when I recommend my hospital. Its the perfect size to get a wide range of patients... but small enough to know everyone. And, as far as I can tell, everyone is great. Nurses who like Aides who like MDs who like Nurses... Okay, that sounds wierd, but its true. You get a real team feeling on my floor, the patients get great care, and there's not a day I regret clocking-in.

I heard a while back that we have a strong nurse retention rate... those are published numbers, or atleast you can ask for them. I believe that's probably the most objective figure you can find in evaluating a hospital.

Hope that helps... atleast a wee bit. =)

I'm new gald I found this forum. Where's the local nurses at??

Hey I am a Canadian RN with 4 yrs experience in pediatrics emerg. Working on getting a job in Hawaii very SOON

cheers HeatherDL

Hi,
I just graduated in June in CA when I was "uprooted" due to my husband's job and planted in Paradise. Any advice for a new grad looking for RN jobs on Oahu?

I have an identical story... new grad in CA, fiance changed jobs to Oahu...

You've got a bunch of options... Queens, Kaiser, Kuakini, Kapiolani, St Francis, Castle, Struab, Tripler, Kahi Mohalo...

However, I would apply to ALL of them since you might have a hard time finding a new job right away... Oahu has 2-3 large nursing schools that put out a good number of new grads. I tried to get a new job at the end of the summer, and it was tough.

Last I checked, Castle and Tripler won't take new grads. Kaiser will take you, but they are flooded and you might only get a call-in position. Figure out where all these hospitals are (most are in Honolulu) compared to where you live... But please, apply at ALL of them... go to every interview you can get...

And lower your expectations... there's a good chance you'll be doing some M/S time... and maybe even floating between units...

It should all work out for ya... just giving you a heads-up. Its a little tougher around here than in California where we can get any job/unit we want...

Good luck! And if you have any questions... =)

Thanks for the info. Yes, August was not a good month to search for a job. Hubby must have felt bad about transplanting me (and giving up a sweet position in a Peds unit) because he took all the pressure off me by simply saying, "Take a break, you've been in nursing school for two years."

But now I'm back at the job hunting. So, questions...how long did it take you to get hired? And, if you don't mind, where do you work and how do you like it?