411 on Lifespan

Hey Sara:

The only trauma hospital in RI is RIH. You would have to orient to the ED, then they switch everyone around and so some shifts you would be in a trauma bay and others in triage and so on and so forth. Their ED has a psych area, a chest pain r/o area, an "express" area, and a general treatment area besides the trauma bays.

RIH is a union hospital so you would get paid on a specific scale depending on years of experience. It is not impossible to get into the ED there, but it will depend on what positions they have open and whether or not another employee (who has more seniority) would like a particular position that is advertised.

A friend of mine works there and loves it.........they seem to have a decent patient ratio and she can usually pick up overtime which pays well.

Lifespan is in the process of merging (I think) with Care New England so I am not sure how that will affect things with regards to the other hospitals in the area.

Kent hospital, 2nd largest hospital in RI (Care New England) is hoping to be a level II trauma hospital and they do have a trauma room but don't get the kind of traumas that are sent to RI unless, they REALLY need to be stabilized and then rescue will stop off there if they are coming from a long distance to get to RIH.

Miriam hospital gets a lot of cardiac patients as well as a good mix of everything else. Not sure about Newport hospital........

There is no mandatory overtime now in RI. Unless there is a "disaster", hospitals are not able to require mandatory overtime anymore. If you are applying to Lifespan, just find the job on the website that you are interested in and click on apply.....your resume will go to the HR person in charge of that department. I would also follow up with a call to the HR department in a few days or so after submitting your resume.

Hope that helps a bit.