Anyone work at Baptist Memphis?

The only thing I know is that when my father-in-law was in there, the nursing staff and doctors were fabulous.......

PM me for more info if you wish.

I worked at Baptist my first five years out of school. Never say never, but I cannot imagine finding myself in a position where I would want to work for any Baptist facility in Memphis again. There are many awesome doctors and nurses working for Baptist and they do have great facilities ("spare no expense"), but it is their coporate philosophy towards nurses that I despise. PM me if you want more specific information.

Regards,

David

OOOh, that's scary. I'm considering applying for the Baptist grant for nursing students, where you have to sign a 2+ year contract, now I don't know...

True, true. I left work many a shift literally in TEARS because I was so exhausted that I couldn't move. I worked in the ED, and they would make us work 4 hours on the minor side, then move you to the major side for 4 hours, then there was the possibility you'd be pulled back to the minor side or peds for 4 hours. No ancillary staff, and not much teamwork because everyone was overwhelmed with their own responsibilities....I started my own IVs, drew my own blood, did my own EKGs, gave meds, transported my own patients to CT, X-ray, and to the floor.

The "scheduling committee" was another dud idea. Basically a group of nurses got together and decided what everyone else was going to work. So if you were new, or not part of the 'in crowd', you got screwed.

Maybe things have changed, it's been a couple of years since I left...but I have worked at four hospitals in Memphis, and I can safely say I will never go back to Baptist's ER.

NurseDiva76 - Where were the good places you have worked? Where are you working now? I will graduate December 2007 BSN from Bethel. I do not know if I will work Memphis/Nashville or Jackson (doubt Jackson) any info would be great!!

I spoke with a registry nurse last nite who told me that when her shift was over she reported off, walked out and will never return. She cited unsafe staffing, LPN's performing beyond their licensure and no orientation. She also had a bad experience at Vandy, no orientation and poor communication.

NurseDiva76- I work there now and it's pretty much the same. However, we have a new manager, and although there ha ve been rough patches, there have been some improvements. They have increased our FTEs, there are more nurses per shift so a smaller patient load (still busy though), and right now we have "critical need" shifts where if you sign up you get paid extra. When did you leave? I may have been there when you were there.

I will be fair, and I have heard that it's better now.. I will also say that I was overwhelmed PERIOD when I started there, I was in the middle of a move, had some serious illness in the family, and Baptist was by far the largest place I'd ever worked...it took some getting used to. I probably didn't give it a fair chance. If the place would go to self-scheduling, I would apply there in a heartbeat.

Right now, I think that anywhere in Memphis is a crapshoot as far as where to work in the ED. We're all understaffed, we're all having higher patient volume than EVER, and generally morale is quite low across the city. The only truly satisfied nurse friend I have right now is working at LeBonheur, and she is not an ER nurse!

It seems to go through cycles. Right now, where I work, we have hired several new nurses and have several new grads about to come off orientation, but that in itself presents a whole new set of problems. They're mostly on one shift, and it's absolute chaos. Our docs are NOT happy, our patients are not happy, and it's really stressful. Add the normal amount of craziness that comes with being an ER nurse during high census season, and I'm about to tear my hair out!

I just keep smiling, keep working as hard as I can, as fast as I can, for as long as I can, and that's all I can do!