Harborview nurse techs?

babyNP., APRN · May 30, 2008

Do you mean Harborview? If so, you're in luck! Or, at least I work at HMC as a nurse tech on the trauma surgery floor. I would say that working in the ICU is not all that is cracked up to be since the RNs do absolutely EVERYTHING for the patients and the few times that I've floated down to SICU and MICU I've only been able to stock supplies, answer the phone, and help with patient turns/transfers. If you want to actually do stuff, go to a med-surg floor, be it neurosurg, trauma surg, burn unit, or ortho surg. My advice is to not go to tele because I have had awful experiences on that floor along with a friend who works on the floor and another who is doing her senior practicum on that floor. Perhaps the staff attitudes will have changed by the time you want to work there if you do, but be wary. I was not given any help and given WAY too much work each time I went down there--and this is someone who is coming from the busiest floor in the hospital!

As a nurse tech, you're basically allowed to do anything you've done in clinical or in the lab. I've put in NG tubes, foley catheters, blood sugars, injections, etc., plus the usual vital signs, ptn turns/transfers, ptn calls and the like. I've also gotten to see some serious stuff too, including one poor ptn with necrotizing enterocolitis--the poor person's leg's skin was totally off and it was like an anatomy lesson looking at the muscles and the tendons! You meet some really brave people at Harborview because this is the regional referral center and we generally see the worst of the worst cases.

Hours are completely up to you; I've worked 40 hours in the summer, 12-20 during the school year, etc. Shifts are 4, 8, or 12 hours. Current pay rate is $14.77, plus differentials ($2.25 for nights, a $1(?) for weekends), but no benefits. You can only work a certain number of hours (like 600?) but if you go over you can always turn into a "hospital assistant" which makes no difference.

Working at HMC has definitely allowed me to develop my communication and basic skills in nursing. It's amazing how I went from being a scared rabbit in clinicals to talking in a non-chalant therapeutic way to patients while wiping their bottoms or discerning information from them and answering questions.

One piece of advice: When you apply, wait a week, and then call up nurse recruiting and ask when you can have an interview. This is how I got my job. They have a ton of applicants and it looks so much better if you call them up. Research the floors a little so that you have an idea of which floor you might want to work on, but be flexible!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! And good luck! I love my job and would work here in a heartbeat if it wasn't for my stronger love of babies.

candiceena · May 30, 2008

Thanks so much Justine for you response. You really answered my questions. I currently am attending CC for my pre-reqs and plan on entering NS in the fall of 2009. I definitely want to get some experience working as a nurse tech before I graduate and start real work as an RN. :)

seattle girl · May 30, 2008

I'm going to be doing my senior practicum this summer at Harborview. We don't yet know what floor/unit we'll be on, but are told we have ER, Neuro, Trauma/Rehab, Gero/Medical, Burn ICU, 7E Trauma, and Ortho as options.

I'm not really interested in ER, but if you (Justine, you sound really helpful) or any other HMC employees have advice about each of these floors I would appreciate any info! I want a unit that will be receptive to mentoring and provide a varied amount of learning experiences. I don't yet know what kind of nursing job I want, other than that I want to work with adults and start in a New Grad/Residency position with excellent training.

Any advice is welcome! Thanks!

babyNP., APRN · May 31, 2008

Neuro, trauma/rehab, BICU, trauma surg, and ortho are great places, from my experiences and what I've heard from fellow nursing students who are either techs or practicums on the floors. I didn't like the gero/medical unit very much, but I was only down there twice, so it could've have been just bad those two times.

In regards to that, it was that I didn't feel like I was receiving help when I needed it and when I asked. I was expected to do all of the VS and help with ptn care rounds when there was not a thermometer to be had ("You have to go look in the rooms for one"--seriously?? There's no way to do VS in an hour and chart 'em if you have to go hunt down the equipment!).

I'm definitely biased when I say that I think trauma surg is the best, but I really think it is because we get a very wide range of patients. The nurses there are wonderful and I only wished I would've been able to do a clinical there instead of the VA where I was not very well-received (the RNs completely ignored me even after trying to engage them pretty much the whole time except for one of them)

Good luck with wherever you go! HMC has a GREAT residency program from what I've heard as well and it's a great feeder into the ICU system.

tamsonfirst · Jun 4, 2008

I just finished working as a Nurse tech at HMC for the past year. In this state, you can only be a NT until 30 days after graduation and I graduated 5/3, so after the May schedule, I chose to step down, focus on NCLEX and prepare to start my job there as a New Grad RN in July.

It has been a positive experience for me; however, I didn't get to do as much hands on nurse stuff as I would have preferred due to hospital policy (which some staff either are ignorant of or ignore which is why the previous poster probably reported so many hands on opportunities).

What I did get was teaching whenever I asked, encouragement, and support. In addition, I, too, was an anxious, insecure nursing student during my Junior year. I barely passed Med-Surg but after working that first summer at HMC I returned to school confident and excelling in my classes.

I believe being a NT is a vital component to the student nurse's education and, if an individual hasn't previously had experience as a CNA, I would strongly suggest the opportunity.

Do keep on Nurse recruiting after you submit your application so you get on their radar and be open to the experiences available. I applied kind of late so the only positions left were on Neuro which I took and loved. That is the unit I am returning to in July.

Good luck with your studies and let me know if I can answer any more questions!