Looking for a great hospital in the Seattle area - any suggestions?

[breatheez]

I will be graduating from nursing school at the end of April. I currently live in South Florida, but I am wanting to move to the Seattle area. I was a respiratory therapist for 10 years and I know that I love critical care. I am really wanting to find a great intensive care to work in. I am looking for one that fosters teamwork, a great learning environment, and a progressive way to care for patients. I have heard Harborview is a great teaching hospital. Are there other ones that anyone would recommend, or should I really pursue Harborview? My husband and I took a travel assignment in Seattle two years ago - I did agency work at Providence as a RRT and my husband worked for a nursing agency - so we know all about the traffic congestion and dynamics of Seattle living. Thanks for any suggestions.

[j450n, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work as a nursing assistant for the UW Medical Center, which is Harborview's sister teaching hospital. I always hear how much the traveling nurses love the hospital and staff. The nursing to patient ratio is very manageable. Moreover, the nurses in the ICU are cohesive and work together very well. I also float around through the various units, so I've interacted with many of the doctors and nurses. Most of them are very supportive of each other and the facility itself is pretty nice. It sits right by Lake Washington and Portage Bay. I think in a year or two, they're going to add a new wing. Furthermore, UWMC is ranked 10th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

I hope this helps :)

[heddi]

I work at Harborview and my husband works at Swedish---both hospitals, incl. VM and UW are all facing hiring freezes right now and HMC, Swedish, UW, and VM just cancelled the contracts of all of their travelers and have stopped using agency staff as well. Hospitals down south, like Valley and Highline may not be going through the same cuts that the seattle area hospitals are, and I know that highline is about 100% travelers so if they cut their travelers, I don't know who would staff the floor.

All the hospitals have job openings listed online and they are taking applications, but will not actually be hiring anyone until after the freeze is over (due to state cutting health and education budgets. UW budget was cut by 47% this year, which directly affects UW and HMC).

Also, UW and HMC have rescinded offers to all new grads that were supposed to start in Feburary, and have completelly cancelled the ICU Consortium that was supposed to start in Feb, as well.

Harborview is great. Swedish is okay depending on which campus and which department you work in. I have heard nothing but horrible things about VM.

Good luck, but you may not get a job right off the bat because of the budget woes. HMC was already hurting from lack of nurses, and even more so now that they've axed the travellers and agency.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

What part of Seattle are you planning to live in? Traffic will be a problem and you need to live as close to your workplace as possible. If you are interested in the ED, Harborview is the place you want to be but you should live as close as you can. Parking costs are HUGE so if you can bike or take public transportation, that would be a real plus.