Thoughts on St. Joseph Medical Center? Does a new grad have chance for job there?

U.S.A. Washington

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Hi everyone :)

I was wondering if anyone has thoughts or experiences with St. Joseph Medical Center. My Mom tells me (from her experience there when she was pregnant) that its a wonderful hospital, very caring, with great values. I haven't heard anything else about it though. I got a great feeling off of their website, but I'm wondering what its really like. Would it be a good place to work? Are there any major flaws or good things about it? Does anyone know if its nurses are unionized? Do they ever hire new grads?

I'm asking because I'm looking ahead to the future (about 2 years to be exact) when I'll be a new BSN grad. I've been researching job opportunities in WA state for new grad nurses and it looks like it will be pretty tough to get my foot in the door. However, I've heard (and it seems so on the St. Joe. website) that St. Joseph's would be somewhat willing to hire a new grad via their internship program. Does anyone know if I would have a chance there? I know Tacoma area hospitals are my best bet if I want a job as a new grad in WA state. I'll have experience as a CNA in a nursing home and as a volunteer in the ER of a hospital when I graduate, in case that helps my chances. I know that the fact that my degree will come from a out of state college will hurt my chances, but I really, really want a job in my home (WA) state, so I'm willing to try anything!

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! I'd love to hear anyone's info, no matter how small! :)

Specializes in CVICU, ICU, Cardiac/Telemetry.

Honestly, I have no idea - I have some family there and after visiting I thought I would just throw applications all over the place and see if I heard something back. I was lucky to get a phone call from them and have been working ever since to get my VISA and NCLEX etc etc.

I am not overly familiar with the job market in WA, but my manager did say that they have this residency open to new grads as well... so you have nothing to lose by applying :). I noticed the job description says BSN preferred as well, and being from Canada we are required to have a BScN to be an RN... so that might work in your favour :) Oh, and cardiac experience is always good to have, since I am pretty sure 99% of critical care patients are on telemetry monitoring :).

Good luck!!! Would be interested to know how it works out for you!!!

Specializes in ED.

Hi Maria,

I volunteered at St. Joes for about three years, in Wound Care, then the 8th Floor (med/surg/ortho), and finally in the ED. I wouldn't have stayed that long if I hadn't loved it.

In addition, I have been a patient there, in the ED and the ACC. I have also been a pt at St. Clare (sister hospital in Lakewood). I cannot highly enough recommend SJMC or any Franciscan facility. The 'feel' there is better than any hospital I have experienced in my 49 years of life.

Here's the kicker...I loved it so much, I am now an ED RN at St. Clare :)

Much luck to you in your job search!

DC, ED RN :)

I would stick to this general rule of thumb: if a place of employment has numerous job openings, there may be a reason for it.

Specializes in CVICU, ICU, Cardiac/Telemetry.

Well from what I understood there was an expansion in their critical care program - this would make sense for hiring more staff :). I guess I will be the judge myself when I start :D Being unionized is also a bonus no? There should be recourse for unhappy staff at a unionized facility.

Specializes in CVICU, ICU, Cardiac/Telemetry.

Also crashcart, just wondering if your opinions are based on personal experience or by others' opinions? People I work with bash our hospital ALL the time, but I actually enjoy where I work :)!

Specializes in Critical Care.
Well from what I understood there was an expansion in their critical care program - this would make sense for hiring more staff :). I guess I will be the judge myself when I start :D Being unionized is also a bonus no? There should be recourse for unhappy staff at a unionized facility.

The fact that it is unionized is one of my biggest reasons for being so interested. I come from a strongly pro-union family, and I know that in nursing there can sometimes be issues with upper management having messed up and/or greedy policies, to the detriment of nursing staff and the pt.'s. Its good to have a strong (key word lol) union to back you up. Also, its good to have a union to back you up as nurse, since there are so many chances for people to throw you and your license under the bus when there are issues of liability. When people get sue-happy or fire-happy, its good to have all the support in your corner you can get.

I'm so glad to hear there are openings in critical care - that is my dream area of nursing - I just hope and pray they are still available when I finally graduate!

Specializes in Critical Care.
Hi Maria,

I volunteered at St. Joes for about three years, in Wound Care, then the 8th Floor (med/surg/ortho), and finally in the ED. I wouldn't have stayed that long if I hadn't loved it.

In addition, I have been a patient there, in the ED and the ACC. I have also been a pt at St. Clare (sister hospital in Lakewood). I cannot highly enough recommend SJMC or any Franciscan facility. The 'feel' there is better than any hospital I have experienced in my 49 years of life.

Here's the kicker...I loved it so much, I am now an ED RN at St. Clare :)

Much luck to you in your job search!

DC, ED RN :)

Wow that is so great to hear! Thank you very much for sharing! :) This may sound really cheesy/sappy, but I have always gotten a really good feeling off of everything I've seen about the Franciscan medical system in WA, including St. Joes. I was also considering looking into St. Clares, so I'm glad to hear you have positive experiences there too. My mom said that when she was pregnant she went to St. Joes for some OB reasons and she had a wonderful experience there. She said that the hospital has a feel of genuine warmth, kindness, and spirituality and everyone treated her with respect. So I'm glad to see someone else has good things to say. I'm really looking for a place where I can feel comfortable as a new nurse, where I have opportunities for grow and experience, a place that has my same values, and in any of the Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue areas. Of course its not for sure what my experiences will be, but I'm definitely putting St. Joe's at the top of my list for future job prospects.

Specializes in ED.

Everyone has different experiences, of course. And nobody, no company, etc. is perfect. But imho, your *odds* of finding a fantastic long-term employer in Franciscan are excellent!

I get the same 'feel' as your mom did.

Further, I just worked my first shift in the St. Clare ED last night, and everyone, whether I knew them from my last quarter of clinicals or not, made me feel *welcome*.

DC :)

The 300 new grads internship in 2009 was because they opened a brand new sister hospital in Gig Harbor, WA: St. Anthonys. They were also close to opening another sister hospital in Enumclaw: Enumclaw Hospital. All hospitals are part of Fransciscan Health System: St. Joes (Tacoma), St. Claires (Lakewood), St. Francis (Federal Way), St. Anthonys and Enumclaw (the newest in their additions). I have worked at St. Joes...went through their new grad program Med/Surg/Tele. I can say from my experience the hospital was very nice, the old nurses dont eat their young and very supportive of new grads. Everyone makes sure you're doing ok. The charge nurses are excellent. If the floor was full with heavy care load patients, we had extra float CNA and extra float RNs in addition to scheduled RNs. From managers to charge nurse to staff nurses, everyone comes and asks if you need help and they do if you ask. I would recommend any new grads to apply there through their internship. Also, after getting your foot for one yr, the chances of getting hired to ICU, ER, OR, L&D is very high. They hire their own employees who have 1 yrs of med/surg in speciality areas first then open to public nurses with experience. They make you go through additional internship in those speciality areas. Go for Franciscan Health System anyday !!! I knew few travel nurses who loved it so much, they took permanent RN positions there.

Hi! I need your help if you work at St. Clare's!

I got a call back about an ED position from I think one of the clinical managers there. She wanted me to come in for an interview, but I am still in Virginia. She said she'd check out with someone else (I think she said Sarah?) about setting up a phone interview. I was so caught off guard by the phone call that I failed to get her name, title or phone number.... so when they didn't call back yesterday I tried calling the number on my phone and it was the hospital mainline.

Anyone know someone there who could get me the appropriate contact information so I can set up a phone interview? This would be my dream job - ED is where I want to be!

Thanks!

Specializes in ED.

ITRI4VT:

Her name is *****. I am not sure of her specific title, as she recently took over the hiring process for the Manager of ED Services, but she is definitely the one who does the interviews (she hired me :)

You do need to call the main line to get through, but if you do so weekdays after 7:30am PST and ask for her, you will get her, someone else in her office, or at least her voice mail.

Good luck!

DC, St. Clare ED RN :)

Thank you so much, DC! I will call today :)

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