Flower's Hospital & SE Alabama Medical Center??

Di0202 · May 6, 2004

Hello,
I may be moving to Enterprise (Fort Rucker)...after graduation in May and was wondering if anyone had information on hospitals near or about an hour away from there. Particularly
Flower's Hospital and South East Medical Center.
I want a hospital with a great ER/ICU...these are the areas i want to work.
I've looked at their websites...but want some more personal experience...please help...thanks to everyone.
Any information would help...good or bad...i just need some more direction. THANKS in advance. :0)

I will be graduating from nursing school in May also and live in Enterprise Alabama. We have students who will be working at both hospitals after graduation. If you are going to be driving from Ft. Rucker, I would go with Flowers Hospital--SEMC is located on the far side of town. I did a preceptorship at FLowers in ICU and if I were going to stay here, that is where I would work. Nurse/patient ratio is low and the staff was great. The pay does leave something to be desired. New RNs only start at $15/hr with a very low shift diff.

Good luck on your move!!

COLOGIRL · May 6, 2004

I will be graduating from nursing school in May also and live in Enterprise Alabama. We have students who will be working at both hospitals after graduation. If you are going to be driving from Ft. Rucker, I would go with Flowers Hospital--SEMC is located on the far side of town. I did a preceptorship at FLowers in ICU and if I were going to stay here, that is where I would work. Nurse/patient ratio is low and the staff was great. The pay does leave something to be desired. New RNs only start at $15/hr with a very low shift diff.
Good luck on your move!!

Thanks for the info. SAMC is not really prompt on returing my calls. I'll contact Flower's hosptial Too!! THanks, it's hard being so far away.

Di0202 · May 6, 2004

Thanks for the info. SAMC is not really prompt on returing my calls. I'll contact Flower's hosptial Too!! THanks, it's hard being so far away.

Believe me I know what you mean. My husband is in the Air Force and we are getting ready to move to Texas. We have lived in this area for the past three years, so if there are any questions I can help you with feel free to e-mail me.

I don't thing you will have any trouble getting a job at Flowers at all. They came to our class to recruit last week and are offering sign on bonuses to new grads!

Let me know if I can give you any more information about the area.

nightangel99 · Aug 5, 2004

I know this is an old thread, and you may have already landed a job but...here is my two cents.

I am a proud SAMC ER nurse. We have employees that drive from farther than Enterprise to work here. We have a beautiful and functional 32 bed facility that staffs LPNs, RNs, and paramedics on the weekends to help with triage. We have an 8 bed fast track unit staffed by two PAs to help treat and street the delayed and non urgents. In about a week we will have a PA at triage to take care of most of the nonurgents that needs a script and walking papers. The nurse to patient ratio is 1:1 with emergents, 1:3 with urgents, and 1:4 with non-urgents. We have a great bunch of nurses with a wealth of knowledge. Our administrative team and management team is reliable and knowledgeable. We use cutting edge technology to help with patient flow. I have worked at FLowers as a PCA before graduating nursing school, and the ERs do not compare. Also, we pay an ER diff - $2 extra an hour in addtion to shift diff and cert pay if applicable. Our benefits are the BEST...FLowers insurance, in a word, bites. And as far as turnover goes, usually the people that leave SAMC come back and stay a couple of decades. :) We have a gym for the employees and a wonderful on site child development center as well (my kids go there). Our name badges can be used to buy meals, purchase items from either gift shop, for book fairs that travel through, and last but not least for our employee pharmacy, where we can get OTC meds for next to nothing. I would strongly recommend you drive the extra 10 minutes - it will be worth yourwhile. And if you currently work at FLowers, then I hope your experience is pleasant. HOPE I HELPED!