Any good Peds hospitals in AK?????

[Drexelgrad07]

Hello everyone!

I currently live in Philadelphia, PA. I'll be graduating in September, and I just wanted some info on hospitals in AK. I understand AK is more of a remote place than the lower 48. My area of interest is pediatrics. Are there any good hospitals for peds up there?????????????

Thanks.

Meg

[Snugglibumkins]

Hi there, congrats on the upcoming graduation. Since you are a new grad, I will caution you that in the more remote areas of AK (I'm in one now), a bit of experience will definately make you more comfortable. I find that I have a bit more autonomy with things like triaging out to the villages, etc, than I've ever had down in the lower 48. Not to make it sound like you are on your own, but let's face it, when there is one nurse on duty that day and it's you, there is no calling for another nurse to get the IV that you missed, or eyeballing your insulin dose with you.

That being said, AK is a wonderful place, and I'm sure you've been doing your research and know that there are metropolis areas as well as remote. You could live closer to Anchorage or Fairbanks, they both have great hospitals. My daughter was flown to Anchorage and spent a day in the Peds ICU there last year and it was amazing, the nurses were great and the hospital itself is awesome. But, it is not the 'small town' hospital feel, the unit was huge and the nurses station was gigantic.

In my remote location, my hospital doesn't even have a designated Peds area. Really sick kids are flown away, and moderately sick kids just go to the regular floor. We only have one floor, and it has a few ICU beds, L,D,R beds, and med-surg beds. I've spent most of my time here doing clinic work with peds/ob patients for a family practice group. If you have your BSN, I would consider looking into working with the Public Health department. Many of those nurses get to travel to very remote outlying areas for the day or a couple of days to check on everyone there.

Good luck with your new adventure. Would it be possible to get a year's worth of experience in a teaching hospital and then sign up with a travel agency to check out some areas of Alaska before making the big move. I will tell you that the climate and light/dark ratio is tremendously different all over the place up here. For example, today,I have rain, clouds, wind and temp of 40's (ummm, yeah, it's July), and my friends up in Anchorage or even as far up as Fairbanks are enjoying much warmer weather.

Keep asking questions!