Anyone work at SW Wa. Med Ctr?

[Undecided7]

I'm considering moving to the Portland/Vancouver area and doing the critical care internship at SW Wa. Med. Ctr. I'm NOT a new grad- just want to do something different. My question is about the working environment and atmosphere. Is management supportive? Are the other RN's backstabbing and catty? Are there "cliques" and game playing? Do they "haze" new nurses into the group? I realize no job is perfect, but I'm a professional, college educated RN and I like ADULTS, not working with a bunch of snotty, immature co-workers that act like it's Jr. High all over again. :argue: :smiley_ab

As you can tell, I've had some bad experiences that I wish NOT to repeat. The benfits, work load and pay actually mean less to me at this point in my life. Anything is tolerable when you have supportive and friendly teammates- it can get you through any shift. On the flip side, when you work with a bunch of cunts, it just makes you want to quit nursing all together. :chair: Sorry for the language but I'm being real. The only way to know what I'm getting into is word of mouth because the RN recruiter isn't going to tell me, "Yeah, it sucks the big one here!". THANKS!!!!

[SmilingBluEyes]

I have no idea about that place...but wish to welcome you to the boards. I live near Tacoma.

[smilin_gp]

I don't know how useful this will be, but I had several clinical rotations at SW (through a BSN program in Portland), and the team atmosphere seemed friendly and relatively open. I did not experience the degree of cattiness and hazing that I have seen/heard of in other facilities. Since I do not actually work there, I have no information on how supportive management is and how they reward experienced RN's.

[geekgolightly, BSN, RN]

I plan on working in the portland area in a few years and would love to ehar from someone who has worked there too.

smilin gp, im glad you had a good experience there. was it in the critical care unit? because each unit in a hospital can have their own way of working and if the critical care unit treated you well, that speaks very nighly of them

[smilin_gp]

I did spend some time on the Med-Surg ICU, and they did treat me surprisingly well. I have had clinical rotations and employment positions at several of the hospitals in the Portland area, and I really have been fortunate in my experiences in all but one facility. :Melody:

[JLynnOR]

Have you applied for the internship? One of my co-workers applied for it a couple of weeks ago, was in-line/ready to go for the job. Someone applied for it internally the day before the internal deadline, getting it by default, because SWWMC is union. This doesn't really have to do with what you're asking. But my co-worker was pretty bummed. :) (The program sounds like a cool one.)

I work in Vancouver, at SWWMC's new competitor. I've heard good things and bad about the work atmosphere, but the stuff don't relate to their ICU and is probably a dept-by-dept thing. I'd suggest going for a union place, as I currently work for a big non-union system in the area and that DEFINITELY has its drawbacks. (That's a totally personal choice, though.)

As for well-reputed work environments: I've heard great things about Kaiser's hospitals in the area; Prov. Portland Med Ctr. is well-reputed with physicians and nurses; and Legacy Emanuel seems to have won the loyalty of a lot of its staff. The advantage, obviously, is that living and working in Washington holds a significant tax advantage over commuting and working in OR.

Hope that this helps.