Cape Cod hospital/VNA

jade-athyst · May 21, 2006

Hello! We will be moving to Cape Cod soon and I wondered if anyone could give me info. on the Cape Cod Hospital system and Cape Cod VNA, particularly what the pay scale is and if anyone is working at either one, how you like it. I think I've read that nurses are unionized and wondered what that was like. Thanks in advance!
Mandee:specs:

I live on the Cape and did my clinicals at Cape Cod Hospital. (Just graduated this week.) Both hospitals on the Cape are owned by "Cape Cod Health Care". There is Falmouth Hospital in Falmouth and Cape Cod hospital in Hyannis. They are both unionized. I guess that's a good thing because CCHC was recently trying to take away some bonuses they had promised, and the union fought for the nurses. The nurses won.(I think someone else posted on this, you can check in the MA forum). But honestly, think twice before moving to/working on the Cape. CCHC has a "captive audience", as one of my nursing instructors put it, and they get away with a lot more crap than hospitals in other areas. Because, unlike Boston, or some other busy area, unless you want an hour or two commute, you work for CCHC. And don't think that just because the Cape is supposedly a "wealthy" area, that the pay scale is any higher. In fact, you'd probably make more money in Plymouth, which is right over the bridge.

I don't mean to slam CCHC, but I'm just telling you what I wished someone told me three years ago. Let me put it this way, I just graduated from a class of 70 something people. I know of 1 (yes, one), person who applied to CCHC.

Well, I hope I didn't burst any bubbles. The Cape certainly is a beautiful place to live, and who knows, maybe a job here would work out good for you. In any case, good luck.