Capital Health System: Anybody????

[dream8]

Hi everyone.

I am a new grad. I have an interview at Capital in Trenton.

Just wondering if any of you could share anything you knew about the hospital.. good and bad.

Also does anyone know the starting salary for a new grad?

Any input would be appreciated .. Thanks.

[jenn_rn_nj]

I work there and I attend their nursing school.

From what I've experienced, both as an employee and as a student on clinical, there is a great deal of team work among the nurses there. The working conditions seem to vary, depending on the unit (patient load, staffing issues, overtime, etc.). The nurses work hard, but from what I've seen, they have a very good orientation program - easing new nurses into their role. They have a mentor program which is really neat and allows new grads to see areas other than the one in which they work. Also, from speaking with other new grads, the pay seems to be competitive for the area (I don't know what the new grad rate is, though).

The only negative that I can think of is with regard to benefits. There have been some changes recently, and administration is really tightening the reins. I suspect this is due to the new hospital. Our incentive income program has changed (for the worse) and our vacation / sick time benefits have changed (for the worse).

Sorry I can't offer more of a nursing perspective. Good luck with your decision.

cheers!

[dream8]

Thanks a lot for the input..

[2bTraumaRN2008]

I just finished doing my nurse extern there last weekend. I was in the ED at Fuld and LOVED it!! There was a lot of team work in that department, but I guess in the ED/Trauma unit you must have team work. I'm thinking about applying there when I finish school in December, but I'm also shopping around. I do agree with rn2be nj in that the benefits don't appear to be that great.

One of my classmates who also externed there this summer was told that the starting rate for a new grad is $26.50 plus all of your differentials. I also heard that their orientation program is very good, but I don't know that first hand.

I hope this helps!!

P.S. Good Luck on your interview. Let us know how it went. What department and hospital are you interviewing for?

[dream8]

Its the Fuld Campus.... I believe she told me its a new unit. SNU. 2FS? something like that.

Interview is Monday..... Thanks for sharing the information.

[2bTraumaRN2008]

Probably STU - Surgical Trauma Unit??

Good Luck.

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

I chose not to work at Capital Health and picked Robert Wood instead. I thought about it, but my husband had worked at Fuld and was royally screwed there. A lot is inter-hospital politics. I did rotations through there as a student and wasn't real impressed with either campus. Plus they offered us the least money as a new grad. We were at the Mercer campus when a classmate of mine found 2 bullet holes in the passenger side of her car. She never went back. About 2 years ago a nurse was assaulted outside the ER. There's a lot of drug and gang activity around both hospitals and for me safety was #1. Plus the clientele is different there with a lot of indigent, charity care type people. I had 2 friends go into the inter program onto tele floors and both are ready to quit, just sticking it out to get their 1 year of experience.

Good luck with the interview, however.