Columbia SC Hospitals??

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Hi all,

I am a senior nursing student with 1 1/2 semesters left til graduation. My hubby and I want to move to Columbia SC next year. I was wondering if anyone has any information about the hospitals there. Are there any that are particularly good, or ones I should stay away from at all cost? Or, does anyone know of a site that reviews hospitals?

Thanks to all!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Welcome to the site

Sorry I can't help with your question but hope you get some information to help you

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

http://www.sciway.net/med/colamed.html this is the SC State information site.

Palmetto Health is the largest system in the state. I really don't know much about the other hospitals though, I did work for Palmetto Health for a long time.

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

I have a few friends that worked at Palmetto Richland and Palmetto Baptist, both of which they liked.

If you end up closer to Greenville, check out Greenville Memorial Hospital and Spartanburg Regional.

Best of luck!

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I live in Columbia. Palmetto Health Baptist and Richland. Very good hospitals. There is also the VA hospital in Columbia and also Lexington Medical Center.

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I have been at Lexington for over a yr and love it. It's been voted the #1 hospital in 8 yrs here.

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I don't know much about the working environments at any of the hospitals in Columbia, but I do know that Palmetto Health, Lexington Medical Center, and Providence all start new grads at about $19/hour. I haven't heard anything bad about any of these places. I actually had clinicals at the VA hospital and we had staff telling us not to come work there because it was terrible. Although I know someone who works there and loves it.

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Specializes in Psychiatric, Spinal Cord Injury.

Does anyone know what the shift differential is for nights and weekends at Palmetto Health?

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

It used to be $5/h for RN and $3/hr for LPN weekends. And a percentage of your base for nights. But that was quite a while ago. Perhaps you could call human resources and ask.

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I know this post is a little late, but I just joined the forum! Palmetto Health pays new grads $18.90 base and then they add the following:

+ $1 for BSN

+ $1 for permanent shift

+ $1.50 for evenings

+ $2.00 for nights

+ $5.00 for weekends

They also pay $200 for your NCLEX and you get a $5000 bonus if you are hired into a critical needs area. Also, Palmetto Health pays you for the time you put into credentialing classes, but they don't pay for the actual class itself. And, they offer a $5000 tuition reimbursement program per year.

Hope this helps anyone interested in working at Palmetto Health.

As far as Lexington Medical- they don't routinely hire new grads unless it's for one of their med-surg internship / residency programs. And, Providence Hospitals are the same base pay but they only pay the additional $1 for a BSN- they don't offer any bonuses or other shift diffs for new grads but they do offer a great 6 month intense orientation and they pay for all your credentialing courses like PALS, etc.

I just graduated in December and have been interviewing at all the hospitals in the Columbia-metro area. It took a lot of time and I had to make a lot of hard decisions about where to start my nursing career. I wish everyone the best of luck when they get out there and start their job hunt!!

-L

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The pay is pretty much the same for new grads (the earlier post was right on with what palmetto health pays), so it's important to look at what kind of place you want to work at. I am a soon to be new grad and have recently interviewed with all of the hospitals in the area. It seems like you will learn a lot more if you go with palmetto health, but if you want to work at a place with a "faith-based" mission then Providence is your place. I do like Lexington a lot but to be honest Im probably looking at Richland due to I am more interested in trauma and Lexington really doesnt deal with that, they will send them to Richland. Good luck!!

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Thanks for your post. That gives me some good insight. I was really interested in Lexington due to it's proximity to where we want to move to. I wanted to know if it was a decent place to work. Do you know what services Lexington offers? If no trauma, then probably no critical care? Do they do more Med-Surg, day surgery, etc? That is not what I'm looking for as a new grad.

Thanks,

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