Vegas ICU jobs

[Bagboy]

Hi, everyone. I'm contemplating moving to Vegas this fall from California. I started my nursing career with three years in a large Kindred Hospital (LTAC) along with a couple years in an ER. The last 8 years I've been the Dialysis Clinical Coordinator for DaVita at my current hospital. I'd like to get into a good ICU but have zero ICU experience. Any Vegas info, tips, recommendations? I'm seriously nerdy (love to study and learn) and really want to buckle down and be an awesome ICU nurse.

[guest769224]

A few hospitals in town that would offer a good learning experience for you in Las Vegas include:

University Medical Center

Sunrise Hospital

Do you have any specific questions I could help with?

[Bagboy]

Thanks for the reply, ICUman. I have both of those on my radar. I've virtually walked right into every nursing job I've had without much problem, which was pure luck. Haha. I'm wondering if they will be wanting only nurses with prior ICU experience?

Any with particularly bad reputations to stay away from?

[orangepink, NP]

Thanks for the reply, ICUman. I have both of those on my radar. I've virtually walked right into every nursing job I've had without much problem, which was pure luck. Haha. I'm wondering if they will be wanting only nurses with prior ICU experience?

Any with particularly bad reputations to stay away from?

How do you define bad reputation?

[Wolf at the Door, BSN]

Sunrise has a horrible rep, just horrible. Why ICU? All you stated was you would like to get into ICU and your nerdy.

1000 post in.

[Bagboy]

Why ICU? I like puzzles. In dialysis, I've spent years going to every corner of the hospital to dialyze patients, and ICU is by far the most interesting and challenging to me in terms of trying to understand the disease process, therapies, etc. It's intriguing walking into an ICU room where there's a train wreck and trying to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. And the more I learn, the more interesting it seems to become.

[Bagboy]

Wolf at the Door, curious about the reputation of Sunrise that you mentioned. Is that from the nurse perspective or stuff reported by patients who have been there? When I think of reputation, I'm most curious as to whether a hospital would be a quality working experience (learning opportunities, support, etc). I've worked at some places that fit that criteria, yet plenty of patients would tell you the place is garbage for one reason or another. You probably know how that goes. Patients get pissed off at Hospital A and feel inclined to go to Hospital B and with evangelistic zeal tell everyone there within 10 feet of them how terrible Hospital A is. Haha.

[smxp]

You will probably have a hard time getting an icu job in Las Vegas. Most hospitals want previous relevant experience with very few spots for newbies each year, and I don't think dialysis is close enough to count. Beyond that if you are used to California health care you may find it scary here. Vegas and Nevada in general is a medical desert

[smxp]

Also sunrise has a bad rep because it has terrible ratios across the board

[Bagboy]

Not sure what you mean about finding Nevada "scary." I've known travel nurses who have worked in Vegas as well as some who used to work there as regular staff nurses, and they all spoke positively about the experience. It was nursing just like anywhere else to them. Is there a specific example of what you mean?

[smxp]

There is not a very high level of medical care available to patients in Nevada. Patients with complex pathophysiology often get shipped to Southern California. A lot of medical and nursing practice is done because of habit and not evidence