Denver Children's for experienced peds nurse

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I am from Denver but had to unfortunately move away in 2003 because of my husband's job. I have a Bachelor's in Psych from UC Denver and have since gotten a BSN from another state University. I currently work on the oncology unit in a large urban and exclusively pediatric hospital. I am trying to get my husband to move us back to Denver and if we manage it, we hope to move next May-August. By then I will have 2.5 years inpatient exp, 2 years inpatient pediatric oncology exp, chemo cert, and 1 year BMT experience. I also have 10 years home visiting experience in early childhood intervention as well.

I hear awful things about the pay scale in Denver and also how hard it is to get into Children's. My question i,s how is the pay at Children's compared to other hospitals and can I expect it to be hard to get into despite my experience?

I know this question is asked a lot, so I apologise for the monotomy; but I have searched the forums and have not yet seen much that talks about the actual pay at Children's for experienced nurses. Anyone want to chime in? Thanks :-)

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

The hospital is now called Children's Hospital Colorado, rather than Denver Children's. :) I would guess that for someone with 2-3 years of experience, your base pay at CHC would probably be around $25-27.

I can't really speak for how hard it is to get in. I was never really trying hard to get in there, I just saw a job opening that interested me, I applied for it, and I got it, so from my experience it wasn't difficult, but I came with several years of experience and I had unique experience that they were looking for with that particular position. I know it's very competitive for new grads.

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Thank you for the input, klone! Congrats on getting in, I hope it is as smooth for me as well. I've have no trouble landing the jobs I want thus far so hopefully that string of luck will continue. Doesn't sound like Denver pays it's nurses very well though :-(

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I know, when I moved out here from AZ, it was a bit of a sticker shock. I took about a $4/hour paycut.

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I'm leaving AZ as well. Definately gonna be a sticker shock but we are finding more homes that suit our needs at a better price than what we can get here in the valley. We desperately need to upgrade! My husband and I have been talking and we've decided to start applying now and hope for the best. I'm really hoping for oncology again but don't see any staff positions on that unit open. Guess I'll keep my eyes peeled.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, Agency, HHC.

I don't know about pay, but if you have the experience, they'll more than likey hire you.

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Hey there cindyloowho. Wondering how the job search went and if you are enjoying working in CO.

I have been working on a pediatric inpatient oncology unit for the last 2 years and have also started working in the outpatient clinic at Primary Children's here in Utah. I am thinking about moving to Denver in the next year or two to go to acupuncture school but would want to work in peds oncology for the 4 years of school (OUCH, I know). Wondering if anyone can tell me about peds oncology opportunities in the Denver area. Also wondering what pay ranges I may be expecting.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

In addition to Children's, there's also Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. I believe they're part of the HealthOne network. I think they're affiliated with St. Joe's?

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Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children is affiliated with Presbyterian St Luke's, not St Joes.

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