Denver Health vs. St. Anthony vs. Children's

U.S.A. Colorado

Published

Hi everyone! My husband and I are thinking of moving to Denver in about a year; he's been dying to move out there, so I'm trying to get a feel for which hospitals are best to work at. I'm an RN with a BSN, have 6 months of adult telemetry experience, and when I leave for CO I'll have a year and a half of pediatric ICU experience as well.

I'm interested in either staying in a PICU, in which case it seems that Children's is pretty much my only option, or in an ED or Trauma ICU at a Level I trauma center. The only certified Level I trauma centers in Denver appear to be Denver Health and St. Anthony. Not sure why the University of Colorado's medical center isn't Level I, but they're not on the list. I'm attracted to UCH b/c it's a teaching and magnet hospital, but if they don't take the most difficult trauma cases I'm not sure if I'm interested. Anyway, I'd really like to find out what the scoop is on these hospitals. Don't worry about being PC...I want to know the real deal. Which one is best for nurses to work at...where do nurses seem happiest? What's the culture and patient population like? Does one have a reputation for paying more or having better benefits than the others? What's the reputation of these places in general?

Thanks in advance for all your help. It's really hard to get candid information about places from afar!

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Well, I don't work in those critical care areas you are looking at, so I can't speak for how it is on those units, but I've worked for both St. Anthony (North and Central) and UCH, and I enjoy both a lot. The culture at UCH is a lot different (at least in the area in which I work) in that more of the nurses are younger, fresh out of school, BSN-prepared nurses who have aspirations to continue their education. Continuing education is very much expected of the nurses who work at UCH (not REQUIRED, of course). Whereas St. Anthony, the nurses seem older, more established, not really interested in furthering their education. A lot more ADN-prepared nurses.

UCH has great bennies (can't speak for St. Anthony - which is part of Centura, as I just do PRN for them). I think UCH is a great progressive place to work. I know that St. Anthony Central is going for their magnet status as well.

And of course there's a big difference between working for a community hospital and working for a university teaching hospital in that at UCH, you're going to have residents doing most everything. In some ways that's good, and in others it's not so good. Both hospitals take care of a lot of lower-income, underserved communities. I'm pretty sure Denver Health is the same way.

Some petty stuff - I like the fact UCH's cafeteria is open in the middle of the night so that night shift staff can actually get a hot meal.

Keep in mind again that I'm speaking from experience in OB and the areas you're looking at might be completely different.

Good luck with the move! We just moved here in May and I absolutely LOVE living here (other than the g-dawful traffic - avoid I-25 during the day if at all possible!).

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Specializes in Med/Surg, L&D.

I work at Denver Health as an RN Intern (still looking for that elusive new grad job). The culture there is quite different from other hospitals that I did clinical at. I work on a med/surg floor, not in CC or ED, but I have friends who work in both that seem to like their units a lot. There is a separate peds ED (which also handles peds urgent care needs). Unfortunately, right now they are only hiring people with ED specific experience. It may change before you get to CO. If you were to try to get an ICU job at DH, I would go for the Surgical ICU, which deals with a lot of the trauma patients. We work with underserved populations almost exclusively- I love that about working here, but it can be really difficult at times.

You may also want to check into Presbyterian/St. Luke's. They are opening the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in the fall, which is part of PSL but a freestanding building. They should have a pretty decent PICU. I volunteer in the peds department there and the staff seem really happy with their jobs.

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Thanks for the advice guys! UCH sounds a lot like the hospital I work at now; a teaching hospital with lots of young nurses who want to continue their education. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one there who has no interest in becoming a NP, haha! I'm used to the residents and all that stuff too. I worked at a community hospital before the teaching hospital I work at now, and I definitely like the environment at teaching hospitals better. I just feel like they're more willing (and usually have the money to) change practice based on new evidence, or to make things better/more efficient for staff. It's been my experience that community hospitals are more set in their ways. Don't know if that's true in CO though.

Looks like from UCH's website their Trauma ICU is also a burn center. Interesting. Anyone know what's up with them not being on the list of Level I trauma centers? List is here: American College of Surgeons Trauma Programs: Verified Trauma Centers

A trauma center near me that calls itself Level I isn't on there either, so maybe the list is unreliable? I dunno!

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Just thought I'd add that St. Anthony's is in the process of building a new St. Anthony's Medical Campus in Lakewood. I currently am a CNA (taking prereq's for nursing school) at OrthoColorado which is the speciality hospital connected to the new medical center.

OrthoCo opened in June and just passed JC this week. The Medical Campus is scheduled to open next year and St. A's Central will close. It will be a Trauma Level I center. I'm very impressed with the Centura system and they have great benefits. Lakewood is right next to the foothills so depending upon where you are planning on living you may want to consider them. There are many young nurses hired for this new hospital and education is very much a part of their philosophy. You can look at this website, www.orthocolorado.org to see some information on OrthoColorado as well as on the new hospital.

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I also work at Denver Health in trauma services, but I'm not a nurse (yet) so I can't speak to most of your question. UCH is a level II trauma center, not a level I. The list isn't incorrect. The other level I in town is Swedish Medical Center, but they are in Englewood which is just about 10 minutes south of Denver.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Childrens is the leading peds hospital in the state by far. The are level I for peds trauma. I would start there.

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New to this website so not entirely sure if i'm posting this in the right place. Most of the posts seem to about denver health which is what I have a questiojn about.

I'm applying for nursing positions with the hospital. Was wondering if anyone knows what all the different plans are? There is a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C.... not to mention there are intermittent positions and rotating shifts. Does rotating shifts mean different days or are you flip flopping between night and days or???

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Childrens is the leading peds hospital in the state by far. The are level I for peds trauma. I would start there.

Children's in Aurora (main campus) you have to see it to believe it, really amazing architecture, artwork, and views of the mountains. Also, it's a regional referral center for peds. You'll see stuff there you'll never see anywhere else.

I was hired there early in my Nsg career, and if I'd been smart I never would have left! At that time they used to open the cafeteria on night shift with really good food! Don't know abt now. Back in the day they were cutting edge Cranio-facial surgery/plastic surg, Burn unit, PICU...I think Peds trauma went to Denver Health, but don't know now. I know it's hard to get in there, cause it's a good place to work.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

I recently attended UCH's TNCC course and found out that UCH was the Trauma I in the Denver-area, but because when they re-built a couple years ago -- they developed the Burn/Trauma Unit and are now the Burn Center for the Rockies... there was some kind of negotiation between Denver Health and UCH regarding the Trauma status and because UCH is the Burn Center - they had DH take the Trauma I status due to the possible influx of patients?

I know RN's at both DH and UCH (I work at the Denver VA) who are both happy and not so happy - like anywhere.

Children's Hospital is definitely where you'd want to be if you're interested in Peds/PICU. However, it is very hard to get into. If you know someone at the facility that may help your resume/application move forward - that helps. I graduated with my RN, BSN from an out-of-state univeristy and the only reason that my application was looked at was because the Nurse Recruiter was familiar with my school (she was from Minnesota). I have had friends from MN apply to Children's that have years experience with great recommendations at Gillette's in Minneapolis-St. Paul (an amazing Trauma I/Pedicatric-specific) that were turned away. Per the nursing office, they save positions for Colorado-resident graduates... which is great for them - not so great for the transient RN.

Hope this helps!

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Hiya, Just trying to get as much info as possible and clarifying. You say it's difficult to get into children's PICU even with prior PICU experience?

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