DFW hospital reviews?

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

Hi all,

My husband and I are looking at moving to DFW in the near future and I'm just starting the adventure of looking at hospitals in the area. I have about 5 years of ICU/ER experience but have been working in a state that has few choices for where to work so I'm a little overwhelmed at where to start in sorting out all of the facilities.

So if you have any feedback/experiences-good, bad or ugly-about any of the hospitals in the area I would love to hear about it.

Also on a totally unprofessional side of things-what fun stuff is there to do in DFW? I know it's a huge metro area so I'm going to be challenged keeping my shopping under control, but anything else that is fun and "DFW" unique that I should check out?

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

Also if you know which (if any) are union I would appreciate that info as well. Thanks!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

The DFW area has no unionized hospitals whatsoever. In general, southern states are vehemently against unionization of healthcare facilities. The anti-union sentiments are deeply ingrained into the workplace culture here. As a result, the pay rates tend to be low and hospital employment is offered on an at-will basis.

Texas Health Resources is considered a good hospital system. They own Dallas Presbyterian, Harris Methodist, and Arlington Memorial Hospitals. The Baylor healthcare system is also well-regarded. There's the Big Baylor in Dallas, and multiple smaller suburban Baylor hospitals in Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Grapevine, and the other DFW suburbs.

There's also the Methodist System (Methodist Dallas, Methodist Charlton, Methodist Mansfield, Methodist Richardson). Of course, there are about 15 HCA hospitals (Medical City Dallas, Plaza Medical Center, Medical Center of Arlington, North Hills Hospital, Denton Regional, and many others).

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

Thank you Commuter! It's actually a huge relief to hear that unions don't really exist there. I'm currently in a union hospital and it has been way more challenging than I could have imagined and I'm looking forward to getting out of that culture.

I'm just so excited to have so many wonderful opportunities available. Several of the hospitals look amazing, and the thought of working at some of them is invigorating to me! :) Really hoping DH gets a job offer this week! Thanks again for your feedback Commuter!

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Specializes in Intensive Care, Trauma, Faculty.

Great response to Nurescass, The Commuter.

SInce you are an ICU/ER nurse, you may also consider either John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth (a county-run level 1 Trauma Hospital), or Parkland in Dallas (also county Level 1 Trauma, but handles all the burns in the area, as well).

Methodist, Baylor, THR are all private for-profit hospitals, and have their advantages. The county hospitals have challenges, but the patient acuity level is much higher, generally, and they tend to the underinsured population, also. I have had walkie-talkie patients in the ICU at Baylor, but once they can hit the call button at JPS, that's discharge time. The step down units at JPS handle patients that are ICU patients elsewhere (and they have 4 of them).

I didn't work at Parkland, but JPS has always had great state of the art equipment for us to use, as well as software. They are undergoing an EPIC conversion this Spring.

Parkland gives graduate credit for some of their residency programs. Awesome if you want to go for a Master's degree.

In my humble opinion, I prefer living in Fort Worth to Dallas. FW is less congested traffic-wise, more laid back, and generally easy going folks. Dallas has its awesome points, too.

Welcome to DFW soo, I hope, Nursecass! :hug: We can always use another caring nurse!

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Specializes in Intensive Care, Trauma, Faculty.

Here's the link to the thread for Parkland's Programs.

https://allnurses.com/texas-nurses/parkland-critical-care-160756.html

Even though they are geared to new RN's, you might have some luck working something out with them.

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

Thanks so much for the info TexeCuter! That's exactly what I was sort of hoping for-a bit of a run down on some of the hospitals. :) I'm definitely looking forward to getting into a higher acuity setting again with a bit of technology surrounding me. (the hospital I'm at just took narcotics from zip lock baggies and put them in an accudose in the last few months....)

Fortunately the job DH is considering is in Fort Worth, so we are actually looking at Fort Worth and surrounding areas to live. The only bad part is that we'll most likely be moving this summer-right in the thick of the heat. :/ But even that doesn't deter how excited I am to have such a wide selection of places to work that really pride themselves in excellence! *fingers still crossed for his job offer to come!*

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Specializes in home health- pediatrics.

Actually, Texas Health Resources (THR) is NON-profit.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Also, the Baylor Health System is nonprofit.

However, do not be fooled by the word 'nonprofit,' because these hospitals are still making a profit.

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