Franciscan Health System - St. Joseph, etc..

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Hey fellow Washingtonians.

I am looking at relocating to the Seattle area (I'm from out of state), because it's really really really really, really (did I say really?) hard to find a hospital nursing job position here in my area if you lack at least 1-year of acute care experience. There are RN residency programs at certain hospitals, but there is so much politics and favoritism in the selection process, that I am opening my horizon, and looking to move away from home (sad, but I may have to).

One of the nurses at the hospital I work at, used to work for St. Clare hospital located somewhere in the Tacoma area.

I have looked online to apply for jobs, and it seems that the parent company is Fransiscan Health System?

Besides St. Clare, there are other hospitals such as St. Josephs, and various other places.

Could you tell me what your work experience was like at these facilities? What's the reputation of Fransiscan Health?

Cost of living in these areas (i.e. Tacoma)?

As of right now, I have been working as a hospital nurse aide for almost one year.

I work as a school nurse as a side / part-time job. But it's not complex nursing skill that hospital nurses perform.

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Hello,

Franciscan Health Services (FHS) is owned by Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) that is based in Colorado. FHS owns 8 hospitals, St. Joseph, St. Claire in Lakewood, St Francis in Federal Way, St. Elizabeth in Enumclaw, St. Anthony in Gig Harbor, and newly acquired Harrison in Bremerton and Highline in Burien. My guess is they will be Saints in a few years, lol.

FHS is one of the larger systems in the area. The other is MultiCare. I think overall, both are good to work for. I currently work for FHS and have for 6 years. They seem to treat the employees fair. Some of the hospitals are union and others are not. The company isn't in financial dire straights as some of the hospitals in the area are. One of the pro's is you can transfer among the hospitals and not lose pay or seniority, which is nice. We get nurses coming to our hospital from the other facilities and they say they like us the best. :)

I do know the hiring process for FHS is very slow and the website cumbersome to find jobs, IMO.

I am curious how you can work as a nurses aide while holding an RN license?

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^^ Awesome awesome!! Thanks for the information and your career experience of the FHS hospitals, Tokmom!

I am curious how you can work as a nurses aide while holding an RN license?

Well, here in HI, you graduate from nursing school, and if you're interested in the rare new graduate programs at the hospitals in town, you work as a nurse's aide for one to three (or MORE!) years. Only "in-house" employees are allowed to apply.

If I was younger in age, I wouldn't mind waiting. But I'm getting old, and my parents really really need to retire from their job. Hence I am opening up my horizon and planning on leaving town to Seattle to find an RN job. Plus there is a lot of politics in the selection process among the managers after the interviews. Some candidates only work as a nurse's aide for one year, where as others don't get into the program at all, despite their good work.

All in all, I do hope to eventually get employed by one of the facilities of FHS!!!

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