good hospitals for new RN's in GTA??

[healthyone]

hi everyone! i am a relatively new nurse, got my RN in ontario in oct '03 and have sort of been bumping around trying to find a spot for myself since then. sars really slowed down my progress because of the hiring freeze, but am now in a position where i can really look seriously...i have put a bit of a resume together between casual work and agency.

so my question is, where do people think is a good place to go as a new RN? i'm a hard worker, but i don't do very well with politics in the workplace. i've discovered about myself that i cope well with moderate caseloads (even heavy when needed) and can organize myself well to get the job done, but so far i've struggled when i'm placed in the charge nurse position. i'm more of a team player, than a team leader and really prefer it that way.

so in a nutshell, i'm looking for the type of hospital where i do floor nursing on a med/surg type unit, preferably where i don't have to direct or co-work with RPN's...no offense (i originally just wanted to be an rpn) but at my current job that i work better with rn's than rpns and the RPN's have done more competing with me than actual helping me out. i've noticed that RN's are sometimes pushed into rotating into charge nurse position or pt care managing while the rpn's do more bedside care. i actually really like working at the bedside and would like to just do that for now: meds, am/hs care, treatments, orders, etc for a caseload.

i would really appreciate any help at all if you know of hospitals that you've had good experience with or even specific floors/departments. i have a car and am willing to travel anywhere from whitby to oakville/brampton area and even as far north as york central; although for convenience would prefer something more central. open and private emails welcome.

thanx so much!

healthyone.

[ERprincess]

Hi Healthone!

I too wrote my CRNE in October, and found it more difficult that I expected to find employment. I now have three positions and am slowly starting a "life after school"!. I did most of my clinical rotations in hospitals in Toronto/Mississauga, and found politics to be a big problem on most of the units that I worked (but I often wonder if that was because I was a student). I also noticed the RN/RPN "thing" and again wondered if that was also because I was a student? I think the RPN's take a lot of crap from staff RN's at times, and they finally feel that there is someone lower in the pecking order than they perceive themselves to be!.

As for finding a job.......I found one that I love in a community hospital just outside the GTA. I'm loving every minute of it and not finding too much in the way of politicking going on - invariably there will be some amount of politics wherever your working, but I have found that this smaller, less "metropolitan" hospital to be a perfect fit for me. I suggest looking at Ajax-Pickering Hospital (Rouge Valley Health System), Milton, Oakville (non-union), or Joseph Brant Memorial in Burlington.

Good luck in your job search!:roll