Good STL Hospital to work at

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Where is a good place to start working in St. Louis? I'm looking for a hospital I can work as a PCT or nurse assistant and hoping I can end up working there when I graduate. I am a student at STLCC. Any opinions?

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Specializes in Emergency.
Where is a good place to start working in St. Louis? I'm looking for a hospital I can work as a PCT or nurse assistant and hoping I can end up working there when I graduate. I am a student at STLCC. Any opinions?

Well, I have yet to actually WORK at a hospital, but was recently offered a spot in a PCT 5 week training course at St. John's which is mandatory to take if you have no prior experience (they still pay you while in the class I think..)....St. Luke's is harder to get in to if you do not have previous experience...and Missouri Baptist didn't have too many job openings (at least when I was looking for a job a few months ago). I'm pretty sure that Barnes-Jewish had a lot of openings, but that's too much of a drive for me! I ended up turning down the training offer at St. Johns (because I'll be starting nursing school in a month and don't want to take on too much..)..but I might change my mind if I think I can take on more work after being in school for a little bit and get everything under control. I would suggest looking up older posts made by others regarding different hospitals in the St. Louis area. There have been quite a few of them actually. But, I too would LOVE to hear some more "up to date" opinions on the various hospitals in St. Louis from an insider! :) Have a nice day!

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Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC.

I'm going to give you the answer that all nursing students HATE to hear.....it depends. It will depend on what you're looking for as far as experience, where you want to work after school, etc.

I worked at Barnes-Jewish during school (liver/kidney transplant surgical floor).....worked my tail off but it was the best experience. BJH lets their nurse techs do foleys, change dressings, draw blood, start IV's, the whole works. On the floor that I worked, I drew blood so much that I could practically do it in my sleep. I wanted to have that experience under my belt since we didn't get to do that much during our clinical days, so that job was perfect for me. Plus if I would have stayed in St. Louis and wanted any job within BJH, I'm sure that my experience would have given me an edge over other applicants. And they gave me money for college to boot.

I'm not saying that BJH is the best place to work as a student, but it fit my needs at the time. The best hospital will all depend on your own needs. There are plenty of great hospitals in the Loo to choose from....research all of them and find your perfect match! ;)

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Specializes in Emergency.
I'm going to give you the answer that all nursing students HATE to hear.....it depends. It will depend on what you're looking for as far as experience, where you want to work after school, etc.

I worked at Barnes-Jewish during school (liver/kidney transplant surgical floor).....worked my tail off but it was the best experience. BJH lets their nurse techs do foleys, change dressings, draw blood, start IV's, the whole works. On the floor that I worked, I drew blood so much that I could practically do it in my sleep. I wanted to have that experience under my belt since we didn't get to do that much during our clinical days, so that job was perfect for me. Plus if I would have stayed in St. Louis and wanted any job within BJH, I'm sure that my experience would have given me an edge over other applicants. And they gave me money for college to boot.

I'm not saying that BJH is the best place to work as a student, but it fit my needs at the time. The best hospital will all depend on your own needs. There are plenty of great hospitals in the Loo to choose from....research all of them and find your perfect match! ;)

You always give such wonderful advice! Thanks!

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I agree that Barnes is a great hospital and a great place to work, however I would also look into Saint Louis Children's Hospital as an option. Many of the benefits are the same as Barnes, but the atmosphere rocks. The general attitude is very positive and it is an enjoyable place to work. Of course the big benefit to working at Children's is the Dairy Queen in the cafeteria. Sure you can walk over from Barnes, but then you are just burning calories. Seriously though, Children's is one of the best places I have ever worked and would strongly suggest that if you are remotely interested in working with kids that you come and visit the hospital to see what is like.

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Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC.
I agree that Barnes is a great hospital and a great place to work, however I would also look into Saint Louis Children's Hospital as an option. Many of the benefits are the same as Barnes, but the atmosphere rocks. The general attitude is very positive and it is an enjoyable place to work. Of course the big benefit to working at Children's is the Dairy Queen in the cafeteria. Sure you can walk over from Barnes, but then you are just burning calories. Seriously though, Children's is one of the best places I have ever worked and would strongly suggest that if you are remotely interested in working with kids that you come and visit the hospital to see what is like.

You are correct. Any facility associated with BJC will offer the same benefits, including tuition reimbursement. However, Children's won't be a good fit for someone who wants something other than pediatrics. But I certainly agree with you about the cafeteria at Children's (which is where I did my pediatric clinical). It rocks!

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I am moving up to stl this summer for nursing school. I have been looking into working at Barnes or Children's. Can anyone who has worked there, or knows someone who has, let me know what they pay student nurses? I definitely want to work at a hospital while in nursing school, but I'll be living by myself (:no:EXPENSIVE!!!), so I'm not sure when. I waitress and make good money, so I don't wanna give that up for less money too early on.

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I work at St. Lukes as a tech and I really enjoy it. In order to be a PCT II ( where you draw blood, foley's, VS) they prefer that you are finished with fundamentals but I know some people who switched to PCT II's pretty quick after being PCT I's. I work PRN and my base pay is $11 with differentials for working evening and weekends.

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What about St. Mary's, St. Anthony's or Mo Bap? Does anyone know about them? I've heard Barnes is going strickly to start hiring BSN nurses, which would be bad because I will have an ADN. Maybe that's just a rumor, but I bet they can with thier school.

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I have not heard that you have to be a BSN, but they have made some moves to make it attractive to continue on in education. I work at SLCH, not Barnes and at Children's they have started to pay more for a BSN then ADN of equal experiance per hour. If this is different at Barnes, please correct me.I was also told that the current ADN class at Barnes School of Nursing is its last and that they will only have the BSN and graduate programs. I hope that this infomation is the same at Barnes, but you can always call HR at Barnes to double-check. If I am mistaken please feel free to trash me for misleading everyone.

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Specializes in ER/ICU, CCL, EP.

St Mary's is a smaller hospital, and a very friendly place to work. It does not get big traumas or transplants, but it's a nice first experience. They also have tuition reimbursement, etc. However, there is NO Dairy Queen in the cafe! ;)

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Specializes in Cardiology/Cath Lab.

I started out at Barnes as a student nurse on a cardiology floor and am now a RN on that floor. My opinion is that Barnes is one of the better hospitals to work at to get good experience. Barnes was able to give a great advantage and wonderful stepping stone into nursing. You are trained to do almost everything a nurse can expect give medicines for the most part. The pay is comparable to other hospitals in the area and student nurses techs get paid a little more than patient care techs there. You get great experience and in the end will learn more than you think.

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