Graduating in December 08-Info about hospitals

[kohdahbears]

I will be graduating from out of state in December of 08 and moving to Portland. I plan to work in the ER in a Level I Trauma hospital. I would like information on the two Level I Trauma ER's, OHSU and Emanuel, and just general info about each hospital and positive's and negative's of each. Does the pay vary from each hospital and which would be better for a new grad(with ER experience)? Any other helpful information or contacts would be useful as well. Thanks!

[edcampbe]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I wouldn't expect to start out immediately in a level I trauma center in Portland. Unfortunately, there is no nursing shortage in Portland so many of the specialties in nursing are not available to new graduate nurses.

With that said, I would inquire about jobs and apply early if are intent on working directly in trauma/ER. I know Legacy offers residency positions for their trauma program, but these spots are highly competitive.

Good luck! Which school are you graduating from?

[TraumaRN1983]

I work at OHSU and I agree that it is fairly difficult to get into our ED department as a new grad. There is an ED internship program here but it is pretty competitive. You can inquire about the internship program well in advance of graduation and find out what you need to do to apply. If that doesn't work out, I would recommend starting on a floor like mine, which is Trauma/Emergency General Surgery. It is an intermediate care unit, we usually have 3 patients and we are one of the only acute care floors that take vented patients. It is a great starting point if you want to to ER, as many employees from my unit have gone on to either do ER or ICU. In fact, one of my co-workers got the ER internship after she had been working on my floor for a little over a year. I also think that Legacy Emmanuel has a unit very similar to ours called the TRACU, you could look into that as well. I can tell you that I started at OHSU last year as a new grad and I have loved working here. The experience you get at a Level 1 Trauma academic hospital is incredible, you see everything here. I would highly recommend it. Hope this helps!

[kohdahbears]

Thank you for the message. Although it is disappointing to think I may have to wait to work in ER I am glad there are options that will help in preperation for such a position. Do you have recommendations for either Emmauel or OHSU? Do you have any thoughts on the VA system?