Help with Hawaii assignments??

rollingstone · Feb 23, 2004

I'm looking to be in Hawaii next winter. Don't have an answer to your specific questions. Have you tried the Hawaii nurses' forum?

catlover314 · Mar 9, 2004

I am interested in traveling to Hawaii in the late summer-early fall and was wondering if anyone could help me with information about hospitals. I am a NICU nurse and I had looked into Kapiolani Women and Childrens' Hospital a little. Has anyone worked there? Good things, bad things? Any advice would help. I am starting from scratch! Thanks

I worked 26 weeks at Kapiolani in the NICU. It was unlike any other NICU I'd experienced, partly because of the isolation...its the tertiary center for the Pacific, so you see lots of interesting stuff you never see on the Mainland. That said, it was often frustrating. The regular staff was pretty entrenched in "this is how we do it" despite having a lot of travelers with good ideas. Not that horrible a deal, but good info to have ahead of time. The upside is the people are very very cool. They are truly full of aloha and I made great friends when I was there. I was there in 98-99, so things may have changed a bit. If I could afford it, I'd go back to Hawaii in a heartbeat. I have a family (husb and 3 kids) and we went through a huge amount of savings in 6 months; it was tempting to want to live like a local AND still do all the touristy things. No regrets on that front, it was all worth it. I had a housing stipend (from the Evil Empire); find a company that pays all your housing. If I went back I would choose any company other than Am Mobile or their co-horts.

nicuash79 · Mar 9, 2004

I worked 26 weeks at Kapiolani in the NICU. It was unlike any other NICU I'd experienced, partly because of the isolation...its the tertiary center for the Pacific, so you see lots of interesting stuff you never see on the Mainland. That said, it was often frustrating. The regular staff was pretty entrenched in "this is how we do it" despite having a lot of travelers with good ideas. Not that horrible a deal, but good info to have ahead of time. The upside is the people are very very cool. They are truly full of aloha and I made great friends when I was there. I was there in 98-99, so things may have changed a bit. If I could afford it, I'd go back to Hawaii in a heartbeat. I have a family (husb and 3 kids) and we went through a huge amount of savings in 6 months; it was tempting to want to live like a local AND still do all the touristy things. No regrets on that front, it was all worth it. I had a housing stipend (from the Evil Empire); find a company that pays all your housing. If I went back I would choose any company other than Am Mobile or their co-horts.

THanks for the info! Did you have to float very often to PICU or Peds? What are the assignments like in the NICU... nurse to patient ratio?? Do you have suggestions of any other NICUs that you heard good things about? thanks again for your help!!!! :) MUCH APPRECIATED!

catlover314 · Mar 9, 2004

I floated a fair amount to PICU and to the Special Care Unit, forget the real name of the place...long term vent patients. I thought it was ok but I know several other travelers felt they were ill-equipped and without backup in the Special Care unit. Assignments were 1:2 usually, 1:3 for the less ill and growers were 1:4. Its a union system, so overtime was very nicely compensated. The manager was very supportive and warm...just like most of the people I met there.

There are two other NICUs in Honolulu. One is a Kaiser hosp; knew an NNP that worked there and liked it but never saw the place. I don't know if they routinely use travelers or not. Tripler is the Army hosp and has a large unit. People who worked there seemed to love it or hate it, but I don't have any personal experience with it.

I also worked at Valley Pres in Van Nuys CA. Not that great an assignment, lots of floating, not much prep. Actually refused to float to the newborn nursery as the staffing there was not safe in my opinion.

In Denver I worked at Denver Children's which was a very good assignment, but the pay wasn't great. The unit is facinating and staffed with about 50% travelers, so they are very open to new things. At least that was my experience 5 years ago. Medical Center of Aurora (also near Denver) was ok. Its a level 2 nursery with a fabulous boss but about 1/2 the time I was in newborn nursery. Helps to speak Spanish for that gig.

Years ago I worked Sunrise Hosp (don't even know if its still called that) in Las Vegas. I had a horrid experience and would never set foot in the place again. I will not elaborate but trust me, it was awful. I can't speak to the place now; maybe its better. Hope all this helps.