Kansas City area anyone?

researchrabbit · Apr 8, 2003

I lived in Olathe from 1995 to 2001, pretty area, great for kids (I can't emphasize this enough; the area is MADE for families), excellent schools (but be careful picking a house; many there are badly built).

Can't tell you much about the hospitals; worked child and adult outpatient psych research at KUMC and absolutely loved it. Absolutely wonderful nurses, MDs, and staff. Excellent working relationship and respect on both sides.

KC CHICK · Apr 8, 2003

....and you didn't PM me??? :confused:

Liberty Hospital is Level II and is located just north of KC. (Have to throw this one in cause this is my home.)...and I'd love working with you. http://www.libertyhospital.org/ The pay here is very competitive. Don't know too much about what the pay is for an experienced nurse, but, new grads start at 18.30/hr, night shift diff of 3.00/hr, and weekend diff of 2.00/hr. (I work weekend nights...wink, wink.)

Truman Hospital-hospital hill is Level I and is the downtown KC, MO state hosptial.http://www.trumed.org/ Not sure about the pay...there is usually a sign on bonus.

Saint Lukes is Level I and is downtown as well.http://www.saint-lukes.org/slhhp.asp

North Kansas City Hospital is Level I....and is in NKC.

http://www.nkch.org/ Spoke with HR here about 4 months ago about pay....they were going to pay me at least a buck less/hr and the diff wasn't as good as Liberty.

....hope this is enough to get you started. Of course, the Metropolitan Kansas City area is a very spread out place. The hospitals you'll look at will greatly depend on what area of the city you are going to be living in.....and what state (kansas or missouri).

Anne:D

PS: Kansas City, MO is much bigger than Kansas City, KS.....also KCK proper isn't known for being a very good area to live in.

vaughanmk · Apr 9, 2003

There are a lot of hospitals across the metro area. It just depends on what part of town you want to move. Johnson County is rich, very high priced and proud of it, but they have the best schools. Lee's Summit is second. they are newly expanding and on the missouri side. Different hospitals are better for different specialty areas. Childrens Mercy of course is for pediatrics. St. Lukes and Kansas University Med Center for hearts.

Things ahve changed a lot in the past few weeks. Health Midwest (runs several hospitals across the city) was bought out by HCA. It is unionized. I think they are the only ones that are though. I'll work on a complete list for you if you want it. Let me know and I'll get you names numbers, and web sites.

MerryRN · Apr 9, 2003

I'm from Kansas City and it is a wonderful place to live (I got my RN training there). I now live in Texas where my husband is from. But I was just up visiting as my mom had a knee replacement. She was at Baptist Memorial Hospital in March. As mentioned above, HCA has just bought out Health Midwest and the nurses were very uncertain about what changes were going to occur. What I noticed was North Kansas City was growing rapidly as was Johnson County Kansas. Also part of Kansas City Kansas was developing a new resort area. Have you thought about taking a travel position to check out the area.

Jolie, BSN · Apr 9, 2003

I lived in Lenexa and worked at Children's Mercy a while back, and with the possible exception of the unit on which I worked, I can't think of anything negative to say about KC! It is a wonderful city, big enough to offer tons of shopping, entertainment, dining, arts, pro sports, etc. But small enough to navigate easily. The cost of housing there is also substantially less than other major cities.

It's been awhile since I moved, so I'm not exactly current on the state of healthcare in the area, but I had a favorable impressions of St. Luke's, Truman Medical Center and Shawnee Mission Medical Center. On the whole, Children's Mercy offered excellent patient care; I just happened to work on a very poorly managed unit.

One caution: salaries were substantially lower than what I had been making in the Chicago area, but I found that recruiters were willing to negotiate with those savvy enough to ask. Good luck and have a great big steak for me!:)

KC CHICK · Apr 9, 2003

....as usual, people down south forget that life exists north of the river.

The Kansas City, MO northland is growing in leaps and bounds. I'm located close to KCI airport (5 min away) and it's amazing how much growth has happened over the past 10 years. The Park Hill school system here is highly rated....as is the Liberty school system.

Just down the street at I-29 and Barry Rd., construction has been phenomenal. I call it "Little Johnson County". There is presently a project underway to build a one million sq/ft shopping center. There is also a Super Wal-art, Lowe's, AMC 24 movie theatre, Barnes & Noble, "2" Starbucks, Hy-Vee grocery store, Panera Bread, Old Navy, and tons of restaurants right down the street along with superb highway access. (I probly left a ton of stuff out....there's so much there.)

Research the areas of KC, that's all there is to it.

bizzle · Apr 9, 2003

Wow, look at all of these local gals! I live in KC and am considering a career change to nursing. Rockhurst/Research College of Nursing is the only local school with a 2nd degree RN program. Can anybody here comment on the program? Any recommendations you can give me? I am also curious about the switch to HCA. Health Midwest had a loan repayment program--I wonder if it will continue. Do other local organizations have similar programs you're aware of? Hi to everone!

Another question--is HCA the only unionized system in the area?

p.s. KC Chick--you're right about the I-29/Barry Road area. I lived in the Ethans at 169/Barry for a while when I first moved here.

cindyln · Apr 9, 2003

I don't live in the KC area. I live in a rural town in Kansas but my son lives in Overland Park and I love visiting him. There is so much to do in that area. And if you stay off of I- 435 at rush hour it isn't too hard to drive in also.

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2003

I lived in Overland Park from the time I was about 11 to when I was 17. I loved it. I wish I'd never left!!!!

That doesn't tell you anything about what you were wondering about work, pay levels, etc., but I just REALLY wanted to mention how much I loved it there.

Love

Dennie

KC CHICK · Apr 9, 2003

bizzle, it's my understanding that HCA is the only unionized system....it's also my understanding that it hasn't done much good for the conditions anyway. Truman Medical Center also has hiring bonuses and, because it's a state hospital, you can qualify for the Missouri loan repayment program.

There's a gal in my Nutrition class that is currently in the Rockhurst fast track to BSN program. She says it's fast paced, but she seems to like it.

bizzle · Apr 10, 2003

Thanks, kc chick!

edited to add: I just noticed that you are in the MU internet RN-BSN program. How do you like that? I had seven years at school in Columbia. What types of classes do you take to complete your BSN once you are already an RN? Thanks for cluing in this nursing newbie (or should I say wannabe)!