I was cruising the hospital websites as I do everyday as a new grad and came across this:
The Department of Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital is running a New Graduate RN ICU Residency Program for six months from April 2011 to September 2011. RN residents will be hired and trained to work successfully in an intensive care setting.
Qualified applicants MUST have:
- a Baccalaureate of Science Degree in Nursing
- a current MA RN license
- less than 10 months of professional RN experience in a healthcare setting
- completed a clinical practicum in an ICU or experience in a patient assistive role in an ICU.
RN Residents will be eligible for benefits and paid a salary of $11.44 per hour. The schedule will be 40 hours per week with five 8-hour shifts. Day/Night rotation with weekends and holidays required.
11.44 an hour? They can't be serious...can they? They pay their CNAs more!
Well $23 is not such a great wage either. I would talk to the hiring personnel, what if half way or so during the program you or they thought ICU was not for you, would they hire you for another floor? That would be a good deal. Usually, ICU nurses can get hired down anywhere.
The thing is, even if you get fired from MGH, once you have worked in their ICU for a little bit, anyone would hire you.
I went to the interview and the plan is for Day and Night Rotation between a couple of the ICUs with classroom time. I asked which ICUs will be accepting new grads and i was told all ACCEPT FOR THE MEDICAL ICU. Surgical ICU is actually seperate and i only know this because i interview with the surgical ICU nurse manager and assistant.
Just a little FYI, MGH has a Medical ICU and a Surgical ICU (along with 7 others ICUs). They are adding a brand new ICU this year, which will be a mixed Med/Surg ICU.
I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if this was covered.
Does anyone know what the starting wage is when MGH hires one of the interns? That might be something to consider.
One other observation. In the business world, there are new grad internships which not only don't pay a decent starting wage/salary, the companies expect the intern to pay for the opportunity! Chris Gardner, the man whose story was told in the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, endured a year-long internship without receiving a dime. He was desperate for money to support himself and his son, but the unpaid opportunity was one he couldn't turn down. Chris and his son ended up homeless for a time, but with the stock broker training he acquired, he went on to become a multi-millionaire and motivational speaker.
Having to pay for the training--along the lines of tuition--is the lowest rung on the ladder. Free training would be a step up. Paid training, even if it's minimal, is better than either of these two choices.
I agree with those who said to look at it as part of your schooling. No, not everyone has life circumstances that will allow them to take advantage of the offer, but for those who do, this could be the key to a really nice future.
As for MGH exploiting new grads, I view this more along the lines of the hospital not wanting to be exploited by people who are willing to take the lengthy and expensive training ($80,000 or more for ICU) only to jump ship when they hit the one-year anniversary.
The starting wage for new grads at MGH is $29.28 per hour base pay. Differential is $4 for weekends, $5 for evenings, $7 for nights.
I had been told by someone involved in the residency program that it would be dayshift Monday through Friday only, but apparently that's not what everyone is being told. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the schedules of able and willing preceptors.
The starting wage for new grads at MGH is $29.28 per hour base pay. Differential is $4 for weekends, $5 for evenings, $7 for nights.
I had been told by someone involved in the residency program that it would be dayshift Monday through Friday only, but apparently that's not what everyone is being told. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the schedules of able and willing preceptors.
Based on these figures, an intern hired as permanent staff would then be making anywhere from $29.28 per hour (weekday days) to $40.28 per hour (weekend nights). Not too shabby for someone with less than a year of experience!
In my area rooms in homes run from $500 to $800 a month. I would not leave a job for one paying one third my present pay with no guaranteed future. But that is me.
And me...
I also think it's just wrong to bail out on the employer that put you through their new-grad program.
To be blunt, actions such as those that you're considering are a big reason why nobody wants to touch new grads with a 10-foot pole.
You all student interns could get together and rent a place with sleeping room only. Get food stamps. Do something.
I wish more people who interviewed and accepted the offer like myself would come here because i would def consider renting and rooming together. But for now im in another state trying to find living arrangements there and it is hard.
it will not be an ICU of YOUR choice, it WILL be the new MSICU which will consist of a majority of new grads (33 have already been hired)....so it may not be the "Mass General Experience" you thought it was. I work at MGH and I promise you, the new grad ICU positions are ALL for this new "concept" ICU staffed by new grads. I think it is unfair of MGH to offer this "opportunity" to new grads looking for jobs without giving them the whole story...it could be a good experience, but it will most certainly be the most stressful, underpaid part of your profession.
The starting wage for new grads at MGH is $29.28 per hour base pay. Differential is $4 for weekends, $5 for evenings, $7 for nights.
I had been told by someone involved in the residency program that it would be dayshift Monday through Friday only, but apparently that's not what everyone is being told. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the schedules of able and willing preceptors.
those wages are correct or close to correct for past new grads, but obviously as this thread points out, those wages would not come into play until after the residency program is over.
Just my two cents-but if you have the opportunity to get something this prestigious on your resume without bankrupting yourself, swallow your pride and do so! Take it from the guy who bankrupted himself moving to Florida for a job because even something for $11/hr wasn't an option a few years ago for a new grad.
Also, does anyone know where this new medsurg icu is going? space is obviously limited on the mgh campus, and from all the info i've read on the lunder building, its basically the new home of the neuro icu, 60+ neuro stepdown beds, radiation oncology space, a new er, and then a number of operating rooms. Regardless, hopefully they spoke to the staff to get their input and made this a tremendous building.
:yeah:
shah
201 Posts
Well $23 is not such a great wage either. I would talk to the hiring personnel, what if half way or so during the program you or they thought ICU was not for you, would they hire you for another floor? That would be a good deal. Usually, ICU nurses can get hired down anywhere.
The thing is, even if you get fired from MGH, once you have worked in their ICU for a little bit, anyone would hire you.