Moving to Denver in 2014, Needs Help with Hospitals, Pay, Etc

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2013

1. I don't think there are any hospitals with a bad rep. The major hospital corporations are HealthOne (HCA), Centura (CHI), and Exempla. Then there are the academic facilities: University, Denver Health, VA (largest VA facility for several states), and Childrens. Well, I guess HCA/HealthOne reputedly has lower pay...

2. Depending on the hospital, probably $23-27/hr base with 2 years experience. Signing bonus? HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA! Shift diff varies by facility, could be $2/hr up to 25% of base.

3. 20%? That's awesome. Centura Health has many hospitals in the area and is owned by CHI in part I think... dunno about that deal being offered... perhaps a Centura nurse will comment. That would be so sweet... extra 10K in the pocket!

Snyder524 · Apr 23, 2013

Thanks for the reply. I work for a CHI facility here and love it, it's a great place to work. I just want to change the surrounding area, as Denver suits me a little better than Little Rock. You laugh at the signing bonus to some hospitals around here offer them to nurses with experience. At one point my hospital offered roughly 10-15K (before taxes) for experienced RN's. My facility does $3.50 for nights, $1.75 for weekends. The 20% bonus for not taking the hospital insurance is very nice. It worries me a little if other facilities don't do this. Insuring me is cheap, and I def like having the extra cash. Cost of living is obviously going to be more in Denver than Little Rock.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2013

There's a reason that there are signing bonuses in Little Rock and none in Denver.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 23, 2013

I've never heard of a hospital that offered reimbursement if you were insured elsewhere. The only thing similar I've heard is if you go flex, they don't provide you with any benefits, and flex pay is usually a bit higher. The down side is if you're flex, you're the first to get called off for low census.

Snyder524 · Apr 23, 2013

My hospital calls it LBO, limited benefits option. If you don't take the hospital insurance, you have to show that you have coverage elsewhere. When you do that, you can get a 20% bump off your base rate.

salvadordolly · Apr 24, 2013

I moved out of Denver, but when I worked there, I thought the HCA Hospitals (Swedish, Aurora, Presby-St. Luke's) sucked - they are for profit hospitals and have crappy staffing. I loved, loved, loved Denver Health Hospital - it is a level 1 trauma center with a few ICU's to choose from. They have decent pay and benefits. It is a teaching hospital like University Hospital, which is also good but difficult to get in to. The Centura system has a few hospitals, they are Catholic, and people seem to stay there and like it. I never worked in them as staff because the pay was so low. In fact, the pay in Denver is quite low compared to the cost of living, which is one of the reasons I left. You are not likely to find sign-on bonuses because Denver is a popular place to live and there is no shortage of nurses. As for insurance, almost everybody has Kaiser HMO. If you are not familiar with HMO's, you probably won't like them very much. If you're a person that doesn't use your insurance as it sounds like above, flex option is the way to go. When I first moved there, I was agency, so I could check out all the places, then decide which one I wanted to be staff at. Might want to try that.

Snyder524 · Apr 24, 2013

I moved out of Denver, but when I worked there, I thought the HCA Hospitals (Swedish, Aurora, Presby-St. Luke's) sucked - they are for profit hospitals and have crappy staffing. I loved, loved, loved Denver Health Hospital - it is a level 1 trauma center with a few ICU's to choose from. They have decent pay and benefits. It is a teaching hospital like University Hospital, which is also good but difficult to get in to. The Centura system has a few hospitals, they are Catholic, and people seem to stay there and like it. I never worked in them as staff because the pay was so low. In fact, the pay in Denver is quite low compared to the cost of living, which is one of the reasons I left. You are not likely to find sign-on bonuses because Denver is a popular place to live and there is no shortage of nurses. As for insurance, almost everybody has Kaiser HMO. If you are not familiar with HMO's, you probably won't like them very much. If you're a person that doesn't use your insurance as it sounds like above, flex option is the way to go. When I first moved there, I was agency, so I could check out all the places, then decide which one I wanted to be staff at. Might want to try that.

Yah I'm going to be taking advantage of the public service loan forgiveness program so the facility will need to be non for profit. I work for the parent company of Centura here in Ark and like it a lot. I've heard UCH is tough to get into and that it's a great place to work. I'm weighing the option of trying some hospitals out as a traveler before becoming staff at one of them. What hourly rate in your opinion is a bad rate? I'm currently a night shifter and was hoping to switch to days, but the more I research the more I think I'll have to stick to nights b\c of the increased cost of living in Denver. Like Ark, but can't pass up the opportunity to have the Rockies that close to me on my days off.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 24, 2013

I've worked for Centura, as well as UCH and Children's. When I worked for Centura, they had a "regional float pool" position, you signed on to float among three of their facilities. It was a good way to get to know the different hospitals. My facilities were Avista (which is an Adventist facility, not Catholic), St. Anthony North and St. Anthony Central (which is no longer, now it's just St. Anthony Main, I think). You could check with Centura to see if they still offer that. As a float pool person, I didn't get any bennies, just a flat rate, which was generous (for specialty units, it's $42/hour, if I recall correctly).

When I first moved here, I also signed on with UCH under a seasonal contract - 13 weeks per contract. I was signed twice, then went to permanent fulltime there. I didn't have difficulty getting a job with them (this was three years ago) but I work in a specialty where experienced nurses always seem to be in demand (L&D).

Snyder524 · Apr 24, 2013

I've worked for Centura, as well as UCH and Children's. When I worked for Centura, they had a "regional float pool" position, you signed on to float among three of their facilities. It was a good way to get to know the different hospitals. My facilities were Avista (which is an Adventist facility, not Catholic), St. Anthony North and St. Anthony Central (which is no longer, now it's just St. Anthony Main, I think). You could check with Centura to see if they still offer that. As a float pool person, I didn't get any bennies, just a flat rate, which was generous (for specialty units, it's $42/hour, if I recall correctly). (L&D).

Centura and UCH are the two I'd most like to try out. I've never heard of a "regional float" position before. So essentially you would work at one of three different facilities? How'd you like it? Seems like amazing pay but the constant facility change could get annoying/old real quick.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 24, 2013

Yeah, I had never heard of it either. You have to choose a minimum of three of their facilities, and then you are required to float to whichever one they have a need. If there is a need at a different facility than you agreed to, they might ask, but you're not required. I'm not sure if the program still exists. I liked it because it really gives you a good taste of the different facilities. I went into it thinking I would prefer Avista (because of the demographic of women who would be going there to deliver) but in reality, I found that I preferred St. Anthony North, which surprised me. I didn't do the program very long, because it turns out I'm not cut out for float or traveling. I need a work "home," which is why I took the fulltime permanent position at UCH. It's a great facility, I love working there.

I did have a few ethical qualms about working for Centura. For example, at St. Anthony North, because it's a Catholic hospital, we weren't allowed to give information about birth control, and they don't do tubals there.

PacesFerryBSN · Apr 25, 2013

There sign on bonuses available in Denver if you are an experienced OR nurse, one states on their website 15,000. Wow!