msha or wellmont?

mtngrl, ASN, RN · Jul 7, 2006

I worked for a very short time for MSHA and hated it. And lots of the nurses on the floor were putting in applications at Wellmont, so maybe they are better to work for? Are you a new nurse or what? Everyone complains how low the pay at MSHA is. I don't know anything about Wellmont. I do know MSHA told me a pay rate when I was hired at my interview then all of a sudden it changed when I started...and of course it went down...they "didn't remember" telling me the other rate. They also give you tons of nonsense homework when you start. They also screwed me over on orientation, so that was another thing they did not fullfill. Basically they do not give orientation. One nurse who had previous experience in a hospital was not even shown where anything was, just thrown out there to find her own way. Of course, they say you will get "weeks" of orientation. You better get it in writing!

BirthingBabies · Jul 9, 2006

I worked for Wellmont for almost 2 years doing PCT work and various extern and internships where I did the work of an RN and just had a co-signer. I left Wellmont in June and it was the best thing I have ever did. I went to MSHA and I love it and am so much happier there. At Wellmont, none of the managers/staff get along there is so much drama that goes on between the different departments. I haven't saw that at MSHA. So I recommend MSHA!!!

southern rn · Jul 12, 2006

Hello. I have tentatively been offered a position(nights) for a msha hospital. Also have an upcoming interview for a position(days) at a wellmont facility. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice as to which is better as far as pay, benefits, etc. msha position is pt with benefits. does anyone know if wellmont offers benefits to part timers.
Thanks for any input!

I have worked for both organizations...in more than one of their hospitals. I still have friends and contacts at both so I kinda know what is going on everywhere...MSHA did just boost RN salary but I can guarantee both places it is about the same...as is benefits, etc. Wellmont does offer benefits to part timers. The only negative info I have heard lately is that Wellmont is having MAJOR staffing issues..high traveler ratio and lots of new grads, nurses in ER with little to no experience- as in most experienced maybe one year..and this is stuff I know for a fact. They also are closing beds on a routine basis due to lack of staff. If you choose Wellmont, make sure and get the low down on staffing and ask around to the other nurses, etc. about their staffing.

doodlebags · Jul 21, 2006

Wellmont, most definately. Whether that be Wellmont at Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol, TN., or Wellmont at Holston Valley in Kingsport, TN. You can check their website with current positions open at http://www.wellmont.org

Hope this helps!

lynswim · Aug 12, 2006

I am a Wellmont nurse all the way - I drive past MSHA to go to Kingsport

:)

TNNurseCCM · Aug 15, 2006

I work for MSHA and love it. Have been here for quite a few years now. It is a good company to work for. I highly recommend this company.

cheriet · Nov 21, 2006

I'm going to graduate with an associate's degree in nursing in May 2007 (God willing!) and am trying to decide between hospitals in the Tri-Cities and Knoxville. Thanks for all the inside scoop about these hospitals in upper East Tenn. Basically I just want an entry-level Med-Surg position at a hospital where the nurse-patient ratio isn't insane, there is a decent orientation, and the work environment is supportive. Pay and benefits are important, but I need to find a place that won't overwhelm me as a new grad and will not burn me out prematurely. Between Holston Valley and JCMC, Which is better for a new grad: Holston Valley, JCMC, (or neither one)?

BSNtobe2009 · Nov 21, 2006

I can only speak for the Cardiac Unit at Wellmont in Kingsport, TN...very poorly staffed, and they are not equipped for critical emergencies on weekends because all of their specialists are on-call and my mother almost died there because of fluid building up in her chest cavity, compressed on her lungs and it simulated hyperventilating, but wasn't...it took over 90 minutes for a Pulminary Doctor to arrive and by that time her blood pressure had already bottomed out and she almost died that very night....that was the beginning of an incident that went from her staying there for a week to 3 months.

The nurses refused to call the doctor again to find out why he was taking so long, had no explanation of where he was or what he was doing. All they kept saying was that, "We paged him, that is all we can do", while she lay there sweating, turning red, and her Cardiac doctor, who was making rounds that day, didn't have a clue as to what to do. They didn't even know if he was coming or not.

The nurses gave her meals that she wasn't physically able to eat (whole breasts of chicken when she couldn't even lift her arms) and would not put in requests for alternative meals or feed her, they refused to communicate with her when they had to use arm restraints...we came in and she was on a vent and was crying...she was crying because her back had been itching horribly for hours and she kept trying to get someone's attention...she could WRITE and they never asked her if she was ok.

I could go on and on. The worst hospital I have ever seen and the nurses in that unit could have cared less about the patients. They would talk about the patients right in front of them negatively as if they couldn't hear or comprehend. We caught one nurse yelling at my mother and the charge nurse didn't even care.

There was only one nurse there who truly bent over backwards to do her job out of God knows how many worked with her in the Cardiac ICU and step down.

TNNurseCCM · Nov 22, 2006

Johnson City Medical Center is a great place to work.

cheriet · Nov 22, 2006

Thanks for the info. Is there anything in particular you like about JCMC, TNNurseCCM? I haven't done any clinicals there, but it did seem nice the one time I visited. It's a teaching hospital, isn't it? (Is Holston Valley a teaching hospital, too?) Does anybody have any idea what the nurse-patient ratios are on the med-surg floors at these hospitals? The The Tri-Cities area is so nice with the mountains close by and the generally friendly people. It would be great to find a good hospital there, too. I plan to talk to nurse recruiters at both hospitals, but the unofficial insider view is generally more of the unvarnished truth...

Are there any pro-Holston Valley people out there?

tgandnine · Jul 15, 2009

I would definitely go to MSHA!

My wife just started and they put 70 people in this 2 month course where they treat you like 2 year olds!

Apparently you have to accumulate points over the course of the program in order to be "considered" for a job. They take points off for using the bathroom for crying out loud!

None of this information was given up front and people have given up REAL jobs to be subjected to a constant flow of lies and deception. I am surprised they havent been contacted by the labor board yet!!!

my suggestion is to stay well clear of WELLMONT!!! Especially Kingsport, TN.