Need help from New Albany/Jeff/Clarksville area RN's, please :)

sanne00 · Jan 9, 2009

im not an RN yet(still in school ) but i have some friends in the area who are. i work at uofl in the trauma icu as a tech. as far as ER and critical care in the southern indiana/ northern KY area, i would recommend UofL. we are the only level 1 trauma center in the area and we get all the action. as far as new grad pay is concerned i can only speak for uofl specifically which at the moment starts out at 21/hr before all differentials. i do believe that Nortons, Baptist, and Jewish pay more to new grads. ive heard horror stories from everyone i know who has worked as an RN for jewish so i wouldnt reccomend them. bad nurse/patient ratios, poor treatment of nurses, poor support, etc. Baptist currently has magnet status in louisville but that is said to be in jeopardy at the moment for some unfortunate reasons. Nortons overall ive heard good things about. i think overall they have the best scheduling options and benefits in the area. their website has a lot of info (nortonhealthcare.com). If you are interested in peds kosair childrens hospital in louisville is a level 1 trauma center for children. they have magnet status too. as far as floyd and clark memorial hospitals go i can only speak to them from the patient end. my father was very sick and in floyd's icu for 4 weeks. and i have to say they were wonderful. clark, on the other hand, not so great in my experience. i used too work for a local mental health agency in clark county and occasionaly we had to send people to clark memorial for crisis stabilization. they were never easy to deal with in the ER, often rude, condescending, and seemed very stressed.

but of course these are all just my opininions and experiences.... :typing

hope it helps!

NurseBreezy · Jan 9, 2009

Thanks so much for the info sane00! It was a great help!! Working in UofL ER would be a dream unfortunately I don't know that they would hire me as new grad . I really appreciate the insight on the other Louisville and IN hospitals as well. As I have learned from my own hospital, sometimes the way they treat others outside of their facility could be indicative of unhappy employees inside. Thanks again for your help and good luck with school!!

sanne00 · Jan 9, 2009

oh no problem :)! i rarely get to answer questions about this area as it seems there is not amny people from around here on these boards.

but really if you'd like to work at uofl in the ER dont count yourself out! we are a teaching facility and so we dont look down on new grads at all. in fact here new grads are viewed as eager to learn and not as "set in their ways". there are a couple routes you could go to get yourself in the door. first, call one of our nurse recruiters and ask them "what they look for in a prospective ER nurse". i know its a corny question and they may just give you some corny answers but at least you will have an idea of what they are looking for in an interview. second, ask if you could set up an "informational interview" with a nurse recruiter. this will give you a chance to make a first impression without all the pressure of a real interview plus you will be able to get a tour of the facility and ask questions. third, if you like it so far, ask to set up a couple of shadow experiences. i'd do a couple different units just to show you are flexible in your interests. ER, SICU (where all the level 1 stuff gets admitted), and SICU step down or something. this is really your interview. what the fellow nurses and doctors on the floor think of you is what will matter. Its not so much what you know clinically (its a teaching hospital they dont expect you to know everything) but your attitutde, motivation, willingness to adapt and be a team player. during a shadow just ask a lot of questions, be a go getter, show initiative and the willingness to be a team player. then you would set up an official interview. and by that time you've already made a great impression that no little sit down interview with a nurse recruiter could do!

thats how people get in here. its not crazy lucrative and sometimes you have to deal with the worst of the worst but its a great foundation for a career. critical care and trauma nurses from uofl are highly respected in this area because its thought that if you can make it at uofl trauma you can make it anywhere lol!

also uofl has great preceptorships and orientations for new grads so you would'nt be thrown out to the wolves. you would be well prepared before you were set loose. and you would really be amoung the best. i think our ER nurses are the best of the best lol.

gosh i really sound like our mascot or something lol. im excited to graduate and work there as an RN. im working in the SICU as a tech so that i will have a great chance of getting a new grad job on the unit. the good thing about uofl is they encourage unit transfers....to decrease burn out and really broaden and cement skills. every six months here you can switch units. but i plan to do the sicu for a year and then go to the ER for awhile. i think it will be a good starting foundation.

anyway i think ill quit typing now lol :chuckle

NurseBreezy · Jan 10, 2009

Wow you are a wealth of knowledge! Thanks so much for all that helpful info!!!!! Just out of curiosity, which side of the river do you live on? My husband and I have been looking for rentals in the New Albany area, preferably a house, but are coming up short. Any advice there?