New Grad relocating to TN

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i will be graduating in april and moving to the nashville area. i am looking for feedback for any of the major hospitals in the nashville area. i am also looking for information from anyone on nurse to patient ratios, in california we have ratios, but i've heard tn does not. i am also curious about how much a rn salary is in tn. any information would be greatly appreciated.

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i will be graduating in april and moving to the nashville area. i am looking for feedback for any of the major hospitals in the nashville area. i am also looking for information from anyone on nurse to patient ratios, in california we have ratios, but i've heard tn does not. i am also curious about how much a rn salary is in tn. any information would be greatly appreciated.

the major hospitals in nashville are vanderbilt medical center, skyline medical center, centennial medical center, st thomas hospital, and baptist hospital. i'll tell you what i know about each of them.

i did clinicals at skyline and loved it there. it is the newest hospital of the 5 and sets away from downtown. it over looks the city and gives a good "skyline" view of downtown. when i did clinicals there last year it was about 1 nurse to 5 patients. i am pretty sure the other floors are about the same. i would love to work at skyline. i believe it's one of the top stroke hospitals. i don't know about the pay. they also have a separate campus called "skyline madison". it is a psych hospital. it is an older hospital that was converted to a psych hospital.

vandebilt is a major teaching hospital and one of the top hospitals in the country. they have an excellent reputation. if you work there then you basically can get hired anywhere else (or so i'v heard). i don't think they pay as well, but they don't have to because they are not going to have any problem finding nurses to work for them. they take a lot of new grads. they also have an awesome children's hospital with a separate ed. i know a lot of moms who will only take their children to their ed because it is the best in the area. also if someone is critically injured and life flighted then you will most likely be taken here.

baptist is where a lot of people go to have babies. i have lived in the area all my life and most people i know go to baptist to have their babies. not that the other hospitals arn't great, it just has that reputation with a lot of people in the area. it is a large hospital and is very nice. i wouldn't mind working there :) sorry don't have any idea about pay.

centennial is an excellent hospital. anytime one of my family members is sick they go to centennial. i'm not sure why but they prefer it. it is also a large hospital. they also have a separate building next door that is called parkview. it is for the not so critical patients (i think, not for sure). it is slower paced in the parkview. there is an inside walkway between the 2 buildings. it is a nice hospital.

st. thomas is probably the smallest of the hospitals. it's reputation is that it is a good heart hospital (or so the tv commercial says :)). the ed is small. i went there once and i won't go back. it just seemed like i was waiting too long to be seen and there wasn't even much going on, but i do love the hospital. my doctor used to be located there. i liked going there because it didn't seem as busy and crowded as the other hospitals.

i think that st thomas and baptist are owned by the same people.

i am an lpn and i just graduated in dec and have yet to get a job. i could tell you lpn pay but i'm not sure about rn. basically $20/hour is really good for an lpn. so i am guessing rn pay is somewhere in the $20's/hr starting out. i am sure this is much lower than ca, but the cost of living is lower here also. let me know if you have anymore questions and good luck with everything!! :)

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I thought of another interesting fact about Vanderbilt. If you have ever watched the TV show "The Dr's" or if your a fan of "The Bachelor" then you probably know who Dr. Stork is. He works in the ED at Vanderbilt. Not that that has anything to do with where you are going to work, lol! I just thought it was interesting :) I have never watched The Bachelor but I do like The Dr's.

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Thank you for the good information. I hope that I will not have a hard time finding a job. Some new grads from last april are still looking for jobs! California has a saturation of nursing due to ratios and high pay scale. Not enough to keep me in this mess of a state. I can't wait to move to TN, even though the wages are lower. The cost of living and quality of living will all be worth it. Good luck in your job hunting!

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I thought of something else that I learned recently. I spoke with the mother of my distant cousin and her daughter has her BSN and has worked at Vanderbilt for a couple of years since she graduated. Since she has worked for Vanderbilt full time for at least a year they are helping pay for her schooling. She just started Vanderbilts ANP program and they are paying for something like 75% of her tuition. And the tuition isn't cheap from what I hear. I just thought that I would let you know in case you are interested in furthering your education :)

Oh and I did find a job at a nice privately owned nursing home in Nashville. New LPN pay for this facility is 16.50/hr, plus 3/hr for PRN status, plus 3/hr for nights, and 1/hr for weekends. That pay is probably at the top of the pay scale for my graduating LPN class. A LPN friend of mine just got offered a clinic 8-5 job at 14/hr. So maybe that will help you in getting a good idea of what the RN pay is for this area. Good luck on school, the move and the job hunt!! :)

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very good post, thanks for sharing.

The major hospitals in Nashville are Vanderbilt Medical Center, Skyline Medical Center, Centennial Medical Center, St Thomas Hospital, and Baptist Hospital. I'll tell you what I know about each of them.

I did clinicals at Skyline and loved it there. It is the newest hospital of the 5 and sets away from downtown. It over looks the city and gives a good "skyline" view of downtown. When I did clinicals there last year it was about 1 nurse to 5 patients. I am pretty sure the other floors are about the same. I would love to work at Skyline. I believe it's one of the top stroke hospitals. I don't know about the pay. They also have a separate campus called "Skyline Madison". It is a psych hospital. It is an older hospital that was converted to a psych hospital.

Vandebilt is a major teaching hospital and one of the top hospitals in the country. They have an excellent reputation. If you work there then you basically can get hired anywhere else (or so I'v heard). I don't think they pay as well, but they don't have to because they are not going to have any problem finding nurses to work for them. They take a lot of new grads. They also have an awesome Children's hospital with a separate ED. I know a lot of moms who will only take their children to their ED because it is the best in the area. Also if someone is critically injured and life flighted then you will most likely be taken here.

Baptist is where a lot of people go to have babies. I have lived in the area all my life and most people I know go to Baptist to have their babies. Not that the other hospitals arn't great, it just has that reputation with a lot of people in the area. It is a large hospital and is very nice. I wouldn't mind working there :) Sorry don't have any idea about pay.

Centennial is an excellent hospital. Anytime one of my family members is sick they go to Centennial. I'm not sure why but they prefer it. It is also a large hospital. They also have a separate building next door that is called Parkview. It is for the not so critical patients (I think, not for sure). It is slower paced in the Parkview. There is an inside walkway between the 2 buildings. It is a nice hospital.

St. Thomas is probably the smallest of the hospitals. It's reputation is that it is a good heart hospital (or so the TV commercial says :)). The ED is small. I went there once and I won't go back. It just seemed like I was waiting too long to be seen and there wasn't even much going on, but I do love the hospital. My doctor used to be located there. I liked going there because it didn't seem as busy and crowded as the other hospitals.

I think that St Thomas and Baptist are owned by the same people.

I am an LPN and I just graduated in Dec and have yet to get a job. I could tell you LPN pay but I'm not sure about RN. Basically $20/hour is really good for an LPN. So I am guessing RN pay is somewhere in the $20's/hr starting out. I am sure this is much lower than CA, but the cost of living is lower here also. Let me know if you have anymore questions and good luck with everything!! :)

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Do you know anything about skyline madison? I just got a job offer(psych) and would like to know its reputation! It was over the phone- never even met the manager- which was odd.

Thank you!!!

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Hi, quick question, did you wind up moving to TN? If so, do you have any good advice for me? Here's my story, I am in Pennsylvania, from TN and moving back after I graduate in December as an RN. I need to get licensed in both states is what I have been told. I am looking to find out where would hire a new grad, which hospital has the best working environment with the best tuition reimbursement perks. I have been trying to do some research on this on my own. So, now, I am going to get opinions from others. Thank you so much for reading and responding if you do :)

Thank you,

Krys

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