New to TN.

Mommy TeleRN, RN · Nov 11, 2006

Wow newlywed and new nurse...CONGRATS!!!

I'm in southern West TN myself...looked at my map..wow Paris is kinda far from everything isn't it? lol

What about Martin? What size hospital do they have? For some reason I'm thinking there is a decent paying hospital in Huntingdon. Can't think of who it is but I was thinking someone told me they were making decent $ interning up there.

I think I would make a list of all hospitals within a certain radius and just start contacting them for new grad info. Find their websites and see how many beds they have, etc.

Just tonight I bought a 3 ring binder to start organizing info. I've had several hospitals send me nice new grad info and I'm going to file that in there along with a page with info about the hospital, what new grad opps they offer, what types of bennies, what their staffing and reputation is like, what the long term opps are (personally I want Baylor long term..with the best pay I can get .. of course as long as facility isn't some awful brutal place to work) sort of a pros/cons sheet so that I can start making some type of decision where I want to work. I currently have 4 facilities trying to recruit me already..and I don't graduate for 6 months lol. There are several others I'm interested in (this is all way south of where you are)

Hopefully others that live a little further north can provide you some info to add to that decision making progress!

Keep us updated on your journey!! :)

Mommy

turtletyme · Nov 12, 2006

Thanks for the ideas. The hospitals I have checked with are around 16.00-18.00. It it is team nursing, which personally fits me better. I did check out Vanderbilt and then I found out how big it was and they do primary nursing which kinda is intimidating for a new grad. Maybe the patient load is not so bad. I know there is good and bad. I would probably feel better to talk with someone that has done this type of nursing if I choose to move to the Nashville area on down the road.

Haunted · Nov 13, 2006

I'm moving to Nashville in a few weeks and am looking for advice on great places to work. I have several years experience as a primary med/surg RN but am thinking of transitioning into a clinic. I'll be living in the downtown area and my head is spinning with this move !!! What a hassle, I fell in love with TN during my visit there in July and really can't wait!!!!

eltrip · Nov 14, 2006

I can't say enough good things about the opportunities for learning as a new grad at Vandy. The work was challenging & has opened doors for me since then. They're not bad as employers go. Each unit has its own personality and culture, of course but overall, if I lived back up in Nashville, I'd work there in a heartbeat!

turtletyme · Nov 14, 2006

I have a question, does Vandy have team nursing where the RN, LPN and CNA's work together. Maybe, this is outdated for the nursing that I have done in Arkansas. It seems like when I inquired about one of the floors at Vandy, I was told the RN's do all the care. Does this hold true for most of the hospitals in Tennessee? If so, I want to know more about patient ratios and any info. that would give me head's up. If your not use to it, honestly it seems scary, especially for:chair: a new grad. I say that because as a nurse you have a license to lose. Most places don't mind pushing the limit regardless if it is dangerous nursing. I have seen places where the night nursery nurse RN had 18 babies to do all the care plus go to a delivery and they claimed they could not find help. What is up with that? The nurse manager was called and she did not even show up to help. If this is common then I need someone to mentor me. I like to be prepared and not have BIG suprizes like that where my license could be in jeopardy. Is this common to feel like this as a newbie?

eltrip · Nov 14, 2006

Vandy is a teaching hospital. They have a mostly-RN staff. When I began my nursing career, the nurse-patient ratio on the non-monitored surgical floor where I worked was 1:6. The montiored step-down unit had a 1:4 ratio. This was with the Vandy version of CNAs called the care partner. I don't know if they're still utilizing care partners (and if anyone else knows, please share!) but I doubt that they'd drastically increase the nurse-patient ratio. I left in '98...don't hear much other than the usual stuff going on with the nursing shortage.