NICU Nurse moving to Hawaii

[snehengl]

Hi NICU nurses,

I'm on the mainland and aching for Hawaii. We are trying to move in the next 4 months to Honolulu. I have 5 years NICU II experience and 2 years NICU II experience. I am wondering what the pay is as I am pretty sure it is Union. I have a few questions...

1. What do union hospitals pay per experience?

2. Also, what are shift diffs for eve/night/weekends.

3. What is per diem or prn (ecb) hourly pay?

4. When does overtime pay start after 36 or 40 hours/week

5. Do they ever offer critical need incentive pay or bonuses for additional shifts worked.

Please feel free to leave any additional info if you have worked NICU Honolulu Hawaii.

And also, if you are currently working there i would love to chat with you, just leave me an email. It always helps to have a friendly referral to get your foot in the door.

Thanks to any and all who reply...:)

[fairdinkum]

Aloha snehengl. I do not work as a NICU nurse, but I would recommend you check out which hospitals actually have a NICU, because many of them don't and that might limit your opportunities. Kapi'olani, for certain, and maybe Tripler, but Queen's doesn't. Also, some hospitals do have a NICU but it means neuro ICU, so look carefully (like Queen's). The hospitals are unionized.

If you haven't lived/worked in Hawai'i before, I strongly recommend you come as a travel nurse and not try to move here and then get a job (or vice versa). That is a great gig, especially for specialized RNs, and you'll be able to see if you really want to live and work here. Some of the travel nursing agencies pay very well and set you up with an apartment (a HUGE blessing), so make sure you understand the reality of financing a Honolulu life if you decide to stay and work directly through the hospital. I am a CNA, not an RN, but I can tell you that RNs have one of the very few jobs here with a salary commensurate to the cost of living, which is no small potatoes. You could also work through an agency like Nursefinders, which has national offices and does well placing specialized RNs in Honolulu.