What the heck is going on in Portland right now?

[sonnyluv]

Hey everybody!

I'm a mixed discipline ICU nurse at a level two trauma center in Los Angeles California, I completed a critical care residency and as of now have ten months to my belt. As of August, I will have a complete year. I have an associates in nursing, B.A. in communications. I took a trip to Portland in February to look at homes and hospitals-

OHSU: hiring freeze. Legacy Emanuel: hiring. In fact, everybody else was hiring and I was told that my credentials would be adequate enough to get me back into critical care once I moved up to Portland during my planned time, which was end of summer.

But now- ohhhh but now- I hear legacy has a clinical hiring freeze on! It seems that all my contacts in Portland are telling me your beautiful city and surrounding hospitals has run into a hiring standstill. Say it aint so!! The odd thing is that OHSU has sooo many critical care positions listed on their employment website-what is going on?!!??

I am about to sign papers with my wife and son and go into escrow on our first house- I know I know, stupid without having a job confirmed but I don't want to apply to any Portland area hospitals until I am, at minimum, a month away from having a solid year of ICU. I was told by Legacy I wouldn't be hired without a year anyway.

Is anybody hiring? Am I going to have to work in clinics after putting so much time and energy into becoming an effective and effecient ICU nurse? I shudder to think about all the skills I'm gonna lose.

Does anybody have any info, PLEASE! I imagine the number of new grads unable to secure positions must be piling up. Even here in so-cal I have been getting called off an alarming number of times...

Thanks friends,

Sonny:o

[nurseby07]

That's exactly what I mean.

[sonnyluv]

That's exactly what I mean.

C'mon, don't take your frustrations out on "transplants". Nursing is one big job market, from hectic LA to peacefull oregon to boring kansas. Every trend, every salary effects everyone else. Native has nothing to do with it. A nurse is a nurse is a great nurse. And obviously, I would have to become an Oregonian to work in Portland as a full time staffer wouldn't I?

[nurseby07]

C'mon, don't take your frustrations out on "transplants". Nursing is one big job market, from hectic LA to peacefull oregon to boring kansas. Every trend, every salary effects everyone else. Native has nothing to do with it. A nurse is a nurse is a great nurse. And obviously, I would have to become an Oregonian to work in Portland as a full time staffer wouldn't I?

I'm sure you are a great nurse. Oregon was once peaceful but is now becoming LA part two. In my biased opinion what little new grad jobs are available should go to qualified Oregon residents first. And I doubt Kansas is that boring.

[UserG]

I'm sure you are a great nurse. Oregon was once peaceful but is now becoming LA part two. In my biased opinion what little new grad jobs are available should go to qualified Oregon residents first. And I doubt Kansas is that boring.

So, because LA sucks so bad that people want to leave it, they should have to stay where they are? Isn't this supposed to be the land of opportunity?

I certainly hope you don't have to enter the market right now. Because Portland isn't hiring. You may have to file an application out of state, praying that whoever reads it doesn't have the same bigotry.

I'm applying out of state now. Fortunately, I still have some contacts elsewhere, but it still looks grim. If I end up at another hospital in another state, I'll keep an eye out for you to make sure you feel just as "welcome" when you are forced into a new position! (

Not just in nursing, but everywhere, be sure to be mindful of the new and/or different people; one of us might just be new and different ourselves someday... and in this economy, SOON!

"Those Goo-Backs! Dey took ar jobs!" - Randy Marsh, South Park

[nurseby07]

I am really sorry that you are being forced into a new position and I hope you find one soon. When times are rough and only a handful of jobs are available, I would rather that they go to my neighbor first rather than someone who wants to move to Oregon for its beauty and awesomeness. I have your back, I just have the back of the 1500 2009 Oregon graduates first. Whooa. It's all good.

[UserG]

I am really sorry that you are being forced into a new position and I hope you find one soon. When times are rough and only a handful of jobs are available, I would rather that they go to my neighbor first rather than someone who wants to move to Oregon for its beauty and awesomeness. I have your back, I just have the back of the 1500 2009 Oregon graduates first. Whooa. It's all good.

And how long does someone have to be here to fill your arbitrary standard?

I'm a 2008 graduate. By your reasoning, none of the 2009's should get jobs until I get one. I was in your club before them! But, hey, if you don't have the 2008 grad's backs, I'm sure they'll forgive you.

It's all so sad.

[Spatialized]

Whatever y'all. Nearly everyone in PDX is a transplant of some sort or another. Sure, some have been here longer than others, but what does is matter? How long you have been somewhere makes no difference when it comes to the caliber of the nurse.

we have new grads that my hospital wont hire, but the last two new hires were transplants from California

Were they new grads as well? If they were experienced, maybe they should get the job first? Maybe they had stellar recommendations or fit a particular need on your unit... Hiring new grads isn't easy. It takes a lot of time, energy and money to train new grads and get them up to speed as new RNs (believe me, we hired 5+ new grads last summer and it took awhile to get everyone comfortable). Hiring an experienced RN cuts that down dramatically.

And as for PDX being a new LA, I'm more worried about it becoming a clone of the city we love to emulate, Seattle.

The reality is, who cares? A nurse is a nurse. If they are better than the next, shouldn't they get the job? I've worked places (not in nursing) where people got the job due to connections, not merit, and it isn't pretty.

Yeah, it's a tough, bleak outlook here in Portland, thanks to a poorly timed recession and a glut of new nurses. BUt there are places where it isn't. Problem is that they aren't in PDX.

Cheers,

Tom

[sonnyluv]

An update-

I have secured a full time position in a critical care unit in Portland.

I am overjoyed and can't wait to start. Bought a house, too. I feel lucky, there were a lot of applicants for the job. I was told by the panel that I "had the best interview".

My SoCal experience helped-plus years of being an EMT- I was told by one interviewer, "You present yourself and your abilites well"- which I took to mean I answered honestly and CORRECTLY to their many questions.

First question: "How comfortable are you with a fresh open heart?"

Answer: "I have never had a fresh open heart. I have a year of critical care experience, I belive that assignment is out of my scope. But I have experienced this...(listing cardiac experiences)".

They didn't expect me to be familiar with hearts-I'm too new. A B.S. test if you will.

I saw some of the other candidates. They were wearing jeans, shirts not tucked in. They looked like they were just there to chat-too relaxed. I wore a suit. I'm probably not the best candidate but at least they knew I was serious.

I also told them during the interview, "I want this job. If my experience and education is lacking then I will study and practice until I am up to par. I will not complain and you will get no attitude. I believe in the team."

Cheesy, but it's true.

There was also a clinical situation question thrown at me during the interview- kind of like the NCLEX, I thought about the process and priorities, just hit it: ABC's. That's what matters right?

I guess it sucks to have someone come from out of state scoop a prime job but I kind of feel like- if the experience you need to fatten your resume is not in Portland at this time then go to where it is for a year or two and move back.

I tried to go to nursing school in Portland but I was basically told it was only for Oregon residents. Oregon wouldn't even take me. So I stayed in LA, focused on the highest level trauma centers I could find, tried to pick the highest level of care. I saw more in one year at a level two trauma center South LA then you would see in five years at level one in Portland. I'm not saying I'm better-most of the time I was getting unbelievable admits. I was so stressed, mind maxed out, freaked out, but after a year I finally have got it under control and the experiences are mine to share.

Now I have to let go of high's and lows. They even asked me during the interview, "Can you let go of truama?" I had been thinking about this myself for weeks but when they asked me during the interview I was stumped. Waiting for the admit, ohhh man, right before the patient comes-cracking jokes, ask the RT how their family is, joke around with the rez, tell them to wake up. Pretending everything is cool, random staff showing up-some downplaying hte admit "It's just a flesh wound" others hyping it up, "His brain was coming out of his mouth!" and then Whoosh! You're in it, everybody is politely and not so politely stepping on toes, older nurses do it their way, newer nurses do it diffrently- get your pressor's on, try and get someone to page the trauma surgeon, "where the F-- is she?" SO the patient appears to be oxygenating and now you've got a few minutes to think, you've bought some time. Now you actually have to sit down, WITH A MONSTER ADRENALINE RUSH ON, and go through medication reconcilliation, find out what happened in the ER, figure out if anything other than obvious trauma brought them to you. No flesh wounds or brains at all. The septic patients. Lot of work and following up on history. You find out that they have an advance directive. Get the House supervisor. And then the patients BP quietly drops to 60/40 and it's on again. Can't tube them but they want life saving medications. Life ala carte.

I paid my dues for an entry level job in a critcal care unit in Portland where I will continue to learn to be a better R.N.

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

Congratulations on getting your job, good to hear that someone is hirring somewhere. You sound like you have had an amazing first year in truama, I work in a ED, not truama and I would love to have a chance to experience working in a level 1.

and Congratulations on buying a house too!

[Brokestar]

An update-

I have secured a full time position in a critical care unit in Portland.

I am overjoyed and can't wait to start. Bought a house, too. I feel lucky, there were a lot of applicants for the job. I was told by the panel that I "had the best interview".

My SoCal experience helped-plus years of being an EMT- I was told by one interviewer, "You present yourself and your abilites well"- which I took to mean I answered honestly and CORRECTLY to their many questions.

First of all I must say congratulations on your new job!!

Second I must say that not all Portlanders feel the same way that jobs should go to "locals" first. I feel that each person applying for a position presents their skills and knowledge through the same application process. If they are lucky enough to be called for an interview it is then up to the applicant to sell themselves appropriately. If the nurse manager (or whoever) chooses to hire you, then you have obviously earned it. This is coming from a new grad (June '09) and a "local" who cannot find a nursing job in the area. I agree that the area is saturated, but there are jobs for nurses out there, just not as many for new grads. I understand this because it does not make sense to staff a unit with nurses who are all new grads, you always need senior nurses to guide and teach the new nurses in the profession. Without the experience and exprtise of these senior nurses the general public would suffer greatly and I welcome the addition of these nurses to Portland. I hope that your life here is what you want it to be and that you get to experience the city for all it is worth. We are very spoiled here, which I believe is part of the reason jobs are hard to come by. You get the city life with ocean, beaches, mountains, dessert, and any other climate you could want within a stone's throw. We are also lucky enough to actually experience all four seasons of the year, any of which have pros and cons. Congratulations again, and hopefully soon the market lets up a bit so that I too can find a job within the Portland market.

[Virginia Murse]

Geez, Im about to move to Portland in a month or so and this is pretty depressing.

[sonnyluv]

An update-

First of all I must say congratulations on your new job!!

Second I must say that not all Portlanders feel the same way that jobs should go to "locals" first. I feel that each person applying for a position presents their skills and knowledge through the same application process. If they are lucky enough to be called for an interview it is then up to the applicant to sell themselves appropriately. If the nurse manager (or whoever) chooses to hire you, then you have obviously earned it. This is coming from a new grad (June '09) and a "local" who cannot find a nursing job in the area. I agree that the area is saturated, but there are jobs for nurses out there, just not as many for new grads. I understand this because it does not make sense to staff a unit with nurses who are all new grads, you always need senior nurses to guide and teach the new nurses in the profession. Congratulations again, and hopefully soon the market lets up a bit so that I too can find a job within the Portland market.

Thank you for saying that and I believe what you say holds true. Your post reminds me about what I hope to find in Portland: compassion and a friendly atmosphere with rationality.

Frankly, I am pessimistic about the economy and I DO NOT expect this recession/depression to let up anytime soon. And for some reason, at least in LA, we have started getting more foreign/visa nurses- now they are coming from Morocco and Ethiopa, Nepal. Its baffling...

I just want to say this: If you can possibly move to a bigger market, like Los Angeles (maybe Seattle?) then by all means get your experience, fatten up the resume and come back. I understand if you have obligations, family, but to get your career started this is what you must do. It is a shame, escpecially after all the "shortage" hype but Portland will always be there, it is for me.

Do what you`ve got to do...