Palm Beach County Hospitals and Salary?

KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN · Feb 9, 2014

I'll be the first to bit on this as I worked in Palm Beach County from 1992-2005 and an ICU RN. One nice thing about PBC is that there are many hospitals to choose from, unfortunately almost all of them are owned by either HCA, or Tenet and are for profit. If you've never worked in a for profit hospital you will be most likely in for a culture shock. In order to better answer your questions I would have to know:

1. What is your area of specialty?

2. How many years of experience?

3. What part of PBC to you plan to live?

I can say with confidence that no matter where you work you will probably work harder than you had to in NY. I worked at JFK Medical Center, and yes the work was hard, but the people I worked with were also wonderful.

If you have a speicalty that is in demand then you might be in a position to have a little power in negotiating your salary. Negotiating your salary is a game. If they couldn't care less if you take the job they will just give you a number, take it or leave it. If they really need you then there is room for a bit of back and forth. I worked with a nurse who came onboard in my ICU at a time when the unit was particularly needy for a certain specialty that she had. She was able to negotate a 10k sign on bonus and a pretty decent salary.

stephdRN · Feb 9, 2014

Well for starters I am fresh out of nursing school, just passed the NCLEX RN for NY and am going through the endorsement process for FL. I have 0 years experience, just clinical experience in school which was valuable but not the same as actually working independently on the floor. My classmates were offered approx $25/hr on a regular med surg floor at the learning hospital back in NY after Graduation. I was looking for something near that range here in PBC. I feel that as a novice nurse I don't really have the weight to throw around to negotiate salaries and sign on bonuses (although it would be nice!) I have applied for the novice nurse position at wellington and am being considered but that all depends on how quick the endorsement process takes. I have an award for pediatric care so I have applied for a few positions in that direction at palms west. I'm also interested in psych and the ER.

stephdRN · Feb 9, 2014

As you mentioned JFK, I'm very interested in working there and will be applying soon although I feel I'm at a slight disadvantage as a brand new nurse.

KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN · Feb 9, 2014

I worked with a few nurses that picked up shifts at Wellington, and have limited experience with Palms West. Both of these are small hospitals. Palms West is owned by HCA, the same company that owns JFK hence "for profit".

I am not sure what the staffing ratio's are like on med/surg floors or tele floors these days, but at JFK it was around 7:1 on days and on nights up to 12:1. I am not kidding. ICU there is OK, but I am afraid if you worked there on the floor you might end up running for the door screaming. Since you don't have any experience I would simply take the best of the offers that you get. You might find that salaries vary widely even within the same area. However things will change once you have some experience. And I'll tell you this, you won't make major salary advances staying at the same place. You make them by moving from hospital A to hospital B every couple of years and learning a new skill the new job. The more skills you have the more marketable you will be and hence the more you will be able to throw your weight around in the future.

I worked in the ER at Bethesda as well. That was a nice place to work and I know people who still work there. The only downside is that it isn't in the greatest part of town.

stephdRN · Feb 12, 2014

Wow I come from a small hospital where the nurse pt ratio for days was 4:1, MAYBE 5:1. Im not sure if it was a "for profit" hospital but I doubt it. What can I expect from a "for-profit" hospital? What kind of culture shock may be in store for me?