Pay scale for Altru/Grand Forks Area

[zodnmic]

HiMoving to Grand Forks area this month. Can anyone tell mea general idea of the pay scale there? Possibly looking at AltruOr home hospice. Thank you. Oh, I am a one year old Nurse:)

[NurseKrieger]

I was offered ~22/hr for being a new nurse, plus benefits (which were pretty good if I remember right), 35 hrs a week (which was full time), and like 5 days holiday. The differential for nights wasnt spectacular. I think its like 1$. Its not like break down the doors good but its not bad for ND and its cost of living. I assume your a .mil spouse or a UND student/spouse. In which case enjoy the area and go to a Sioux game. If your .mil try the GS system for a nursing job on base. It pays a bit more and has way better benifits, however there is a certain amount of "Uncle Sams Red Tape" Youll have to deal with...

I have no idea what hospice pays but I believe the Dr's Hospital or Aurora pays a bit more but require at least 2 years XP first. There is a very prominent nursing school in the town so be aware. There is defiantly plenty of jobs to go around but because there is not a shortage of staff you'll have to do your time at entry level. Try 5th floor (tele) before you apply for 3rd (medsurge), much better unit dynamic.

The reason I’m not working there now is my active duty orders came through faster than I thought they would. Let me know if you have any questions. I use this account at work so it may take a while to reply, but youll here back.

[gengen07]

Don't know about hospice but the hospital is always hiring.

[gengen07]

Starting pay for new grads at Altru is $22.87 plus shift differential. I work on the tele floor, we're always hiring.

[Soriano43]

Hey I just got offered a job from a Skype interview for altru hospital. Can I contact you for advice on the hospital, and about grand forks? You can email me at [email protected]. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks

[Agame]

I will be starting as a new grad next month in Altru. Can you tell me how orientation is and how well new grads adapt to the environment in the hospital. I read on some post here about new grads having a bad experience during orientation in different hospitals, and how some even get fired. How great is the training in Altru, and does the Manager allow these new grads extra weeks of training if needed? Have you heard of any new grads being "let go" because they felt that they would never get it? Reading some of these post are really freaking me out. Please help a new grad out

[gengen07]

@agame I think they have a pretty good new grad orientation. It's generally 12 weeks with a mentor, the first week being nothing but classroom type stuff to review policies and skills. I can't speak for every department but I've never heard of someone being let go during orientation. I have known some people to have extra orientation if they needed it.

[Agame]

How was your orientation like?

[Agame]

Thank you gengen07 for your input. What department are you in and can you tell us a little something about your orientation?

[gengen07]

I work in telemetry. My orientation was good, my mentor had been a nurse for many years and there were times I felt like she forgot or didn't think to explain things that come naturally to her but not to me as a new grad. Also I ended up following 6 different people here and there because of scheduling conflict which made it hard to keep things consistent. From what I've seen most mentors work with you to see what you feel comfortable doing and let you choose how many and which patients to take care of from their assignment. In the end, I had pretty good time management which continues to improve over time. Also, everyone on the floor is super helpful so even after orientation I never felt 'alone'. They encourage you to ask questions and are understanding when you don't feel comfortable doing something. I've been there for a year and still have questions almost every time I work but that's how it is and you never stop learning. I wouldn't stress about it. :)

[godfatherfreak]

Im a canadian RN and planning to take nclex for ND. Current pay is 33cad/hr, do they consider the work exp with the wage or all nurses start at 22/hr?

[gengen07]

@godfatherfreak-- if you have previous LPN or RN experience they will probably consider that. But CNA experience isn't considered for determining pay. It might be a little more than $22.87 now because we just received a market increase raise but I'm not sure.