Pitt Country Hospital in Greenville, NC (Vidant Medical Center) unit reviews

LittleWing21, RN · Jun 19, 2008

I see your post is a bit old, what did you decide on? I'm starting there soon too!:)

vld0315 · Jun 19, 2008

I see your post is a bit old, what did you decide on? I'm starting there soon too!:)

I decided on the MICU. I'll be working nights. Where are you going to be working?

LittleWing21, RN · Jun 19, 2008

Neuromedicine...good luck! We'll hafta share stories, hopefully mostly good ones! :)

Simkah · Mar 4, 2009

PCMH is a mixture of good and bad. It has some absolutely great units in which you can establish your nursing career, and it also has some units that will burn you out before your first year is finished.

Good units (IMHO): cardiac floors. BTW, PCMH has just built a new state of the art cardiac center. Other good floors: postpartum, General Rehabilitation Unit. The nurses on 2 West (peds floor) seem generally satisfied. The newborn nursery is great, but doesn't have a lot of openings. The NICU also seems to be an excellent unit.

AVOID the med-surg units at PCMH like the plaque. The pace is chaotic, insanely busy, and most nurses end up working 13+ hrs and they're lucky if they get a break at all (to eat or go to BR). Worst unit in the hospital is the MIU (Medical Intermediate Unit). You will have 4 very complicated patients on vents, multiple drips, isolation, etc., and every other conceivable condition. Any other hospital in the area - these patients would be in an ICU with 1 nurse: 2 patient ratio. BEWARE! Also, on the SIU (Surgical Intermediate Unit), many nurses end up with back injuries. PCMH is considering establishing lift teams, which would really help. There is state-of-the art lifting equipment on the SIU, but many neglect to use it.

PCMH was a Magnet Hospital, but wasn't up to standard to renew. They'll try again in 2011. Physicians and administrators wield the real power in this facility and nurses don't have the control over their practice environment that they should. Others make critical decisions concerning nursing, often without consulting the nurses. Ultimately, the bottom line is the bottom line. Nurses on most units are very busy. There is one recent case in which an advanced practice nurse employee was reprimanded and her case turned over to the BON, over a mere dispute with a physician. This has seriously hurt nurse morale at this facility.

Greenville is very overgrown, as is entire Pitt County. It lacks the infrastructure to handle the rapid population growth it has been experiencing. Traffic can be insane, and I'm from up North. It can take 45 minutes to cross one side of the city to the other (Friday afternoons and other "busy" times). The crime rate is also high. One young man I know was attacked in his home (armed robbery). He was shot and later died from complications. There are lots of nice restaurants and shops, but I would rather not live in the city. There are nice areas to live outside of the city, such as Washington, Chocowinity, etc. You can also avoid the high city and county tax rates by commuting.

This is only one person's perspective. but I hope it helps. Good luck to you. If you do choose to move down here, welcome!

nuwbee25 · Mar 16, 2009

I have interviews there in 2 weeks...how do you guys like it at Pitt?

LittleWing21, RN · Mar 16, 2009

I like Pitt and I feel that they treat their employees well. Where are you interviewing?

nuwbee25 · Mar 16, 2009

I am interviewing at the neuro icu..medical, surgical, and resp. intermediate. Any chance you r at any of those? haha

WildcatFanRN, BSN, RN · Mar 17, 2009

Looks like a lot of us have interviewed, or will start soon at Pitt. Maybe we should have a new job starting party LOL

nuwbee25 · Mar 17, 2009

Haha sounds like fun! When do you start and on what floor?

WildcatFanRN, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2009

Haha sounds like fun! When do you start and on what floor?

I'm supposed to start June 1st on SIU.

LittleWing21, RN · Mar 18, 2009

I am interviewing at the neuro icu..medical, surgical, and resp. intermediate. Any chance you r at any of those? haha

Haha nope but I do know a bit about neuro icu because it's a new unit and its sorting of branching off the floor I'm on now (neuro med). Should be a good floor...some good people are going over there. The only tricky thing about it may be the lack of experienced staff (or so I've been told). It can be tricky to learn if everyone else is too! MIU...I would personally avoid. From what I've heard, it is one of the worst places to work in the hospital. You have 4 pts, and at times they can be VERY sick pts (vents and all that jazz). RIU is also a new unit...seems like a neat idea as long as getting a pt outta bed with a vent doesn't freak you out! Don't know much about SIU. Good luck with everything, and don't let me influence your opinion too much because everyone feels diff about these units!