bigskyernurse

I guess it depends on the area. I am Director of the ED and I have hired 3 new grads in my department. I'm not sure what the other areas have done. We definitely aren't opposed to new grads but depending on the unit, some units may still be building their teams and want to make sure new grads have a good experience when they come on board, so they may be spread out, etc. But it is a great place to work (I'm biased of course). We have been busy in the ED, busier than other ED's in town even, so we hold our own. We have been averaging a little over 100 patients per day in the ED lately. Our inpatient census varies but we can run on average about 75-80% full for what we have opened (2 floors are shelled for future expansion). Like every other hospital in town, we have low days and crazy days. The NICU opened last week and we have a census of 4 there now that we are excited about that even though its not much. new grads....keep checking back, you never know. Best of luck! Amy

Valley Health System is certainly still hiring, I know we are here at Centennial. Things are tough right now and everyone is having to tighten their belts but there are still positions open at most Valley Hospitals, you just have to look and be persistent. To answer the question about EMS experience or acute experience helping you get a job, I would say absolutely!! Especially in my area (Emergency) new grads who have an EMS background usually do well in the ER. It is still quite a transition and a lot to learn but the EMS foundation is a great start. I have one new grad who worked as a medic until he graduated this past fall and I just this week hired another one who just graduated and will start in a few weeks here at Centennial. I do try to hire only one new grad at a time so they get a good experience, and honestly, I don't have open positions often here (people just don't leave, no turnover, they're happy!) but I don't and won't ever exclude new grads. I look for the whole person, not just the experience. To the original poster, best of luck in school and your job search!

Hey Bryan, I'm not sure if something changed here at allnurses, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to reply to your pm. I emailed you at the email address I had on file. If you didn't get it, let me know. Amy

Great news Bryan! Definitely let me know when you can stop by and I will show you the ER. No need to buy me lunch silly. We don't use any agency in the ER at my place. Fully staffed so there is no need. I will be adding more as we get busier though so let me know if and when you'd like to talk about a per diem or part time position. Hope you and your wife have a safe move. Glad to hear you found a house. I love living up here in the NW. TTYS.

Check out Centennial Hills. It is probably your closest outside of the AFB. Several nurses work here from the base. It is new and growing quickly. The area surrounding Centennial is nice with lots of shopping. We just opened in January, and had some growing pains as we were much busier than expected, but are on track and doing well now. I think we have positions in IMC also. Good luck!

Not true! Not true! I am one of the Directors at Centennial Hills, and I assure you we are open to all nurses, we are simply looking for the best out there. In fact, we tried to limit our hires from our sister hospitals to 30% so we wouldn't cause nursing shortages at the other Valley Health System facilties. We had applicants from all over, including out of state, and were able to hire experienced staff in all areas. The reason not many positions were open in late Dec and Jan is because we filled most of our positions back in the fall. We only hired enough to open a few floors because we didn't know how busy we would be and we didn't want to have to low census our staff. Of course, since opening, we have seen 2-3 times the patients we expected and we are quickly filling positions and opening more beds in all areas. The only area that hasn't been busy so far is L&D, but it will get there. It is a wonderful place to work, and we have worked hard to hire a great group of staff so we can provide great care and have strong teamwork. Of course, being a new hospital, we had several bumps in the road in the first few weeks but every day has gotten better and I couldn't be happier with our new place!