RnM21

Hack used to hire new grads that did internships there first, and even that was not a guarantee. Nowadays I know there has been an influx of applications both in state AND out of state from nurses with 3+years experience, so pretty much the ball is in the hospitals court to pick the creme of the crop. Unless you know someone there in a specific unit that can vouch for you its pretty damn hard to get even an interview, but I believe its worth it as it took me 3 years to get in. Is the work hard? yes, did I get my orifice kicked? of course!Did I learn the most here? Damn right! and the pay and benefits for full time are more than enough to keep a majority of their nurses from leaving, especially in this days economy. Most NJ hospitals nowadays are like this, but speaking for myself experience is what counts nowadays. If anything Try Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, I know they have been hiring agency nurses still and cant seem to hold on to their new nurses for longer than 2-3 years for some reason. good luck!!

I work with a gangload of people who graduated from christ but some started out at bayonne, they said it was the greatest move of their lives leaving bayonne and finishing in christ. Although I didnt graduate from christ, all the feedback I hear from their grads are all positive and at the same time difficult, albeit these people are all in ICU/CTICU, so goes to show the quality of nurses they put out.

I am a graduate from mountainside SON (2005) and feel it is one of the best for getting a strong clinical perspective in nursing. Was it easy for me? no, matter of fact I failed Nursing 2 and went back the next year and kicked ass!! Will you get your butt handed to you there? I can only speak from my years there at the time with their staff(I heard a couple left) that YES you will be getting your butt handed to you, but the teachers taught very well and have high expectations from their students so of course you will be put through the test. Looking back at it now the schools biggest selling point for me is their clinicals, from Med-surg to ICU we did a hell of a whole lot more than other schools who were more shadowing during clinicals than anything. That alone prepared me as a new grad starting at St. Barns. I feel it also helped pave the way for me to be where I am at now which is Trauma/Surgical ICU at Hackensack University/Jersey City University and UMDNJ.... and yes I still moonlight at Mountainside Hospital here and there..lol, and granted I never thought I could do ICU while I was at that school because it was all too technical!!. Anywho, I hope you get into a good school, I guess the only downside for me was the fact that it was a diploma program and I still have to work on my BSN. GOOD LUCK!!!

I wish I could have a preceptor again and still be paid... anywho keep at it, you will get through this.. lol, looking back at it now I wouldve asked for 4 extra weeks, im all about being precepted...!!

ummm.... wow...tough times.... makes me wantto move to florida

No disrespect felt, I didnt know what to gather from that as well. I am just curious as to the culture of the unit and how things are run, the answer of Ghetto baffles me to even try to gather more info from the person who told me that!!...

I dont think they Hire new grads for PEr diems there. I dont know if that has changed but the last time I spoke with some nurses there that is what I was told. Ray

Is it for the Evening Shift position? The PACU is pretty busy but the people are good, alot of veteran nurses who have been there a long time, PACU positions fill up very quick and open up only every so often due to people staying their until they retire or move on. Most of the nurses I speak to on the regular seem to be happy there. I am in the SICU so if you get the position I may bump into you from time to time. Good luck and hope this helps.

Hey Guys, Curious about JCMC for Perdiem work as I heard previously the pay $50/hr weekdays and $60/hr weekends. Just wanna know how their ICU is and the basic culture of the unit/hospital/nurses. From what I have heard of some travelers who have worked there they state its ok but ghetto. I dont really know what to take from that but just wanna ask if anyone has some feedback about working their in particular their ICU/SICU/CCU. thanks

Jersey City Medical Center $50/hour weekdays, $60 Weekends for both night/day shifts

I recently went to their open interview day back in sept. for CTICU. I have been a CCU/Cath lab nurse since 2005 and have now for a year been a SICU nurse for HUMC, but still do ccu/cath lab per diem. Everything went great; met the manager, toured the unit and spoke with staff RNs. Even helped boost and turn patients during that time because they were short. All in all I thought I pretty much had it in the bag and spent about 2 hours just chatting with CTICU RN's and even the docs. Low and behold went through the whole process of background checks etc... my current manager even asked me if I was leaving because NYP called him up. CTICU manager even followed up and asked when I can start, gave me pay details and benefits. In the end got a call from HR saying because I was ADN and even though I am in a program for BSN I was not hired. Im not saying I was the best there that day nor was it just for one position they were trying to fill, (they were looking for 11 RN's since NYP columbia expanded their heart hospital). But i guess it goes to show BSN's are now the norm, I did my best, even had letters of Rec's from cardiologists and trauma docs I work with. In the end of the day the degree will take the cake. On a side note the manager said he would keep my info and resume so re-application would be easier in a year when I attain my BSN. Ray

Jersey City Medical Center Per diem NIGHTS $55 weekdays $65 weekends 12hr shifts Palisades Medical Center Per diem nights $52 weekdays $60 weekends 8 hour shifts except ER Hackensack University medical Center NIGHTS new grad 75-77k/year depending on ADN vs BSN 4 yrs exp 87k/yr nights w/o overtime. Ray

Hackensack University medical center New grads : $72K/year I work with a new grad in icu and she broke $100k last year working ot from her base. not too shabby... ray

Just to update everyone, I didnt get the job at CTICU primarily because I have not yet attained a BSN, just an fyi if you dont have a bsn yet and considering NYP as a place of employment. Ray PS: Human Resources there are amongst the slowest and often times rude, good luck when you are trying to be assertive when calling in just to find out about what the status of your application is.

know the full time salaries for icu's at columbia by any chance?

All mountainside students, whos your instructor? I was at overlook for ICU with Mrs. Little, she is who got me interested in ICU, and does she know her stuff.!!! Ray

Hey, Good idea trying to get a job now as a cna over at hack, its pretty stiff competition now in terms of nurses being hired there, but I noticed that if you worked there as a CNA first and graduate nursing you pretty much can land yourself a job no prob, just get in good with the managers/nurses. I currently work over at Surgical/Trauma icu, no CNA positions but I think they are hiring on the floors. You will learn alot so long as you keep your eyes and ears open. As far as working as a nurse at hack it is a great learning environment with good pay and good benefits. Anywho, I hope you come on board, pass by Surgical Icu sometime, we're always knee deep into trouble. Good luck!! Ray

to all, recently went to open interview at nyp, got to meet cticu manager amongst alot of good nurses both applying and already working there. Got a nice tour of the unit and got a quick grasp on patient load. Overall it was a great experience, I just wanna ask how long does nyp usually take to get back on whether or not you are hired post interview? I know it may be awhile just because the size of the hospital, and cticu is expanding in feb. Secondly what is the standard salary in terms of icu rns with at least 4-5 years experience? any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Ray

Graduated there in 05, good school with a great heritage. Heavy on the clinicals but in the end you come out better on the clinical experience which is a plus!!. I do per diem work at the hospital across the street in ICU, maybe I'll bump into you guys here and there.. good luck and god bless. Ray PS: Mrs. Derco has alot of videos and papers that helped me get through nsg 2, great resource person!! tell her Ray said hi and thanks!!

Listen, from my experience and I am now currently in trauma/sicu, its all the freagin same. Sometimes nurses need to get off their high horses and realize we are all in the same boat, sinking and floating. Treat everyone as you would like to be treated and you will get along fine. ray

Thanks for everyones response, at least I know Im not alone with this. Just to make this a little clearer, I know there are some nurses out there who milk the clock and then some, I am against all that. My quarrel with the higher ups now mainly is due to them staffing us to the point where pretty much EVERYDAY most nurses clock out 30 minutes even 2 hours past the 8AM. I mean last time I worked they staffed ICU of 11 pts with 5 vents 4 NURSES.. 4!!... and guess who was the unlucky person to get 2 of the vented pt's and be the only one open for code/angio/admit? the 3 other nurses were on their 2nd/3rd night so there really wasnt much room to argue about switching up the assignment, plus we all had vents, so me having two pt's vented (one freshly vented that shift) wasnt too bad I thought since I only had 2. I didnt even realize I was the one open for code/admit till about 10pm after getting report,settling/assessing my pts etc. and with all this I get the late admit at 530 AM (thanks ER!!..LOL). with all that going on I was lucky I clocked out at 0915, and had all the paperwork filled out to make sure I got paid for the OT. but really, how does management expect us to do everything expected of us on time and as accurate as possible when they dont give us the means at times to do so? I even got a message from the manager that night because I forgot to finish entering my clinical circumstances on the PC for my new admit....go figure... RnM ps: Thanks for listening everyone....

To all, does anyone else get this at their job? I mean, for the most part depending on how your night/day went you would clock out right about on time or a little/waaay past it if you had a grueling shift. BUT!! what if now you receive a memo about all nurses, not just you must clock ou tor are ENCOURAGED to clock out at eight am/pm because accruable OT is too expensive and being busy that shift is not an excuse. TOP that with being told that having not complied with this matter you will get reprimanded. Hell, some nurses I have wokred with started clocking out at 8AM and going back to finish off charting and even report at times just so they wont get written up. Mind you we do have small forms that we can present to state why we are late clocking out etc which in turn has to be approved by the manager and supervisor, but with the staffing issues at our hospital of 3:1 AVERAGE IN ICU and even worse on the floors (we're not union) that has been recently brought forth our clock out times on average has been 30 minutes -1 hour from the set standard. Anyways, just wanted to pose that in the event the hospital fires or forces nurses to clock out on time secondary to an ultimatum is that illegal? this is for the state of NJ. thanks all:bluecry1:

hey guys, Just wondering what the ratios are for you guys out there? and along with that if you are a big trauma center or a small comm. hospital? here are some of where i work/worked at: Palisades Medical Center = 2:1 average 3:1 occasional Mountainside Hospital = 3:1 AVERAGE REGARDLESS OF ACUITY!! ouch! St. Barnabas Medical Ctr.= 2:1 avg, 3:1 occasional, 1:1 rare there you have it, and yes mountainside hospital has went downhill in terms of staffing ratios and not because they dont have enough staff to put on but rather I guess for the new company who acquired it to save some money I guess. anywho, lets here it.

hEY BRITT, Congrats on the offer. I am an CCU/MICU rn and have been cross-trained (somewhat) to be on-call for cath lab in case of emergencies where the on-call nurse could'nt make it, that and to pull sheaths. Anywho, I really enjoyed the experience in cath as well, its not bedside, but can get pretty busy especially if you have several back to back cases and emergencies that occur during a procedure etc. but as far as the time diff. when I did orientation at cath (I too work nights) it was sweet. I was in at 6-7 depending on caseload and was out by 3-4 depending on caseload and on-call situations. it was a 5 day stint for me and that whole time I enjoyed some breakfast and ALL dinners with my family and such except one night when I got called in for a case. Otherwise from what I hear from you I think you will like it, I know I did and may even go full time cath from ICU nights in a year or two. I hope this helps. PS: ask about on call pay, for us if you get called in no matter how long the case or if it ends up being nothing we get paid 4 hours time and a half off the bat for coming in the hospital!!..

to all, Just wanna ask how many of you that work in northern NJ community hospitals are experiencing a really low census these past few months? I work in a few hospitals in NJ, one of them being Mountainside ICU. the overall census has dropped considerably these past few months leaving the staff morale low and having nurses being given PTO or no pay. staffing has also been affected I guess since the hospital has been sold to merit healthcare this past June, with ICU nurse/patient ratio AVERAGE 3:1 (even with vents) sometimes leaving no room for codes beds/angioplasty beds. Pt.s would have to be held in ER at times till next shift NOT because there are no rooms available but the nurse/pt ratio is already maxxed 3:1 for ICU. Dont even get me started with the ratios in the floors!!. Im not the type to complain alot but when I feel my environment has changed for the worse I have got to say something, even if it falls on deaf ears I guess I need to vent. Staffing for acuity has been out the door for awhile but with the practice of having a goal to staff 3:1 just for saving some cash is beyond me. the last time I worked I had 3 pt's with two being vents, on drips transfusing blood and I still got the 3rd as my admission because why? everyone already had 3 each. Just to give an example on the math that night they staffed MICU (CCU closed, we combined units) of 11 pts with 5 vents with 4 ICU nurses.. 4!!.. anywho, I hope this passes soon or I may be dropping moutainside from my list of jobs. Blah!!!:stone