FLOBRN

IMHO there is not a job shortage. In this economy so many are looking for jobs hospitals, in many cases are filtering for experience because they can.

Kind of late to the party here but - I endorsed from Fl to Wa spring of 2012. No problems. Pay your money, do your fingerprints and get a license. And of course, fill out the forms.

Ok let me have a stab at this.. Lakeland Regional is union (I know shocking isn't it.) They are a level 2, probably doing about 2500 deliveries a year and increasing. They have LDR, CNM's, OB's and OB Hospitalists. They are becoming a teaching hospital for medical students. They are getting ready to build a new tower which will house a new OB unit. The nurses are mandated to wear Black/White scrubs. All the HCA hospitals in Fl now belong to the NNOC (which started as the Ca Nurses Assoc). Brandon Regional is one that comes to mind. The RN's at Brandon are mandated to wear royal blue. In Tampa, BayCare is a good employer, benefits are good. You get a yearly bonus. You can but do not have to work at any BayCare hospital. They have everything from level 1 to level 3. 16 years experience gave me a base pay rate 2 years ago of about 3 $31/hr. It was $3/hr more than I made at Winter Haven Hospital. Cerner is the charting system. Winter Haven is also a level 2 doing about 1700 deliveries a year. OB drs and OB hospitalists. Regency Medical center is the MCN center and is a mile and a half down the road from the "big house". You need ACLS. The Resp Therapists there are stellar! They do all the neonatal intubations and are extremely skilled. The nurses are mandated to wear Black/White scrubs. It's a Magnet hospital with their second certification. Navicare WatchChild is the charting system. HOWEVER, they are joining BayCare this year so hourly and benefits will improve. BayCare mandates royal blue for nurses. Sarasota Memorial is also a level 3. Very cutting edge. Their perinatologist is Dr Washington Hill. Hourly rates and shift diff are variable. At Winter Haven I was at $26/hr and then went to $31 at BayCare. I do not know any other money/benefits info. I hope this helps a little. Edited to add: Lakeland is actively recruiting. BayCare always has openings because they are so large. BayCare also has their own in house travelers.

I called HR direct. I said "I see you have an opening in LDRP" When he said yes, I said "I'd like to discuss forming a partnership". I had an offer before I filled out the application. : )

What sort of experience do you have? Where do you want to work? I understand Highline Hospital needs help. I am out on the coast in Aberdeen and we need help desperately for LDRP. There will be a new posting coming up this week for those with no previous LDRP experience.

The annual Mother Baby Conf put on by the Academy of Neonatal Nursing is very good and actually has a lot of L/D stuff. It's in Sept each year. This year it is in Las Vegas.

Yes they absolutely hire people from out of state. Here is what I did. 1. "Google" hospitals in Wa state. The site that I used is http://www.theagapecenter.com/Hospitals/Washington.htm 2.Go to each site and look for a job you might want. 3. When you find the job you might like, CALL the nurse recruiter. What I did was introduce myself over the phone and said "I see you have an opening for .....". When they said yes we do, I came back with "I am interested in exploring the possibility of a partnership between us". 4. Did a Skype interview. 5. Accepted the offer. 6. Moved from Florida to Washington. I hope this helps. FLOBRN PS Applied for a Wa endorsement before the interview.

Ok here is what I know after having lived in central Florida. Unions - The California Nurses association/ National Nurses United organized all the HCA (hospital corporation of america) hospitals in Florida. Pretty much no other hospitals are unionized. As a "Right to Work" state, you have NO protection if you do not have a contract. You can be terminated at any time for any or no reason. Benefits- Health insurance - which you pay a portion of- usually starts 90 days after employment. Dental and vision are also available. I do not know of a hospital that offers what I would consider to be good coverage, but you take what the hospital offers. Private insurance is VERY expensive. When I changed locations to the west coast it was about $400/mo for a private policy. Working conditions can range from intolerable to very good. It just depends on where you chose to be. I worked at Winter Haven Hospital and it was a good place. Taxes - there are of course federal income tax but no state income tax. This can be negated by local sales, gas and other taxes. Still its less than you are used to. You must remember, your taxes are currently high because your basic medical comes out of that. Gas and housing will be cheaper. Use a credit union not a bank. In my opinion you get more and there are no pesky bank fee's to deal with. Florida is hot, and humid. You go from your airconditioned home to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned building. You cannot usually walk in the grass due to fire ants. The leaves fall in spring and strawberry season is Dec to April. It is subtropical so rains most of the days in summer. Out of curiosity, why Florida and what is your specialty? FLOBRN

Of course you can : ) All NICU nurses didn't have a baby in NICU. All ICU nurses have not been a patient there. Agree completely with the study and evidence based practice comments. Join AWHONN and read, go to meetings, conventions etc. GO to the annual Mother Baby conf the Neonatal network hosts. It's going to be in LVegas in 2013.

Truly labor your patient at the BEDSIDE. Don't chart at the desk. Palpate contractions. Be hands ON. The monitor is a guide not the be alll and end all. If you want to try and decrease the epidural rate, then use positioning, get the patient out of bed onto the ball, doing slow dancing etc. I often think the Mom gets lost in the all consuming computer work. I read awhile back that computer charting does take longer.

Every place I have worked has mandatory call. It is the price of being a closed unit. Usually the requirement is 24- 36 hours per schedule.

Alway the mom first. If the mom is not stable, it changes the plan. I agree with putting the monitor on while you are doing the assessment.

I was a bit surprised at the person saying you give pit IV push... please read the following article. In addition the FDA recommends it only as IM or as an infusion - not IV push. http://meds.queensu.ca/medicine/obgyn/pdf/Hemodynamics_after_oxytocin.pdf

I am 58 and until this year was doing fine as a diploma RN. Now I know I will not want to stay at the bedside for another 10 years. My decision is financially, would I make back that 25K it will likely cost. My last 2 managers have said how they don't make what a staff nurse does. In the end is it a trade off, more pay for those who can do the bedside care but if you can't or don't want to do bedside anymore you will make less? Is it better to just put that 25K in my retirement? PS always had to chuckle at tuition reimbursement. Yeah they give you the money back but you owe them time in exchange - sort of like being indentured.

I understand perfectly what you are saying - new job small hospital: still mixing pit, using "hot packs" made of hot towel and chux being reheated in the microwave, not labeling IV tubing, not discharging pts out of the monitoring system before putting another pt on the monitor thus the new strip is under the old patient, PAPER charting. Throwing a sheet over a bed to triage a pt on and not changing it after all the way down to the mattress, on and on. I am trying to be patient. The second day I was being told by the new boss - dont shoot yourself in the foot, they are already c/o you are asking too many questions.

Of course, I recruited him. : )

Though I no longer do, I lived in Canada for 20 years. I am wondering...why are you still rotating shifts? thanks FLOBRN

WSNA Am I correct in calling it open shop as you do not have to join?? Its been years since I worked a union job. Thanks

I actively recruited a male RN when I was working in Fl. He was a new grad. Within 2 months we had patients coming in asking for him to be their nurse by name. He was outstanding. Just moved to Wa and the new manager is open to male nurses on our l/d unit.

I recently moved to Wa from Fl. The nurses are represented by a union. However it is "open shop". You get the same pay and benefits - to a point if you do not join. You do still have to pay the union an "administrative fee" if you do not join. As near as I can tell, the benefit is having someone at your back if something happens. Having been there done that, I decided to join after consideration of a couple of months.

It is a tight job market. However there are jobs available if you are not absolutely set on working in a metropolitan area. I recently found a great job in Wa and moved here from Florida to take it. Sign on bonus and they helped with moving expenses. I am a staff nurse in L/D

There is no real way around it that I could find. My way of doing it was going to be to ask the former manager of my unit. Having said that, I applied for a job at St Lukes which I turned down due to the low pay rate. I even asked if that was the new grad rate and I have been nursing for over 20 years. You do not need your license in hand to apply for a job. Good Luck

Well don't know about the "whole Hollywood thing", guess you mean the Grey's Anatomy brand. I found the scrubs that Jockey is making are awesome. They are a similar fabric, never wrinkle, very comfortable, come in several colors and so I think they are worth the $$. I do have some of the G.A ones, but bought them for the fabric rather than the name. Dickies also has a few scrubs in this fabric and I have one set of those as well. This is the cotton/rayon/spandex fabric. You'd never know the spandex is there, the fabric is very "drapey' for lack of a better way of saying it. Did I mention NEVER wrinkles? LOL

I could be happy with management.....if they were just honest. Be "transparent" and up front. Don't tell us one thing and immediately do the opposite.

All of these answers are true including Florida being a "right to not work" state as we call it. Take it from the voice of experience...do NOT discuss this with anyone in management. Having said that, the National Nurses United - off shoot of the California nurses association- is very active in Florida. They have successfully organized every HCA hospital they have gone to. Check out their website. Become a member. Get involved. Be careful. You WILL be invited to "take your talent somewhere else" in many cases,though proving that union activity was the real reason is practically impossible. A couple of nurses in Florida have successfully shown that was the reason they were fired and won their jobs and back wages back. As an employment lawyer here said " you have no rights or protection unless you have a contract". Enough said. - well one more thing. I guess the best route is to work for a union hospital and help organize others.