LYNNORA

Banner Health also has their own travel company if you want to work here and have concerns about Cross Country. Check out their website.

I am a Canadian working in Arizona at Banner Good Samaritain Hospital. It has some great job opportunities for new grads. Check out the website at http://www.bannerhealth.com.

RN/MBA - 1993 Dodge Ram 4X4 Turbo Diesel, dually. I call it Max, which is short for Maximum Truckypoo.

I found the comments Tom Crusie made about Brooke Shields very distastefull, especially after watching her spell out her struggle on Oprah. I felt she was really brave to come foward with a story like that, i think she may help others by sharing it. As for Mr. Cruise - I won't be watching any more of his movies or reading any more articles about him in the media.

I worked in hospice in Canada for about 10 years. It really did have an effect on my personal philosophy. I was fortunate to work in a facility which tried to be as home like as possible and provided excelent pt care. It changed the way i felt about death and dying because i saw so many people be ready for it and go very peacefully. I saw a lot of special things like patients sticking it out to see a grandaughter born or waiting for a long lost relative. It changed my outlook on life as I saw so many who were "waiting" for the right time to do what they wanted to do in life, then one morning they wake up and have cancer. It instilled in me to live life to the fullest now as their might not be tommorow.

I came for: sign on bonus, free training to be a telemetry nurse, lower patient ratios, educational money from hospital to put towards my degree, lower cost of living, improved standard of living for my income, ability to earn a higher wage as back home i was maxed out at the top union wage and the experience of going to the US.

I stay up as long as i can the night before i work(Thurs) - usually last until about 3am. Stay in bed all day Friday- maybe watch TV, eat. Go to work Fri, Sat and Sun nights. Sleep until 2pm on Monday. Any more than that and i don't sleep Monday night. I don't take drugs to help me sleep but may have a drink in the hot tub at HS. My one tip is not to get worried about sleeping, sleep when you are tired, be productive when you are awake. I try to do what my body tells me i need, not be awake or asleep just because the rest of the world is. Walmart is open 24hrs!

I worked 3 shifts a weeking while finishing RN progam, 1 shift on Saturday and 2 shifts at different facilities on Sunday. I had my weeknights to study. I went an entire year without a day off as i would pick up every extra holiday. I managed to support myself while renting a room near the school for $80.00 a month and eating mostly cornbread. A plate of rice at the hospital where i did my clinicals was .90 cents and thats what i ate most days while there. Its possible to do but it was hard. Well worth it in the end. As i look back on those days it was some of the funnest times i have had.

I feel for ya in that soggy rain. I moved to Phoenix from Vancouver, B.C., tired of the rain too. I lived here for a year, worked in the Middle East for a year then came back here. I really like the hospital i worked for and really like Phoenix. Lots of jobs here! Med/Surg nurses desperately needed. I found the cost of living here much less than i did in Vancouver. I was paying the same rent for bachelor apt. in North Van with no ammenities compared to my one bedroom now with 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, weight room etc. I enjoy the weather here most of the time and ride my bike to work. The big Con about Phoenix is the 90 days that you have to get through in the summer (mid June to mid Sept). Thats when i find it really hot. I just set my mind that i get throught those 90 days and the rest of the year is perfect weather. My hospital is called Banner Good Samaritan and is one of the larger hospitals in Phoenix and has a trauma center. There are several Banner owned facilities throughout Phoenix - our latest one that opened this year has all private rooms with flat screen TVs and Internet. Its called Banner Estrella. More info about our hospitals at www.bannerhealth.com. My BF is an RT at the VA hospital - he enjoys that as well as he likes the teaching hospital experience with the govt bennies. We will soon buy a house here where we will be close to both our hospitals. PM me if you have any specific questions.:)

MBA(Healthcare Administration) - just completed this year

When I worked in Hospice, we would use the 12hour release meds such as MS Contin. We would give at 10am and 10pm, this seemed to suit our pts and we were not waking them up Q4hrs for pain meds. We also used Kadian which is a morphine product that releases over 24hrs.

I work at Banner Good Samaritan - i do like it here. I stay far away from the pregnant people side of the hospital but I know we have a high risk-obstectrics program that specializes in high order multiples. It is a certified Level III Perinatal Center. The hospital also provides in utero therapies such as fetal transfusion, shunts and treatment for umbilical cord occlusions.

I just completed my MBA in Health Care Administration on ground at University of Phoenix. I felt i learned a lot. You get out of a Masters degree what you put into it. Sure you can cruise along and get B's but if you put effort into it you will get more out of it. I didn't get As or Bs in all my classes - i got what i deserved!

Love it here. Very affordable on a single salary. I am from Canada and i really like working and living here. It was 80 degrees this week and i am walking around in shorts and t-shirt in January. I live in Phoenix so I can't tell you much about Tucson personally but friends that i have liked their travel assingnments at the Universtity hospital there. PM me if you want more details or info about the hospital i work for.

Helen Zeigler and Associates is a Canadian firm that will place both Canadian and US nurses in foreign countries. I used them when i went to Saudi.