kyzur

I have been offered RN position at both NHCH (North Hawaii Community Hospital) in Waimea (aka Kamuela) and HMC (Hilo Medical Center) in Hilo. Benefits, pay, and etc all appear the same so I was hoping anyone who has worked at either place could enlighten me on their experience. The area both are in are equal for me in regard to pros and cons so it really comes down to trying to determine which place I would be happier with day to day work experience which includes management, coworkers, work culture, and type of the patients you might get such as sometimes a place seems to get lots of patients who use the hospital as a resort getaway or lots of inmates because primary location for the prison to use or lots of drug addicts who constantly whine for more meds than they can have (for examples). Aloha

not much in medical care has changed since passage of obamacare - just like before the bill, prices/costs are still rising faster than inflation, doctors are still falling behind economically due to simultaneous increase in education costs and insurers including government becoming tougher and tougher negotiators and thus doctors are becoming more assembly line mentality to make bucks (get in as many patients as possible per day), patients are increasing in percentage of substance abuse as certain generations are reaching age of more health problems, hospitals are striving to cut costs by placing more and more work down the salary ladder, and hospitals becoming more and more restrictive on who they will hire for nursing. But its a lot easier to blame all ills on one thing when the solutions seem impossible and the future looks so uncertain. I foresee a future 10 years from now where nurses do a lot more pre screening and prep on patients before doctor spends 5 minutes with patient, hospitals have a pseudo internship for nurses, and to work in nursing you need 3-4 years of education. USA nursing education is actually behind some countries we consider 2nd or 3rd rate nations.

It is a myth that the mask helps keep you from getting sick. The mask helps filter YOUR exhaled bugs. The bugs in air form others will still get in your eyes, on your hands then to wherever you touch yourself, and even past mask as any construction worker or painter will tell you the cheap filter masks let dust in around the edge. The reason hospitals want people to wear them is for patient confidence and it is a fact that if you take 1000 people who dont get vac and 1000 who do, those who get flu will be drastically higher in non vac group. SO the idea is without vac you are more likely to get flu, more likely to be carrying it, and less likely to transmit it if you are wearing a mask. It wont prevent you form catching it and there is no data to suggest it does. There are many reasons to not get a vaccine but I wanted to clear up some of the thought process on hospital side and the myth that a mask protects you. It protects others form you.

has anyone ever worked at carson valley medical center in gardnerville, nevada? (pay,management,facility,community,benefits, etc.) i really like the area, climate, community, and col for entire area so any info even about barton in south lake tahoe (higher col & tons of snow), or facilities/area in carson city, minden, or washoe would be appreciated. thanks:clown:

Sorry, I had my sheets mixed up. When I said Texas was comparable to AZ I was mistaken. TX is twice what AZ property taxes are (generally speaking). I meant to say Nevada which also has no income tax is comparable to AZ for property tax. Some states with no income tax DO have high property taxes, but alas so do some states that have income tax. AZ has both but both are low. I just can't find anywhere in NV that is ok weather, crime, COL, etc, so looking at AZ, specifically Kingman, Prescott/Cottonwood areas. Yes I know Kingman is hot but not as hot as Vegas. ANY info on hospitals and living in Kingman, Prescott, Cottonwood, Camp Verde would be appreciated. Any info on any other place in AZ with low crime, cheap houses, and less than Phoenix hot wise, would also be appreciated.

VERY good point, but not always the case and I have seen even in AZ the property taxes vary from one place to another for no obvious reason. Even though they are supposed to be based on simple formulas it often comes down to the attitude of the assessor and whether they value homes high or low. I am not from Texas but I have researched the area and will say the property taxes in areas of low crime that I researched for homes in the 175k - 300k were all comparable to most of Arizona property taxes so again not always the case. Also I was floored by property tax rates in Oregon despite Oregon having the HIGHEST state income tax rate in the nation. Seems, we never know anything for sure except that the tax man will always raise taxes and tax just about everything they can.

Thanks for the info. I did check up on Cottonwood and Flagstaff and did discover the benifits and pay looked very good but seemed like Cottonwood was secluded, Flagstaff had bad winters, and Sedona road was CRAZY to have to ever drive regularly. As it is I also have to admit it scares me a bit to be somewhere that has only one company as hospital employer. I just like to know I have options even if I never use them. If I could tolerate Pheonix heat I would go to Nevada and make more money + no state tax so even more money. Can you expand on why you say to stay away from Kingman?

Well no need to reply about Sierra Vista as we just found out it is a "cancer cluster" site according to the CDC for childhood leukemia and we have a 1 year old and another on the way. Actually the numbers are quite scary considering the CDC negated some of the victims for questionable reasons such as a young girl who was not diagnosed until 2 weeks after moving away from Sierra Vista so they said she doesn't count as not living there when diagnosed. It always breaks my heart when children suffer and I wish people would be more open on risk there instead of hiding it for profit such as realtors and city officials there who would rather suck someone in and put innocent children at risk for a few dollars in their pocket and so better able to live in denial and sleep at night telling themselves "other people move here so it must be ok". Much gov't and university info is easily available online though for anyone who is interested, just search for "leukemia sierra vista".

wanting to move to arizona for several reasons and have narrowed it down to 3 areas but not easy to get much info on real world experience at the hospitals in each area and wages. we have visited kingman & prescott areas several times and like both while seeing each is also unique and just as anywhere else there is good and bad. we have not visited sierra vista (yet) but have read a couple different places where someone said they live in kingman and like it but in hindsight would have gone to sierra vista instead so that is 3rd place we are considering. the big question is - does anyone have experience to share regarding working conditions, management, wages, benefits, etc at any of the hospitals in those 3 towns. those being kingman regional medical center ( krmc ) & hualapai mountain medical center ( hmmc ) in kingman 2 x yavapai regional medical center ( east & west hospitals ) ( yrmc ) in prescott / prescott valley and sierra vista regional health center ( svrhc ) in sierra vista i have read up on all the company info, career info at each site, and the pertinent details regarding each area but very hard to get the nitty gritty. i was also interested in the va at prescott too, but it seriously looked like i would have to already be there and be patient for job there so more of a "maybe later" option if i decide on prescott area. any info would be immensely appreciated. and btw, am i crazy or are we lacking any kind of advanced search method for this vast site? i hope someone can tell me how lost i am on this and show me a doorway to knowledge. lol

Not defending it but what you say is exactly why they do it - to weed out those who will not tolerate things like as you call it "childish behavior". They want people who can be described in many ways such as tolerant, push overs, stable, non emotional, sheep, etc. you can say it many different ways both positive and negative. For the record I have NO IDEA what they do or are trying to do in Flagstaff but I have experience with a variety of management and hiring practices and this "appears" to be a "see how the applicant reacts" activity. In some instances (even high level fed jobs) this can be a very very productive method but I am not sure it is in this instance and of course the weak point is if someone knows the game before going in.

The idea (used in other professions too) is to see how you react to stress and strange things happening. Also will you get frustrated with stupid management. Thus the nurses being casual and late and questions not related to the work. If you get bothered by this in interview, then they suppose you will also freak out when patients don't behave normally, other nurses are late for work, and etc. and if you in your opinion believe a manager is being stupid. Lets face it, when you go to work every nurse does not perform same way and we have all been a round someone who seemed lazy or etc. There are many variations on this interview method but they really do work at seeing how possible coworker will act down the road. What they want to see is you not be bothered by any of it, remain cool, and never react with shock in facial expression. It makes sense as we never know what to expect each and every day, but I am still not 100% sold on this method for RN's. Hope that helps explain the what and why