NurseVoldemort

Working at a level 2 vs level 4 won't matter much. Experience in an ED is good regardless. So many trauma centers do things differently, so if you ever decide to transfer to a higher level trauma center they will likely not train you to be on the trauma team right away until you get to know the department first and then they will train you to their process. So experience at a 2 vs a 4 won't make you any more or less marketable. However, keep in mind that when applying for a job, if it is with the same company the HR department will be seeing your applications first and if you submit multiple applications it just kind of looks bad.. My advise would be to maybe talk to an HR rep at the company first. Do both ER's hire new grads? Many ER's don't, so maybe you'd be more likely to get in with one than the other. I think calling and talking to a nurse recruiter (HR person) will help guide you to which job you are more likely to be able to get without making yourself look desperate by applying to every ED job they have posted. Good luck!

I've worked in Washington, NY and Oregon. Never in Cali, but we have never had a regular hospital bed to even think about using locking/hard restraints on. We only have every used them on the stretchers. The biggest thing is to ensure you have proper charting and orders for said restraints. I've been legally allowed to give propofol IV push for sedation in every state I work with in the prescence of the MD for moderate sedation procedures. The hospital I currently work in only allows ED RN's to perform this and when our house float comes to help (from the ICU) they can't do it since it is against hospital policy; only ED nurses can do it and only when the MD is present. For sedation for intubated patients though we also can do boluses in prescence of MD and then titrate drips without MD being in the room once the pt is tubed.

Are you working in Albany area? I worked there for a few years and 8-10 patients at a time was the norm... BUT the average LOS was also like 6 hours so people just waited and waited. The place I worked was full of travelers (what a surprise! they had high turn over...) My advice, is to know that that ratio is not normal, and not safe. Get a little experiance and get out. Focus on your sickest patients first and know that tasks can wait for non-emergent patients. You aren't expected to know every detail of every disease; just the emergent ones! Your specialty is EMERGENCY medicine. I felt like when I was there I was mostly doing tasks and not doing justice to my patients.. So I left as soon as I could! Good luck!

When I was in nursing school the Emergency Dept terrified me and I knew I never wanted to work there. I have now been an ED RN for the last 8 years, most of it even being charge nurse. I think my expectations of what went on in the ED was exaggurated, and I can only assume that is what is going on with you as well. If you think you want to pursue nursing in a pediatric ED you can see what it's like by volunteering there. Many ED's use volunteers to clean rooms, bring patients water or various other tasks that do not involve patient care. But it would give you an idea of what it would be like to work there. If you want to get a foot in the door, doing an MA program or EMT program would help you get a job in an ED as a tech, which may or may not give you an advantage to getting a job as an RN. Some hospitals flat out don't hire new grads into the ED and some do with a lengthy residency program. Good luck!

Are you saying that if you live in WA and work in OR you don't get the state income tax for OR? I don't quite understand cause you also said you have an OR license?

Looks like I'll be moving end of August so I'll be starting in September wherever I go. I haven't applied anywhere yet cause I still haven't decided for sure where I want to work. Thanks for everyone's advice/input.

Does anyone by chance know if parking is easier with a motorcycle? The hospital I work at here in NY has a desinated area for motorcycilists which always has spots available.

Thank you everyone for the tips/advice. I likely will be working nights so this will help with commute and parking it sounds like. I've also considered trying to get a teaching job so I've been looking at colleges to teach at... I would still want to work in an ER at least part time to keep up my skills though. Thanks again! I'll be moving in September so hopefully all will work out!

orionsbelt123 Something else to consider is that Washington State does not have a State income tax so if you live and work in Vancouver WA but do your shopping in Oregon (where there's no sales tax) you'll end up saving a good chunk of money and that would make up for your pay scale difference. Something else to consider.

I hadn't even heard of OHSU until this post. It looks like a nice hospital and sounds like it has a good reputation in the community based on some outside research I've done... I can't find if they give employee discounts for master level nursing program if I took their program, but I would think they would... Plus it looks like we are going to be living in Hillsboro area, and OSHU will be less traffic to fight with than going through Portland every day for work. Thanks for the advice!

jan286 I have worked in Capital Area for 3 years now, and Albany Med by far pays the worst... Most the hospitals in the area pay shift dif as a percentage of your wage instead of a flat rate. I know St. Peter's Health Partner Hospitals (St. Peter's, Samaritan, Memorial, and St. Mary's) and Ellis Medicine pay around 10-15% for evening and 20-25% for night shift dif. Albany Med probably pays around the same percentage but since wages are low the shift dif will be effected as well. If you have at least a year of experience I would advise going through agency to work at Albany Med. You can work there for years as an agency nurse on contract and make 2-3 times the amount you would make as staff. If you are interested I know a couple of reliable agencies that are local that I could refer you to. Plus, if you don't like Albany Med you aren't burning your bridges by leaving so quickly. Good luck on job hunt!

I have 6 years of experiance. I have my BSN, CEN, ACLS, PALS, and BLS. I have worked at level 2 trauma for a short period of time; worked in Washington state and New York. Looking into Portland area hospitals. Plan on living in Hillsboro area or ourskirts of Portland. I know this will create a hassle with commuting in the morning to work with traffic but it can't be as bad as New York so I'm ok with that! What I'm really looking to know, is: 1. what hospitals have best reputations as far as ER nursing goes? 2. are any hospitals not for profit? 3. are any hospitals union? 4. any hosptials chronically short-staffed? 5. are wages comperable from hospital to hospital as far as wages go? 6. any education reimbursement? (Looking into doing Nurse Practitioner) and any other comments are appreciated! Thanks in advance! Looking to move this summer (2014).

I'm sorry to hear of the experiences you are having. Having worked on both coasts as well, I can say that the west coast is much nicer and people seem to have a bit more compassion. I think here they are just grossly overworked and underpaid. Just keep this in mind and don't let it infect you as well! My husband is fortunately able to transfer back to the west coast. We are actually looking into Portland, OR! I am interested in Emanuel hospital and Providence as potential candidates for ER nursing. I used to live in Yakima, WA where there is not big trauma hospitals, we were only level 2 trauma there. Anyhow, good luck and hopefully you will learn to love it or get the opportunity to move back in a few years as we have been lucky enough to do!

While doing home med rec my finger it the p and the o when typing prn. So it said Media. Fortunately I caught it before it saved!

I've seen La-a (pronounced la dasha) twice! And I once cared for a patient named Ana Mae who was Japanese and has just moved here from Japan... in case u don't "get it" say her name out loud...