JustinaHD83

Please, for the sake of your nursing license... stay far, far, FAR away from Blake Medical Center. Sarasota Memorial Hospital seems to have a much desirable new graduate support system. If you want to go to an HCA facility, I have heard Doctors Hospital may be better. I have heard that Florida hospitals have new grad programs and so do the Baycare Systems (which are also rated good). I would stay clear of HCA.

If I had the option to ever be part of a union again, i would not waste my money. However, I worked for a terribly managed company (that is why i chose to opt in to the union)..but even the union had no clue. A rep was never available to staff when needed. There was always all this talk about "staffing issues", yet nothing ever would get done about it - except filling out paper after paper. It's hard for a union to do their job when a hospital is run so poorly and management changes over so frequently. My advice is if you work for a solid grounded company, you probably do not need a union to fall back on. The non voluntary union i worked was when i was per diem at a facility that I did weekends at. I know some departments were union, some were not. Basically, how the union works is: there is a ladder that the union follows regarding staff being called off (who gets called off first during low census), who floats first (regular staff, versus travel, versus per diem), adherence to the other policies of the facility that you work at - if you get disciplined and someone else doesnt. The union will follow up to see if your manager followed the policy for EVERYONE, and not just one person. You do not have to attend a "disciplinary" meeting without a union rep present (I'm assuming so they can witness what was said - and in case you want to file a grievance towards it). There are short staffing forms that the union leaves on all the floors that can be filled out in order so that your facility adheres to whatever the staffing protocols are. It can be a good thing I guess , given that you have a good regional rep and good reps in your facility.

I moved here 1 year ago from up north. It took me a total of 1 week to get a job in a hospital on a Cardiac/Tele step down unit in the Tampa Bay area. The pay I make (after shift diffs) averages out to MORE than what I make up north (due to no state income taxes here in FL). Base rate may seem a little deceiving... but do the math.. and CALCULATE the shift diffs. We get 4.50 after 11pm and then an extra 2.00 ALL shifts on the weekends.. so that's like adding 6.50 to your base rate (on weekends).