Providence Alaska and Alaska Regional

[Candidnt]

Anybody work in either place? What are they like?

[NursePamela]

I can speak for Providence. It is a great place to work. I have worked with a lot of great people throughout the hospital. I don't know much about regional except that I had a friend who worked there and she said she loved coming to Providence cause our food was so much better.

[asndc2]

I was at Prov for many years and miss it still. I was also at AK Reg for less than 1 year and have NO fond memories!

[Ukie_nurse]

Funny, I spoke to several nurses on th med/surg floor at the Native hospital - they had no fond memories of Prov:nurse:

[alaskabound]

where is prov and reg interior? islands? as you can tell by my name, we are planning on moving there within the next 12 months... not sure where though...

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

Prov. Regional, and the Native Hospital are all in Anchorage. Prov. also has sites in other parts of the state. Kodiak comes to mind but I know there are more branches up here. Interior is more likely Fairbanks but there are other hospitals between Anchorage and Fairbanks. You might also want to look on the Kenai as there are a few hospitals down there. Places like Nome, Kotzebue, and Bethel have small, mostly native run hospitals but don't handle major problems. They are package and fly out for most major things.

I only have superficial knowledge of Prov. vs Regional but I have heard great things about Prov. They have worked hard to retain nurses and still fulfill the corporate mandate of customer satisfaction.

Hope this helps.

[AKav8trix]

There's a good chance I'll be moving to Anchorage in the next year or so and am trying to figure out which hospital might be a better fit for me. My background is in Trauma/Neurosurg ICU in a Level 1 Trauma Ctr and I love it. I'm thinking I'd like to continue to work in a Trauma unit but am open to working CVICU too to get some post-open heart experience. My ultimate goal is to get into flight nursing (probably also in AK).

I'd love to hear from anyone familiar with any of the ICU's in either hospital to find out more about them.

Thanks!

[akgirl_rn]

I have worked at both hospitals and i will give you my honest opinion. Providence is the larger of the two hospitals, there ICU is a little bigger but intensity is somewhat similar. Alaska Regional is a smaller hospital, treats their employees (nurses) better. Seems like they are more willing to make their nurses happier. They both have OH surgery and only 2 practices in the state. Both practice at both hospitals but they mainly stick to their respective (seperate) hospital. Alaska Regional does bow down to their C.T. surgeons and the surgeon pretty much have the say if you are a "heart" nurse or not. As for Providence, the manager has a horrible reputation and many of their ICU rns come to Regional. So it depends on what you are looking for. As for Trauma hospital, the Native hospital is our Trauma hospital BUT... their ICU is kinda of a PCU/ICU combination making it at times boring. Thier cardiac patients go to Regional as per contract. Regional does have neuro pts as well as trauma, as well as the other 2 hospitals since we are in AK. as for Native...they have a lot of DTs, liver failure, in their ICU. Hope this helps as it's late and i'm tired.

[AKav8trix]

I thought I'd revive this thread since it's been a while and things may have changed. I never did make it Anchorage a few years ago, but now I will be going there for sure, and so I'm applying for ICU and ED jobs. I've heard that the Providence ICU has a new manager? Is it a good or a not so good change? Does Regional have CVVH? What are the typical patient to nurse ratios at either place?

I'm also looking at the Mat-Su Regional ICU, though I'm wondering if the acuity is high enough for what I'm looking for. Do they send their really sick ones on to Anchorage? I've heard though, from several people that it's a really nice place to work. I'm also interested in working in their ED.

Thanks!

[rotteluvr31, ADN, RN]

I thought I'd revive this thread since it's been a while and things may have changed. I never did make it Anchorage a few years ago, but now I will be going there for sure, and so I'm applying for ICU and ED jobs. I've heard that the Providence ICU has a new manager? Is it a good or a not so good change? Does Regional have CVVH? What are the typical patient to nurse ratios at either place?

I'm also looking at the Mat-Su Regional ICU, though I'm wondering if the acuity is high enough for what I'm looking for. Do they send their really sick ones on to Anchorage? I've heard though, from several people that it's a really nice place to work. I'm also interested in working in their ED.

Thanks!

Prov does have a new manager, altho I don't know anything about the new mgr.

You are correct that MSR sends their sicker pts to Anchorage. I believe all of the hospitals in the state send their sick pts to Anchorage, or even out of state depending upon the needs of the pt.

[Creamsoda, ASN, RN]

Yes Prov has new managers. They changed the structure of management so theres a few more. Matsu sends the sick ones to Prov. Prov is a pretty good place to work in my experience. Thats where your going to get your experience if thats what your after.