Ready to work in Nevada

HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Apr 21, 2006

I've heard St. Rose is excellent and has a brand new cardiac center they are trying to staff.

BearLV · Apr 26, 2006

St. Rose is one of the better places to work in the Las Vegas area (IMO). I work at the De Lima campus in Henderson and wouldn't go anywhere else. There are 3 campuses; 2 in Henderson and 1 in Las Vegas. The campus in Las Vegas, San Martin, is scheduled to open this summer. I know they held a job fair a few weeks ago, and I imagine they are continuing to hire new staff. Check out the website http://www.strosehospitals.org

Good luck to you!

hellerd2003, RN · Apr 28, 2006

As a new grad, what do others who have been here suggest? I'd like to work in Tele, Cardiac, or ER.
I have searched many hospital websites but have not yet applied for fear of being lost in the 'online blackhole'.

Chances of being hired as a new grad with no experience in the ED is rare, if not impossible. I had applied for positions in ED's only to be told that unless I was a NAP (NV's method of segueing nursing students into positions) in the ED currently, I wouldn't have a chance. And that is with ED experience (20 hours/ week) while I was in nursing school under my belt!

Tele should be doable. Cardiac may be possible, depending on what level of cardiac you're wanting. If you're talking cardiac ICU/ fresh hearts, chances of having that experience as a new grad are slim. If you're talking cardiac step-down (essentially tele), then you're golden.

As a new grad, I was hired by the St. Rose system for ICU. I've learned that this is pretty rare, and is only given to someone who has hospital-based experience. Prior to and during nursing school, I worked in a hospital setting, so that helped me out and got my foot in the door.

Anyway-- so you can get specialized placement (tele, cardiac step-down), but the ED and CCU are more difficult. Oh-- I do second what someone already wrote about St. Rose-- they're a great system for which to work. Highly supportive, great RN's, and they really devote a heck of a lot of time into your training. I had applied online to St. Rose, the Valley system, and Sunrise. Valley never answered my e-mails OR my repeated phone calls. Sunrise was a close second to St. Rose because they have so many speciality areas. But for me, St. Rose won out because they seem, above the other hospitals in the area, to value their nurses.

jayrelic · Apr 29, 2006

Thanks for the responses everyone. I appreciate the insight.

nursebear168 · Jun 26, 2006

Do you know what is the patient ratio in the telemety unit at St Rose? I 'm thinking relocating from Los Angeles to Vegas. I just need some info.

jayrelic · Jun 27, 2006

I think it's 7:1. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

rnpilot · Jun 29, 2006

St. Rose does have a good reputation. I recently applied for a job with them for San Martin and had major problems. Two phone screening interviews were scheduled for me and weren't kept. I got a job somewhere else by the time they got back to me about 4 weeks later. The first call from them was 2 hours later than told. I was at my son's graduation and missed the call. For the second interview, I sat by the phone all afternoon and never got called. About a week later, the recruiter called and said HR had no business setting an interview time. The process was very unprofessional and disorganized. I would recommend going to whichever campus you want to work at and fill out an application there. Don't go the online route with them.

I've done a lot of online applications and overall, my experience hasn't been good with the exception of a few. One hospital actively recruiting me from out of state completely dropped the ball and it took 6 months to get hired with them when I finally contacted the nurse manager. I have 13 years of NICU so I'm in an area of demand.

As for finger prints- I did mine at least 4 months ahead. They were returned for "poor quality" only a few weeks before my temporary was to expire. I ended up giving notice. I got my permanent license 4 days after my temporary expired. I had to have my prints done digitally. The guy asked if I scrubbed a lot because my prints were so fine and he had a hard time getting them. I've been told problems with prints are common, so do them as far in advance as you can.

Best wishes!