Relocating to Raleigh, NC

OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2016

I live in Burlington, about an hour west of Raleigh, but I'm pretty familiar with both Duke and UNC, having interviewed at both facilities and I did clinicals at Duke when I was in school. What makes you guys want to relocate to the Raleigh area?

Did you guys graduate with your BSN? You may not hear anything until you have your NC license in hand, but I'm not completely sure about that. I will tell you that this area in general is pretty flooded with new grads. We have a lot of nursing schools pumping out new grads, and Duke and UNC in particular tend to hire from their own programs or from techs already working in the hospital from what I have heard. I graduated from an ADN program and we had a few classmates get hired at Duke on the floor we did clinicals on, and a girl get hired at UNC on the floor she was a tech on.

I'm not sure how the interview process would work since you guys are out of state but both Duke and UNC interview pretty much the same way. You meet with someone from HR first so they can go over benefits information and stuff like that, then you have your interview. Some floors will also have you shadow the same day you interview; that seems to be more of a Duke thing.

Hope that helps.

29Nurse · Jun 27, 2016

Thanks for your help! We graduated with our associates degree, but are planning on continuing on to get BSN and hopefully even further than that. Yeah I figure they probably have a lot of students out there, so I hope they do look into is too. Some diversity is always nice :)

OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2016

Unfortunately, not having your BSN will likey be a hindrance. I don't say that with any judgement; I graduated with my ADN and went back a year later for my BSN. It's just that Duke and UNC can afford to be picky about their new grads and they do show preference to BSN prepared nurses. You may need to widen your job search, especially since it would be quite a drive to Duke or especially UNC if you were planning on living in Raleigh itself. I wish you guys all the best though!

29Nurse · Jun 27, 2016

Yeah I figured that may be an obstacle. I am planning to start the process of getting my BSN this spring.

Do you live in this area? Any job searches I do, I end up with those hospitals. I would be happy to apply at other hospitals, but am somehow only presented with UNC, Duke, and Wake med when searching?

Thanks for your advice!

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 27, 2016

I was hired as an ADN at Duke. I know from some of the out of state new hires that they came in for interviews. I don't believe they pay for that, but they do for relocation (i am pretty sure) Duke, UNC and WakeMed are the big three, but each of them have satellite locations.

It is a great area. I am probably a lot older than y'all, but I find there are great things to do here. The beach is close, the mountains are close, there are lakes and lots of social things to do. I got to a concert almost every month.

I have friends and classmates at all three hospitals and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. I did my clinical at Rex (in the UNC system) and it was great. I love Duke and I have used WakeMed for my kids (they have a great peds ED). Good Luck!!!!!!

OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2016

Yeah I figured that may be an obstacle. I am planning to start the process of getting my BSN this spring.
Do you live in this area? Any job searches I do, I end up with those hospitals. I would be happy to apply at other hospitals, but am somehow only presented with UNC, Duke, and Wake med when searching?
Thanks for your advice!

I'm out towards Greensboro so I work in the Cone system, which would be a long, long drive for the Raleigh area. I know several people who make the drive to Burlington from Cary for work, but it's a long drive. Then again, I'm spoiled by my 5 minute commute lol

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Jun 27, 2016

I grew up in Raleigh, and I love it there. I would have stayed in the Triangle area if I could have gotten a NICU job right out of school. :cheeky: I think that the number of hospitals in the area keeps the admin honest; since no one hospital in the area has a monopoly, they have to treat staff relatively well.

In addition to applying to Duke and UNC, you should also consider the WakeMed system, as well as the Duke satellite campuses (Duke Raleigh and Duke Regional). WakeMed and UNC are my favorites of the hospitals. In my experience, Duke has a local reputation for taking the worst care of its nurses (though this obviously varies by unit). Duke is very physician-centric facility where doctors rule the roost, whereas nursing has a much more established presence at UNC. Also, if you're interested in higher education, note that full-time staff at UNC Hospitals are able to take one free class at UNC per semester. The UNC nursing program is well-ranked, and they have a ton of graduate nursing programs.

The process for new grad job apps at each hospital is different: At UNC all new grads apply to jobs via a single new grad application, regardless of which UNC hospital you want to work for (Main, Children's, Women's, Neuro-Psych, or Cancer Hospital). At Duke you submit different application for each separate hospital campus (Main, Raleigh, or Duke Regional Campus). At WakeMed you submit different application for each specialty (ICU, Peds, Women's, Med-Surg, etc.) If you're interested in Cone (in Greensboro, about an hour drive), the new grads apply to a residency program in a specialty, then rotate through different units in that specialty to find the best permanent fit (i.e. ICU hires will rotate through SICU, CCU, Neuro ICU, etc.) I really liked my interview with Cone, though I'm not a huge fan of Greensboro.

I'm kind of surprised that you're able to apply this late. When I applied as a new grad a few years back, the Duke applications for May graduates were due in January, and people received offers that February to start after graduation. UNC applications were due in February, and interviews were conducted from April through June. WakeMed applications were due throughout February and March. Cone applications were due in February and offers were made in March. If you're applying now, the jobs may not actually start until much later during the year.

Best of luck to you and your friends!

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 29, 2016

Duke has a local reputation for taking the worst care of its nurses (though this obviously varies by unit). Duke is very physician-centric facility where doctors rule the roost,

I have not worked at UNC but I have not had a bad experience with a physician at Duke. I work in ortho and we have had the best bunch of residents for the 3 years that I have been there and not one of the attending physicians has been anything but nice. We have a lot of off service patients the the Gen Med hospitalists are wonderful too. there are some services that are better than others, but I have had a great experience there. Jut my two cents.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · Jun 30, 2016

I have not worked at UNC but I have not had a bad experience with a physician at Duke. I work in ortho and we have had the best bunch of residents for the 3 years that I have been there and not one of the attending physicians has been anything but nice. We have a lot of off service patients the the Gen Med hospitalists are wonderful too. there are some services that are better than others, but I have had a great experience there. Jut my two cents.

I hear ya. I guess when I say physician-centric, I mean on a larger administrative scale, not necessarily by individual physicians. Compared to other hospitals in the area, there aren't as many nurses in high-level leadership positions. I think that sort of structure is part of the reason why they can keep salaries low compared to other local hospitals (I haven't actually worked at Duke so I can't speak personally to salaries, but that's what I've heard from many friends at the Duke hospitals and nurses who have come to other hospitals from Duke).

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 30, 2016

Duke is a Magnet hospital so by definition, nurses are involved in governance. The CEO and (not really sure of what her title is now-she is split between hospital and nursing school) are both nurses. One a man and one a woman. I don't feel at all that it is physician-centric. the CPC committee is all nurses. Almost all the unit-based and hospital-based groups that I been involved in are all nurse-led. Many of the policy changes are initiated by nurses. There is a lot of administration that are nurses. We have a lot of residents, but even they are "trained" by us in many areas where there are protocols they are not familiar with. The residents are taught very early on to use and NEVER to abuse the nurses. They can make or break a resident. I know there is a difference in the OR, but in the hospital, it is all about the nurses. Honestly. I am not one of the ones that have "drunk the Magnet kool-aid". I am extremely comfortable there and not afraid to question an order or advocate for a patient. I am also comfortable (more than the residents are) to call an attending physician if need be.

Maybe I am the exception, and there is a lot that could be better, but I do not feel as if we are not heard, as nurses.

frozenmedic · Jul 4, 2016

I started as a new grad at Duke (with an ADN from a non-local school) so it is possible. I ended up staying there for a few years before moving to UNC.

As multiple other people have noted, there are a lot of nursing schools in the area cranking out new grads, and both these hospitals recieve applications from nurses across the country. What you might not know, is how bad the statistics are: when I started at Duke my manager told me they were receiving 400 applications per new grad position. I have heard rumors that UNC is similar.

Obviously that means they are not carefully evaluating each application, they're screening them right of the top using the survey that you have to submit with your application (I'm assuming they still do that). So, while your resume might be great, you need to put anything that makes you special out front, on the survey form if you can. Similarly, since it's a numbers game to get an interview, I would apply to any positions you think you might be interested in, not just the perfect job. I applied to bunches of positions before getting interviews.

If I remember, Duke posts new grad positions about once a month, UNC about once a quarter, so be ready to reapply whenever another cycle occurs. That being said, UNC will occasionally hire new grads "off-cycle" to units with a critical need. The positions are listed individually, you just have to find them when they come up.

Once you do get an interview, you'll probably have to fly out, as they only offer relocation assistance once you've accepted a position. Both facilities use behavioral based interviewing, so they ask things that are designed to see how you actually react in real situations, not how good at telling interviewers what they want to hear. Things like, "tell us about a time you made a mistake in work/nursing school" or "tell us about a time you disagreed with a superior," "tell us about how you went above and beyond for a patient or co-worker" etc etc.

I had one interview at Duke with a panel of 8 people, another just with the manager, so be ready for anything on that front. I would have ready in your mind few specific work/nursing school examples that were difficult; maybe they ended up turning our well, maybe they didn't, but these will likely apply to several types of these questions.

I would also apply to any positions at WakeMed (you'll be closer in Raleigh anyways) as well as the affiliated hospitals for Duke and UNC (Duke Regional, Rex etc) and not just the flagship campuses. It will get you in the system, and you can decide what you want to do later.

I'm not going to weigh-in on which one is better to work for, each has pros and cons, and ultimately, your individual unit will be the biggest determiner of whether you're happy or not. I found base pay comparable, but UNC has better shift differentials.

Good luck!