Santa Clara County Hospitals

sjoe · Feb 5, 2003

Something else to think about is the VERY high cost of housing and long, stuck-in-traffic commuting.

Purple_RN · Feb 6, 2003

Just bumping this message up in hopes of getting more replies.

renerian, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2003

I almost did traveling home health there. I wish I had so I could give your more information.

renerian

sanakruz, ADN · Feb 6, 2003

Valley Medical Center on Bascom Avenue has a great neuro and a renowned burn unit. It can be a tough place to work. The pt. pop is poor and multicultural. Very much in need of nurses that are on the cutting edge. Avoid Oconnor. You do not want to work for CHW My 2 cents

Sally_ICURN · Feb 6, 2003

Most hospitals in the Bay Area have new grad programs that start periodically throughout the year. If I were you I'd check out:

Stanford...seriously check out Stanford. Great pay, great benefits, good philosophical beliefs about nursing, not as snooty as you'd think. I know they have new grad programs every six months.

Packard Children's if you want to work with kids.

Valley Medical Center as sanakruz said (like the screenname name btw!) great place for spinal cord and burn (EXCELLENT nurse manager/staff in burn unit), also good environment for critical care - level one trauma center - affiliated with Stanford Medical school. If your going for med/sug, be careful here...not all floors are created equal. Don't let the "county" thing sway you too much - it's really a great place to work with decent pay (not outstanding) and excellent benefits! (I have a soft spot for Valley).

El Camino Hospital. Good reputation for treating patients and employees well.

My preference is a teaching hospital. AVOID Kaiser Santa Clara at all costs - having an asthmatic daughter, I've had very bad personal experiences with this place. Also avoid San Jose Medical Center - it's closing, and Regional Medical Center of San Jose (formally Alexian Brothers) at Jackson and McKee in East SJ - Both were taken over by HCA Healthcare, a for-profit company who sees only $$ and doesn't give a crap about the community - they're closing the only hospital in downtown SJ (SJ Med Center) because they don't think it's advantageous to spend 24 million to retrofit the hospital for earthquake safety! So sad. HCA Healthcare is the "reformed" HCA/Columbia that got popped by the feds recently for ripping off $$$$$ from medicare. Beware!

Good Luck!

~Sally :cool:

sanakruz, ADN · Feb 6, 2003

Well looks like 2 thumbs up for VMC!

Both Stamford and El Camino have great psych units.

Another place is Sequoia in Redwood City. I worked there years ago through registry and liked it alot.

Sally_ICURN · Feb 6, 2003

Originally posted by sanakruz
Another place is Sequoia in Redwood City. I worked there years ago through registry and liked it alot.

Oh yeah, I forgot Sequoia. They too have a pretty good acute psych unit. I did my psych clinicals there when I was a student. It was a great experience!

SJSU_Mami · Feb 5, 2004

I'll give you my imput from my clinical experiences...

Kaiser is ok, I wouldn't say too bad, but the floors seem chaotic and who can't tell who's a nurse, MD, PT, etc. This was the first hospital I was at and I enjoyed it but just felt it was overwhelming. They have new grad programs in just about everything.

I next went to El Camino and that place is beautiful.. Nice area and great hospital. Much quieter and more organized than Kaiser SC and all the charts are computerized. No more messy handwriting to translate. All orders and information are printed out for your convenience. Their website does state new grad programs but I don't think its that varied. I could be mistaken but I've heard they only hire nurses with BSN's. As does the VA in Palo Alto. I'm doing my psych rotation at the VA Menlo Park and I like the environment and staff.

At Good Samaritan, I hear the nurses run the show.. they have various new grad programs.

O Connor.. never been there but my classmates liked it better than Kaiser.

Did my Peds rotation at VMC. Nice unit there (because its in the newer building). Plan on learning spanish if you work there.. but I've heard they have good new grad programs. One of my instructors works on the burn unit and she loves it. I personally don't see anything wrong with this county hospital.. Definitely not what you see on ER.

I want to train at Lucile Packard.. LPCH and Stanford both have great reputations but damn the employee parking permit is very expensive.. I'd still put up with it though..

In the news they've stated that San Jose Medical Center is closing..

That's about it.. hope this long entry helps!!

Good luck!

RNKPCE · Feb 5, 2004

I think you have to think about what area of nursing you want to work in. If you want trauma you have to go to a trauma hospital. If you want peds either Valley or Lucille Packards. If you want a community type hospital Good Sam, El Camino both have a reputation for retention of staff both nursing and medical.

275Main · Mar 21, 2004

Does anyone know which hospitals in the bay area offer ER new grad programs. I am aware that UCSF medical center does but I am having a difficult time finding others. I am interseted in the bay area from san fran, to san jose, and the east bay. Also a previous poster indicated that the HCA system in San Jose is not a good place to work. If possible could someone elaborate on this?

RNKPCE · Mar 21, 2004

Try Kaiser. I know several years ago when my ACLS lapsed(our hospital would no longer pay for it) I had to take the 2 day first timer course again and there were several new grads who were going to start jobs in the ER.This was at least 5+ years ago. I don't know much about HCA in San Jose but I know we have had at least 2 nurses who tried our hospital as per diem or changed to per diem at HCA and eventually quit HCA all together. These were not ER nurses though