Soon-to-be RN looking at hospitals in OKC area

[VJinOK]

Hello. I will be finishing an accelerated BSN program this summer. I have already started applying at hospitals because the May grads are applying now. I currently work as a Nurse Partner at OU Medical Center and I have a job there after graduation if I want it. I am reluctant to commit to staying until I have looked at what else is out there. I interviewed at the VA Medical Center last week, and I have an interview at Norman Regional this week. I have also applied at Integris Baptist, but so far I have not been called.

If you have recently worked for any of these hospitals, what are your feelings about them, pro and con? My interview at VA went really well, and the federal benefits are appealing. This is a second career for me, so retirement is a bigger deal than it might be for a much younger grad. I don't have as much time to "play the field" before I settle down. I also want to pursue an advanced practice degree, and the manager who interviewed me suggested that the VA might pay for that and salary too.

I like my unit where I am now at OU Med Ctr, but from what I could tell in employee orientation the insurance and retirement benefits are not the greatest. (I am part time and therefore do not participate in the benefits yet.) I also worry about the corporate health of HCA, the parent company. I live in Norman, so Norman Regional is the closest to home and therefore in the running!

How did you go about choosing your first nursing job? What did you look for?

[HitmanCFYA]

I have a friend who works in Normans ER, and she likes it. She's contract though, so she doesn't worry about their benefits.

I wouldn't be too hung up on retirement benefits from one place over another. You need to be doing your own retirement anyways. Roth IRA's, mutual funds, etc. Now if they give you some dough for 401K, by all means take it. Where I work kicks in 4% if I put in 5%, so that's cool. But over 5% goes to my Roth.

Of course Norman is close to you, as is Moore Medical Center. They are also building a new heart hospital at 240 and Sooner in a couple years. I hate driving so the closer the better for me.