St. John's Mercy Medical Center- Info for a new grad

[Soon2BGrad]

I have some questions about St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis

1) What is the pay for a new grad doing med-surg? Differential? Holiday pay?

2) Is there a sign on bonus? If yes, how much?

3) Is there tuition reimbursement?

4) What is the nurse-patient ratio?

5) Any other thoughts about St. John's?

Please let me know as I'm trying to decide where to apply & I have lots of students loans to pay back! I'm sure there are other people in the same boat and would appreciate any info.

Thanks! :balloons:

[ernurse16]

I can't answer your questions except give you my thoughts on St John's... run run run as fast as you can to anywhere but there!!! Administration there hates nurses and will stick it to you whenever they can. The nurses went union because they were treated so badly... now they are treated even worse! Many of us left in disgust and anger. I wouldn't go back there or recommend anyone work there!

[RunnerRN, BSN, RN]

Whoa......St John's is not a bad place to work! There were some issues approx 6 years ago when the union was first brought in. The hospital had been taken over by another company that tried to manage it and several other hospitals in the same way, and admin DID treat their nurses not so positively. That is when the union was voted in. Then 3 years ago, the initial contract was expiring and RNs went on strike for several weeks (I want to say 6?). Now, there has been a petition for decertification of the union, and St John's nurses will vote in early August as to whether keep the UFCW, vote in a union called SEIU/Nurse Alliance, or vote "neither" which would mean no union at all.

I personally have NEVER felt anything but respect and support from administration. It isn't the place for everyone obviously, but we tend to have good RN/patient ratios, and get a good mix of patient acuity and socioeconomic status.

On to your questions :)

1) I believe new grad pay is somewhere between 19-20/hr depending on if you have a BSN or not. They offer a 50 cent BSN diff. I will also say that St Louis hospitals tend to match each other with their hourly rates. I can't recall diffs off the top of my head.

2)I think sign on bonus is around $2000 - $1000 on arrival and $1000 6 months later.

3)They do loan forgiveness of up to $10,000. There is a work requirement for that - I think if you take the full 10 it is 2 years.

4)I can't speak for NP ratio because I work in the ER.

The other thing I wanted to say about Johns is that they have great fellowship programs for new grads. You will be in a classroom for 2-3 months, then have a precepted orientation for a varied amount of time depending on which fellowship you choose. I think it goes from 6 weeks (Med Surg) up to 9 months (OR). They also have ICU, ER, OB, NICU, Peds fellowships.

I'd encourage you to call HR and make an appointment to just tour the hospital. Also do the same with other area facilities. I worked at BJC hospitals and St Anthony's in school before choosing St Johns. I love it there!

Good luck with your decision!

[ernurse16]

Whoa......St John's is not a bad place to work! There were some issues approx 6 years ago when the union was first brought in. The hospital had been taken over by another company that tried to manage it and several other hospitals in the same way, and admin DID treat their nurses not so positively. That is when the union was voted in. Then 3 years ago, the initial contract was expiring and RNs went on strike for several weeks (I want to say 6?). Now, there has been a petition for decertification of the union, and St John's nurses will vote in early August as to whether keep the UFCW, vote in a union called SEIU/Nurse Alliance, or vote "neither" which would mean no union at all.

St John's is, was, and always has been run by the Sisters of Mercy. There has never been "another company" brought into St John's. They have, however, changed administration several times since the nurses voted the union in. But they all had the same agenda, beat the nurses, beat the union. Yes they are voting again on union issues. Decert, go with the other union or stay with UFCW. This doesn't mean things are going well there. It means many weren't happy with the UFCW, not that they are happy with St John's admin. I am sure decert probaby has a better chance of getting in since John's has run off most of the good veteran nurses that were there.

Oh and staffing ratios... are you kidding me there? It's your butt in a sling if you keep buying admins bs. At least make an educated decision about the union issue... go to the meetings, listen and learn. But you are a fool if you buy what St John's admin is trying to selling you.

[RunnerRN, BSN, RN]

Thanks for your advice. I have gone to several meetings, have spoken with many union reps, and have made my educated decision. I don't think the union is going to be decertified because the hospital ran off "all the veteran nurses." I think it will be decertified because most people don't see any positive changes from the union. Our wages are still in line with other St. Louis hospitals. Obviously if the NP ratios on the floor are as awful as you state, then the UFCW didn't help much with that either. And I don't want my "union mandated raise" to go to my union dues.

With the Nurse Alliance, I have grown very weary of their tactics. I recognize that everything the hospital is putting forth is also propaganda, but St John's administration has never shown up unannounced on my doorstep on my day off, wanting to talk about why SEIU is wonderful and will be the "answer to the problems the hospital nurses are facing." (Exact wording of the union rep who came to my house 2 weeks ago.)

If you haven't worked here for awhile, you cannot speak to current admin. There is a new CEO who I feel is trying to make some changes. Yes the organization is still run overall by the SOM, but there is some admin currently there trying to make things better.

I never said that the nurse to pt ratios are fabulous all over the hospital. If you read further into my post, I said that I couldn't speak to the ratios in other areas because I do work in the ER. But the ER does have great ratios. We are very well staffed, and usually have at least 2 or 3 float RNs available. And on busy days, my dept's admin calls in extra staff just to relieve other RNs for lunch. The ER is not staffed only with new grads as you stated in another post. We have a number of new grads who went through the Fellowship program, but we also have a large number of veterans and very experienced nurses. When was the last time you worked at St Johns?