is a teaching hospital better experience than a nonteaching hospital?

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 27, 2011

There is no way for any of us to know. It depends on the specifics of the institutions involved. A teaching hospital can be great -- but it can also be terrible. The same goes for a non-teaching hospital. It all depends on the individuals who work there, the philosphies of the management, etc.

Which type of work interests you more? At which hospital do the nurses seem happier? Did you like one manager more than the other? etc.

shannons1 · Mar 28, 2011

Well I don't think it is so much which is better, rather which one is a better fit for you. I've learned over the years that I much prefer large, teaching hospitals over the private institutions in my area. There has always been more opportunities and a broader diversity in the patient population at the teaching hospital I'm at. Not sure that would be the case in your geographic location. I've found that at the private institutions I've worked at it ismuch harder to get a hold of physicians, harder to order diagnostics and the electronic charting is usually difficult to work with-just off the top of my head:)! Now I've been a NP for many years but still think this applies working as a RN, at least for me. One thing I always ask to do before I take a position is see if I can shadow for a shift to get a feel for the hospital and unit.

Not sure how helpful this is but best of luck in your decision!

ninaricci · Mar 28, 2011

Great questions! Yes, at the non-teaching hospital the nurse manager was 'overflowing' with positive energy, the nurses appeared happy, and having a mother who has been a geriatric nurse for 52 years...I have a natural affinity for the area. At the teaching hospital everyone seemed happy, the nurse manager was nice but it did seem the unit was or will be going through some changes as they are in the process of hiring a charge nurse and several supervisory staff....my understanding those positions are vacant at present.

I think perhaps one of the best insights I had was the other day when I took my daughter for a hair cut. The girl cutting her hair said her bf cleaned medical equipment at all the area hospitals. I asked her if he ever talked about the hospital environments. She mentioned several that gave him the impression everyone was miserable but that there was one he loved to go to...the one he loved is the nonteaching hospital from which I have the offer. I think that says alot!

ninaricci · Mar 28, 2011

thanks shannon1. I really am torn and shadowing would be a great way to resolve those feelings! I think I will put in that request in the am!

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

Take the teaching hospital job. You will learn more than you could ever wish for - you will get cases from all different areas and will become very skilled very quickly.

Good luck.

CCL RN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

Another vote for the teaching hospital.

OCNRN63, RN · Mar 28, 2011

You can learn a lot of self-reliance at a smaller hospital. I can say that I learned a lot more skills at a non-teaching hospital. That's not to say you won't have opportunities to learn from docs and others; you may just have to seek them out a little more aggressively.

I worked at a small teaching hospital and learned a ton there. The docs for the most part went out of their way to teach, and if they weren't available, there were always interns, residents, or even med students around to learn from.

I now work at a large hospital that is a teaching hospital. There is little to no interaction with the physicians at all. Learning opportunities are not like either of the aforementioned hospitals.

YMMV.

ErinS, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

I have only had experience with one teaching hospital, and it was after I had a year experience. I think it would be very difficult to start working in a teaching hospital without a lot of experience. Kind of like the blind leading the blind with some of the orders new docs wrote. I did learn a lot and see things I would not have seen otherwise.

jazy4ICU · Mar 28, 2011

Shadowing will be very helpful. In addition it also depends on your career goals. Teaching hopsitals offer lots of learning opportunity especially during rounds. But you will need an eagle eye to spot those mistakes in the orders new residence write. It requires some level of agressiveness and proactiveness. Most of all teaching hospitals are very resourceful and help always come handy.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

At smaller hospitals though you have to work much harder. I've worked in country hospitals and the RNs have to do EVERYTHING - change linen bags, fetch linen trolleys, bring up meals if no-one else is there, stock pharmacy, re-stock the IV paraphermalia, order drugs, etc and sometimes there were no social workers, physios etc where I worked so we had to factor in time for that as well. Also in many smaller hospitals you may not have orderlies or ward helpers/CNAs so you have to do all their work too, like turning patients and waiting for other nurses to come help you - and THAT wastes a lot of time too.

Frankly I found it very frustrating, but I like the busy pace of a large teaching hospital. You see some fascintating cases too.

Let us know what you decide.

:)

BrookeeLou_RN · Mar 28, 2011

Considering your age (no offense I am older than you!) I would take the one with the pension!!

If that does not factor into your life.. then I would take the one where you felt most comfortable.

If you were young(again no offense) I would take the teaching hospital as opportunities are usually awesome! But I would add this if you go with teaching hospital I would recommend staying with a teaching hospital.

I started at one and when I made the switch to community based it ended up causing me to feel so uncomfortable I changed to another area of nursing.. I felt the new place just was underqualified and as such was dangerous. This was in L&D so maybe it is just that arena.