Travel Position At Tripler

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Jul 4, 2006

I have a friend that was on assignment there in NICU...she said that they get really interesting cases from all the South Pacific Islands, but after a while you get kind of nuts on the island. You have to order or go to the Mainland to get a lot of stuff and it is very expensive to buy things there. She ended up getting a moped to use around the island.

She was there 6 months and was ready to get back to the Mainland after a while.

NICURN513 · Jul 4, 2006

Yeah, I Would Rather Do A 3month Assignment, But This Hospital Only Does 6 Month Contracts. Thanks For The Reply

rnpilot · Jul 4, 2006

Sounds like the person got "island happy" and needed to get off the island. I've lived on severall Pacific Islands and never had a problem with it. It's an individual thing. Being a pilot, married to a pilot, I never had the sense of being stranded on an island. I've heard good things about Tripler and had considered working there, but I didn't end up back in Hawaii. I love Hawaii and would move back if I could. Yes, the cost of living is hirer, but it was worth it to me to live in such a nice environment.

lmcnabbkv · Jul 5, 2006

Tripler has a small nicu, maybe like 16 beds. It's a nice unit, not very conducive to the needs of preemies especially. As far as the assignment, if you want to travel to Hawaii go for it! But although tripler is known as one of the "top" army hospitals, there are a lot of very scary things that happen there. My husband is in the military stationed in Hawaii and I went to nursing school there also, so I have been inside tripler as a patient and on the other side of the spectrum. If you do take the assignment just be VERY careful and make sure not to lower your nursing standards because you will see a lot of things that are not appropriate. It is your license!

I guess the most recent horrible story (that made it public, because there are hundreds that don't make it public) out of Tripler was the C/S baby last year who was given CO2 instead of O2 for like 40 minutes after delivery. Yeah nobody caught on that the baby was not improving because somehow the bag got hooked up to the wrong tank in the OR...until 40 minutes later. Needless to say the baby had a very poor outcome and last word was a major lawsuit was pending. I'm sure you can find more by googling the story.

On the outside it's easy for people to say how great Tripler is, but from the perspective of someone whose family has received care there...I would not recommend putting your license at risk. Every hospital has its share of mistakes but so many out of Tripler are pure negligence that it is scary.

Sorry if I put a damper on your plans, but if you are really set on Hawaii, maybe you could check for a travel assignment in the NICU @ Kapiolani

htrn · Jul 25, 2006

My husband and I were in the Navy and had our first two children at Tripler. Had a crash section with #1 and ended up in hospital on IV abx for 10 days and sabataged breastfeeding terribly. #2 ended up in NICU for TTN and she also has oral-facial-digital syndrome. I wasn't a nurse at the time, but have to tell you as a patient, I wasn't extremely pleased with the care I received. I also did not have any option as I was active duty and Tripler was my only choice.

Understand, that is my general opinion of the hospital - but there were some real Gems there that went above and beyond. Also, kids are now 16 and 14, so hopefully somethings have changed - like hopefully the nursery is not in a different wing of the hospital on a different floor and if you want your baby you have to get yourself out of bed and go get him - after a 42 hour labor, crash section and now septic:angryfire Guess I still have issues;)

They do bring in interesting cases from all over the Pacific islands, not all military.

Hubby, #1 child and I all had surgery there. My daughter had several sedated studies at TAMC that went OK, but the place is HUGE and there are policies - PERIOD!!! She ended up having to have her Cleft palate repaired at Kapioloni hospital and it was wonderful.

My suggestion, if you have never worked in a military hospital I wouldn't start a 6 month assignment in Hawaii at TAMC. I agree with an earlier poster about going to Kapioloni.

As far as living on the island - I LOVED IT!!! and miss it terribly. It is very, very expensive and a moped is a great idea. The bus system is great too. As far as 'island/rock fever' - if we ever felt that way we would load up the vehicle and do a circle island drive, play tourist, go to the beach, hiking, etc...

Am hoping to 'retire' at an early enuf age that I can then do travel nursing and make Hawaii one of my destinations. Have to get kids grown and out of the house first.

Good luck with whatever you decide - sorry about the long post.

TrooBug · Jul 26, 2006

Military hospitals are not comparable to civilian hospitals. If you want to go to Hawaii, go! You're only young once.