UMass Memorial Worcester

NeoPediRN · Sep 28, 2009

I grew up in Worcester and have lots of friends that were PCAs at UMass and the University campus who went on to get jobs as RNs at those hospitals, many in the ICU and specialties in the past two years, even in these hard times! UMass is really good about growing their own and retaining them once they become RNs. You'll work your butt off, that's for sure. My dad spent almost a year on the med-surg floors and in the ICUs at both hospitals before he died so I got to see a lot first hand. On the floors the ratios for techs is anywhere from 1:6 to 1:8 and in the ICU it's variable, there's usually at least 2. I have two friends who were also PCAs in the ER and absolutely loved it, they are the ones who went on to become new grad nurses in the ICU. You learn SO much as Memorial is a Level II trauma center with a Level III NICU, and University campus is Level I including a PICU, with organ transplantation, BMT, and experimental treatment protocols. Just be prepared to be busy and often short-staffed. They've been on a hiring freeze for over a year and it's just starting to lift but are ALWAYS short on PCAs. If you can juggle the time management and patient safety you will learn so much. If they have several positions available now is the time to get your foot in the door with a couple of positions that interest you as a tech, because they could lead the way to where you want to be as a new grad down the line...UMass does make exceptions for their own outstanding new grads, I know that for a fact.