Unexpected Move to CT: Where to work? What's it like at NYP?

[Sloan RN]

Hi everyone,

I'm a PICU RN with 2 years of experience at a large teaching, magnet hospital. My grandfather died recently, and I'm considering moving up to CT to live with my grandmother for awhile. This isn't something that I've been planning for, so I really have no idea where to work. I don't even know what's an option for me as far as ease of getting to work, as my grandmother lives in Greenwich, CT. I've been mainly restricting my search to NYC hospitals. Should I expand it?

If I want to say in peds, it seems that NYP-Morgan Stanley Children's is the way to go. Their PICU sounds a lot like the one I'm currently at...I'm especially glad they have an ECMO program; so does my current hospital and I would be sad to leave that. I would love the opportunity to work at Boston Children's, but wouldn't the commute from CT be ridiculous? I'm not familiar with the train/subway/whatever system up there. Where I live now, you drive everywhere!

I also have an interest in emergency medicine and trauma, as I think I may want to be a flight nurse someday, and maybe this move would be a good opportunity for me to gain the adult experience required for flight nursing. Other than 6 months in a telemetry unit and an internship in nursing school where I rotated through several adult ICUs, I have no adult experience. I read an article saying that NYC has 15 Level 1 Trauma Centers...wow! Which is best? NYP?

I keep seeing NYP on lists of best hospitals (peds and adults), Level 1 Trauma Centers, etc...I want to work for the best hospital in the area where I can take care of the sickest patients and see the most cutting edge medicine, and it seems like NYP would be it. Am I wrong on that? Are there other stellar hospitals that are a reasonable commute from Greenwich? What's it like to work for NYP--are nurses generally satisfied?

Also, does NYP allow you to hold two positions at once (i.e. full-time in the PICU and PRN in the adult ED or trauma unit)? Do they have cross-training programs that allow you to work in two different units?

Edited to add...in my reading on this board I've learned that nursing unions are pretty big in New York. They're completely unheard-of where I currently live. Since I've read that a lot of the nurses at non-union NYC hospitals are still happy with their jobs, I think I would prefer to work at a non-union hospital. I don't want to pay union dues, and I'm used to non-union type benefits (like 401ks with employer matches), so I won't miss what I've never had (like pensions)!

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

[ExpatHopeful, LPN, LVN]

I'll leave the more experienced members to answer you - but Bellevue has an excellent reputation for trauma if that's the direction you want to go in. Most people I've spoken to think they're the best for trauma in NYC (not so much for anything else though).

[CT-NICU]

Yale New Haven hospital-Large teaching hospital. Recently achieved magnet status-newly built cancer center. A beautiful hospital. I know the PICU has an ECHMO program and they have many openings. Good luck!