Upstate jobs? Where?

Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN · May 15, 2015

Did you look at Vassar brothers or the old Saint Francis hospital...now current Mid Hudson Regional hospital of WMC ? There is also benedictine is kingston altho I think the name is something else right now. I haven't been in the area for a while so I'm a little out of date but I would try and look there. There is also columbia medical. Hope that helps .

NYtoFLRN · May 20, 2015

Not anywhere near the Hudson, but look into Buffalo. Plenty of jobs here, and lots of different hospitals. A few of the hospitals are offering sign-on bonuses for experienced RNs. I just finished my BSN at a school in Buffalo and I'd say around 50-60% of my class graduated with job offers in local hospitals and many were even hired as new grads to specialty floors. Even with just 6 months of experience you'd have your pick of pretty much any department you wanted to work in. Buffalo itself is really up and coming and isn't a bad place to be either.

FloridaBeagle · May 22, 2015

Thanks everyone. Buffalo's a little too far for me. I'm looking for jobs at Mid Hudson Regional. I'm also applying at Thompson in Canandaigua and Cayuga in Ithaca. Does anyone have any networking tips? Any needy hospitals upstate?

tiny_nurse · Jun 15, 2015

Is Utica too far? What about St. Luke's or St. Elizabeth's?

Binghamton also has UHS Binghamton general and Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hx.

ShadowAngelRN · Jun 16, 2015

Greetings,

This might get a little lengthy, so get some coffee. I have lived, and worked, in the Hudson Valley my entire life. I'm 48 (How did that happen?) now. I was an LPN for 4 years (I went to vocational school & high school at the same time), and got my AAS & RN license in 1989, while working EMS for a private ambulance company. For the majority of my career, I've worked in acute care hospitals. For the past 15 years, I've worked in various aspects of critical care- Trauma, ICU, CCU, ER, and a little PACU. After many years of listening to all the huffing and puffing about BSN's (I dropped out of a BSN program in 1986), and having many interviews turn sour with comments similar to: "We would love to hire you, but you don't have a BSN," (since, obviously 25+ years of experience,and numerous certifications, are meaningless) I went back to school, spent somewhere around $25,000, and graduated summa cum laude with the sacred BSN in August 2014. Although numerous facilities in the Hudson Valley are advertising vacancies, seemingly no one is being hired for them. I've been job searching since I got the sacred BSN that was, supposedly, precluding my job search- nothing. You newbies aren't getting hired because you don't have any experience yet, and no one wants to invest the time or $$$ in training you. Nurses like me, who finally got sick of the "no BSN" excuse, and got the flipping thing, aren't getting hired either, because no one wants to pay what we deserve... Blessings to everyone out there searching.

With that said, here are some notes that might be helpful:

1: Generally speaking, the further south (toward NYC) you go, the more you will get paid- at least in the Hudson Valley corridor. I don't know anything about western New York.

2: Agency, Contract, and Travel jobs pay more than regular staff positions, but usually require some experience, and there are "trade offs" to consider. Your hours (therefore salary) may not be guaranteed or consistent. You may not be offered medical, time off, or retirement/401k-type benefits. Some companies even expect you to keep track of, and pay, your own taxes. If you take a travel assignment, and the company tries to sell you on the "tax-free" housing stipend, check with a tax professional! The last I knew, the location of the assignment had to be 50 miles, or further, from your legal address of record- otherwise you end up paying a hefty tax at the end of the year.

3: St Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie is now MidHudson Regional of Westchester Medical Center- they are still paying St. Francis wages from what I've heard.

4: Vassar Brothers Medical Center recently announced plans for a multi-million $ expansion project- seems they are doing ok financially, and, historically, have always paid a little better than St. Francis, even though they are less than a mile apart. They are part of the HealthQuest System that also includes Northern Dutchess Hospital & Putnam Hospital.

5: Kingston & Benedictine Hospitals (as well as Margaretville Hospital) are under the umbrella name Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley. I've applied for numerous positions, over the past 2-3 years, but have never gotten a single response.

6: St Luke's Cornwall has 2 campuses- 1 in Newburgh & 1 in Cornwall. Newburgh is an inner city environment- best to know before you go. Last I knew, pay was reasonable, and slightly higher than all those previously mentioned.

7: Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris is much smaller than its name implies. I don't know much about the place, but understand that they have recently received a pretty sizable grant for upgrades, and should grow if the whole " we finally got a casino" thing works out as expected for Sullivan County.

8: Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown is the result of the closure/combination of Arden Hill Hospital that was in Goshen, and Horton Hospital that was in Middletown. I've not heard much good. Staff turn over seems to be very high, and patient complaints plentiful.

9: Ellenville Hospital is a tiny little thing. I'm not sure if it is still open actually. I know absolutely nothing about this one either. It is also near the casino impact zone in Sullivan County.

10: Good Samaritan in Suffern, St. Anthony's in Warwick, and what was St. Francis in Port Jervis are all Bon Secours Health System. Good Samaritan is large, and pretty metropolitan, the other 2 are small & much more rural (think farm country).

11: Nyack Hospital in Nyack is almost as large as Good Samaritan, but a little further south.

Hope this Helps!

FloridaBeagle · Jun 20, 2015

Hope this Helps!

Thanks for all that, ShadowAngel. I heard back from Putnam, which told me to contact them when I'm closer to 1 year of experience. *sigh*

Funny you mention travel nursing, because its the opposite here in FL: travelers get guaranteed hours, us staffers get sent home for low census. Now that it's summer, and Florida is empty, I'm getting sent home or called off once a week. I can't afford this!

I'm going to look into some of the other hospitals you mentioned, but hopefully it'll be a moot point because I have an interview with a hospital in Minnesota. :cat:

Thanks for all the info!