Looking for RN job--Twin Cities (Burnsville, Welcome: salary, living, relocating)

[TJBounce]

Hi!

I graduate as an RN (ADN) in December and am starting to look for jobs. I'm not familiar with the area hospitals and am curious what the wage is at. Please help if you can!! Give me some ideas on pay and where the bets hospitals are! We are living just south of 94 in St Paul close to the river. As long as I don't have to drive for 45 mionutes, I will be happy. Thanks so much for your help!! Can't wait!

[Robert P Stewart]

I actually work with several relocating nurses each year. There is a traveling nurses program that I've been working with for some time. Of all my nurses (yes, I consider them MY nurses - I get possessive ), they seem to like Fairview Ridges in Burnsville the best. Further, they seem to like Regents the least.

Let me know if you'd like me to put you in contact with my past nurse clients. They're a likeable lot...

Robert

[JenLee]

I'm an RN here in the Twin Cities, and because of the MNA collective bargaining contracts (union); almost all of the hospitals offer good salaries whether they are in the union or not because of the competition. There are a lot of good places to work here; each hospital's MNA contract is slightly different from the others depending on benefits and other language, but the salaries are pretty much the same. A new contract was approved in June and the final copies aren't out yet, so I don't know what the new base salary is for a new grad (I didn't pay attention to that!) but it's definitely over $20/hr.

I won't tell you which hospital is better than the others because I'm prejudiced about mine. However, I'll encourage you to visit a number of them and get a feel for them: do they have a lot of new nurses or is the staff experienced? Attend CEU classes and ask other nurses where they work and what they like about their hospital and if they'd recommend it to others to work there. I'm in a unionized hospital and am glad I am; I also like the way we've cared for the person who is a patient (instead of "the patient in 304"). Some nurses really enjoy working in teaching hospitals; some hate dealing with interns and residents.

As a new nurse with no experience under your belt I'd strongly encourage you not to work as a traveling nurse until you have 2-3 years of Med/Surg under your belt; you need a good foundation in nursing and also multi-tasking skills before you are able to deal with the different places, policies, and environments that traveling gives you.

You could check with a staffing agency to see if they hire new nurses; but I know the ones I've worked with in the past never hired new grads either.

Welcome to Nursing and the Twin Cities, BTW!

[bobloblaw]

Originally Posted by TJBounce

Hi!

I graduate as an RN (ADN) in December and am starting to look for jobs. I'm not familiar with the area hospitals and am curious what the wage is at. Please help if you can!! Give me some ideas on pay and where the bets hospitals are! We are living just south of 94 in St Paul close to the river. As long as I don't have to drive for 45 mionutes, I will be happy. Thanks so much for your help!! Can't wait!

I'm a LTC RN and worked in the Burnsville/Egan area for a couple years. I had good experiences with Fairview Ridges in Burnsville. Fairview Southdale was also good from the experience I have had (keep in mind I never actually worked for any of them, but worked with them often). I also heard Woodwinds is supposed to be very holistic in care, which sounds great but that's all I know about them.

[Kyle Togareth]

I have had some experience with many of the facilities in the area. I would have no problem working at Abbott NW, United, or Fairview Southdale. All are fine facilities. I would have to be honest and say that most in this area are. I guess it depends upon what area you are going to live in..... Good Hunting!!

[sfw1979]

Nursing