St. Thomas Hospital (Murfreesboro, Franklin, Hendersonville: house, employment, private schools)

[boeckami]

I have a potential job opportunity in Nashville at St. Thomas Hospital. I am from Cincinnati, OH but am currently on a travel assignment in Phoenix. Can anyone tell me anything about St. Thomas Hospital? I am a pediatric nurse but would not mind taking care of adults. Also, does anyone know about the schools in the outskirts of Nashville. My son will be in high school next fall. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[alleycat]

It's a highly ranked hospital. It was once, and probably still is, the best hospital in the region when it comes to heart problems (beating out even Vanderbilt). A few years ago it and Baptist merged. They still operate as separate hospitals however. St. Thomas has maybe lost a little of its luster in the past few years, but is still a fine hospital.

The two high schools closest to St. Thomas are Hillwood and Hillsboro. They are two of the better high schools in the county, but even they have their problems. Hume Fogg High School is further towards downtown, but had kept a good reputation for the most part (unless I'm wrong, Hume Fogg is the academic magnet high school in Metro; meaning they have more advanced classes for the brightest students).

Another choice for you as a pediatric nurse is Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

[boeckami]

Thank you so much for the information. I will check out Vanderbilt as well.

[alleycat]

There are many hospitals in the greater Nashville area. You might also consider Baptist (one of their commercials claim that they deliver more babies than any other hospital in Nashville).

There is a significant demand for qualified nurses so you should be able to find something that suits you.

As for areas with schools you might find acceptable, you might look at Franklin, Kingston Springs, Hendersonville. It sort of depends on where you work and what kind of commute you're willing to put up with.

Another thing you might want to consider is where your son plans to attend college. I'm not sure of the details but it used to be that if someone worked for Vanderbilt they got a big discount on tuition for their children. I might be something worth looking into. If your son likes this area and think he wants to live here after he's out on his own, he couldn't do better than get a degree from Vanderbilt (the school is good, the "old school tie" network in Nashville is even better for someone's career).

[drstrange53]

I have worked at St.Thomas for 28 years. moved here from Los Angeles when i was 27. I work with the Biomedical Engineering dept so have worked with all the nursing depts in the hospital. It is probably the best place to work in Nashville, this is what i have heard from Nurses who have worked at all the area hospitals and return here. Since St.Thomas and Baptist are a System you would have equal rights( employment + status ) going from one to the other. Middle Tenn Medical Center in Murfreesboro is also part of the system. Vanderbilt is great ,but higher stress environment. Tenn ranks 2nd in the nation for education spending ( highway spending is more important here ) so private schools are best. if you go to outlying areas for better schoo;s the traffic commutes from Hendersonville,Mt.Juliet,Franklin and Murfreesboro are the worst. if I-24,I-40 or I-65 are mentioned these are the routes to Nashville. Kingston Springs wouldn't work as far as i remember there is no highschool there all though its a good place to live. they might have built a highschool in the last 10 years which would make it a good place to start, another coworker built a house there in 1982 and still commutes the 19 miles to work, 30 minutes ( I-40 but the good I-40 )

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by drstrange53

Kingston Springs wouldn't work as far as i remember there is no high school there all though its a good place to live.

Harpeth High School is in Kingston Springs. I don't remember when it was built, but it's been there for some time.