[tripiehipi@yahoo.com]

looking to see if anyone has worked at kaiser permanente on zion. i am about to sign a contract there and was wanting some input on the hospital. i will be working in the icu.

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[EazyE]

I am currently on assignment at Kaiser S.D. It is one of the worst places to work. I am an ICU nurse, but travelers are ALWAYS the first to float. People do NOT help you, and you WILL get the worst assignments on the units. I wish that I could have something positive to say, so here goes: at least the law gives you patient to nurse ratios 2:1 in the ICU, and 3-4:1 on the floors. Most of the time they make sure that you get breaks/lunch, etc.

Very inefficient hospital, although we did just implement a new computer system that is promising in the distance. No Pyxxis, still do Narc counts and have med carts. The ancillary services are pitiful at best, i.e. lab, transport, pharmacy, etc. Definitely a difference in patient care, most nurses are not concerned with high quality care, mediocre most times. They do NOT put the patient first and do what is best for them. It was a big change coming from Indiana.

No trauma, no hearts, no invasive cardio. Mostly geriatrics and chronic illness. Coming from a level II trauma and a Primary Stroke Center...things are very different. It may take all day to get your blood T & C'd, and given; all day to get meds from pharmacy and they will argue with you about emergency drips (if you can't mix them yourself). I really could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. There's a reason why they pay the highest of all the area hospitals. Two thumbs down. If I didn't like S.D. I would likely break my contract and go elsewhere.

[LydiaRN99]

Last winter I was in San Diego and was offered a contract in the ER at Kaiser. My agency (Access Nurses ) was contracting through another agency. Sounds weird, I know, but it made sense when the process was explained to me. So my interview was with this different agency who did not have all of the answers to my questions regarding the way they did scheduling and things like that. So I asked to talk to someone at the hospital, and the hospital would not have any part of it. It seemed too weird so I declined. Another traveler that I worked with at a different hospital took a contract there and hated it. She actually quit her contract! She said that you don't get any say in what days you work, and considering she had 2 jobs, it made it very difficult for her. My concern was being able to schedule a flight home every once and a while for a decent price. Anyone who travels knows how that can be! She also said that it was a situation where she felt her license was in jeopardy. The only positive comments that I've heard is they pay well. But my feelings are, money isn't everything. I would instead try one of the Sharp hospitals. I worked at a few of those while I was there. Sharp Memorial and Sharp Chula Vista are nice places to work. And they pay well. Also Pomerado/Palomar are very nice, but the pay doesn't compare to Sharp, at least it didn't when I was there.

Good luck with your travels!