[stinybee]

I am looking at two different places for a traveling position. One is at Boston Medical center and the other is at Inova Hospital in Alexandria, VA. Has anyone traveled to either one of those places?? Which one would you recommend? Thanks in advance

[Kdog]

Boston is a great place to sightsee, nice people. Staffing is good too and travler friendly. Great fresh seafood.

[stellar]

I LOVE Boston, but I was there in the summer, and I wasn't a traveler. It is the "Walking City." You can walk anywhere or take the "T" (subway.)The car is a bit problematic in downtown proper, but I assume they will put you up in a place where there is parking. Don't know about Alexandria. If anyone has been to a hospital in Boston I would love to hear of their experiences. It is high on my list of necessary assignments once I start traveling in a month or two.

[CourtneyT]

We just finished an assignment in the Alexandria area, though not at that hospital. We did live in Alexandria. It's a great location for sightseeing- just a metro ride away from DC, and "Old Towne" Alexandria is a lot of fun. It wasn't a very friendly place to live though, and I would be very careful about what area of town your apartment is. I didn't feel safe at all and was counting down the days until we could move.

[stinybee]

Thanks for all the replies! I am really leaning towards Boston, but am afraid the licensure will take too long. They want me to start on the 29th which is about 2 wks away. Anyone know how long MA takes to get licensure? I called the board and they really didn't give me a straight answer....

[stellar]

I don't know firsthand, but one recruiter said "it takes a long time." Most have a temporary license route to cover you for 90 days, but I don't know about MA specifically.Ask your agency, they are your real resource, but please share the info on the blog as I also want to go there in the spring.

[LnD girl]

Originally Posted by stinybee

Thanks for all the replies! I am really leaning towards Boston, but am afraid the licensure will take too long. They want me to start on the 29th which is about 2 wks away. Anyone know how long MA takes to get licensure? I called the board and they really didn't give me a straight answer....

I got my MA license last year. I want to say it only took about 3-4 weeks...not that it helps you out with your 2 week deadline...
I have heard of some people having problems, my rec. would be to have all your ducks in a row, follow all the steps in the process EXACTLY, and you shouldn't have a problem. AND cross your fingers and hope all of your other states verify quickly!

[Anmutasc]

I worked at boston medical center as a staff nurse about 4 years ago. It is a very very good hospital, level 1 trauma and affiliated with BU med school so docs are great. I was in all the ICUs and liked it alot, however... it is mainly a free care hospital., They offer the most free care in the city to uninsured homeless people. So you get a very high population of drug addicts, homeless, convicts, etc. There is a homeless shelter nearby so they all come in from there. Its not so bad overall, but after working at 4 hospitals since then , I realized I got treated a lot worse by patients at that hospital, lots of pts withdrawing= getting hit occasionally. Other than that, not so bad.

[stinybee]

Originally Posted by Anmutasc

I worked at boston medical center as a staff nurse about 4 years ago. It is a very very good hospital, level 1 trauma and affiliated with BU med school so docs are great. I was in all the ICUs and liked it alot, however... it is mainly a free care hospital., They offer the most free care in the city to uninsured homeless people. So you get a very high population of drug addicts, homeless, convicts, etc. There is a homeless shelter nearby so they all come in from there. Its not so bad overall, but after working at 4 hospitals since then , I realized I got treated a lot worse by patients at that hospital, lots of pts withdrawing= getting hit occasionally. Other than that, not so bad.

Funny you should mention that. I actually ended up going to Boston Medical. I work in the PACU and love it! You are right about the patient population though.