Nurses are in demand in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain region. The average number of RNs per 100,000 people in this country is 825. Idaho comes in at third from last, with 628, barely ahead of Nevada and California, with their well-documented shortages. Utah is fifth from last, with 660 per 100,000. These numbers come from the newly released report, The Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the March 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.
But the region is rich with diverse career opportunities for nurses, from well-known medical centers in the big cities to tiny rural mountain hospitals. A mecca for the computer industry, Seattle-with a population of more than half a million-has big-city amenities and a well-educated population. Portland, Oregon, is nearly the same size. Both cities have professional sports teams and cultural opportunities for every taste. Outdoor sports are popular in this area of the country, too, with skiing, hiking and camping, in the mountains of Colorado, Idaho, and Utah.
The region is now home to 17 of the 242 Magnet facilities. Colorado has five, the most in the region, including North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, which received its Magnet designation in March. Utah has four facilities, all part of Salt Lake City's Intermountain Health Care Urban Central Region. Oregon has three, including Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland. Idaho has two, including Kootenai Medical Center, Coeur d'Alene. Montana has one: Billings Clinic in Billings. Washington has one: the venerable University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, the nation's first Magnet hospital, originally designated in 1994 and redesignated every four years since. Alaska also has a Magnet facility, Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage.
Your Guide to Job Opportunities in the Mountain and Northwest States
Banner Healt-Corporate Offices
1441 N. 12th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006
(602) 747-4000
Franciscan Health System
1717 S. J Street
Tacoma, WA 98405
Contact: Nurse Recruiters
(800) 215-9687
Web site: http://www.fhshealth.org
Renown Health
1155 Mill Street
Reno, NV 89502
(775) 982-4100
Web site: http://www.renown.org
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
1055 N. Curtis Road
Boise, ID 83706
Contact: Charlene Smith, Nurse Recruiter
(208) 367-3118
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.saintalphonsus.org
St. Mary's Hospital
2635 North 7th Street
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Contact: Christy Pfost, Employment Manager
(970) 244-2811
Fax: (970) 244-7194
Web Site: http://www.stmarygj.org
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center
3186 S. Maryland Pkwy.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Contact: Belinda McGraw
(702) 731-8000
Fax: (702) 731-8668
E-mail: [email protected]
Mountain View Hospital
3100 North Tenaya Way
Las Vegas, NV 89128
Contact: Robert Nettles
(702) 255-5000
Fax: (702) 255-5074
E-mail: robert.nettles@hcahealthcarecom.
University of New Mexico Hospitals
Human Resource Office
1650 University Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Contact: Phillip Pelleriti, Recruitment Manager or Valerie Grant, Senior Recruiter
Phone: (505) 272-2325 or (866) 837-9040
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://hospitals.unm.edu click "Careers"