County Hospitals??

Hello,

Ugh once again, I'm back on the job market! Yup a soon to be OLD NEW GRAD DEC 09' I finally had my opportunity to start in an acute care hospital...then with a blink of an eye I lost it without even starting it! On a positive note I interviewed today for a county hospital and I was informed that I passed the screening portion of the interview. there is process with the county that I will wait to be on "the list" and I will be able to make the calls to find out who is hiring but, won't happen until three weeks from now....
But my interviewer made a point to differentiate between a county hospital and a private hospital and he mentioned that working for a private hospital would be "easier" and I would have to follow the sink or swim policy if I worked in a county hospital. I was wondering is this true? Is there really no support at county hospitals? Will I be making a wrong choice or even risking my license if I were to get hired?
I would also like to hear insight on nurses whom expereinced working in this enviorment and how you hadled the population you were exposed to? What you love about working for a county hospital?

Thank you and I will try to keep you posted. This job hunt is depressing and I feel extremly discouraged
I guess the answers would depend on what state and county you work in. Ilive in a major metropolis and the county hospital is a pretty good place to work. It is a well respected teaching hospital. The benefits are good and theyhave their own retirement system.

What does he mean by sink or swim??? A county hospital is no different than a regular hospital except that it is funded differently.

I think this totally depends on where you are at. The county hospitals where I live are excellent and both are affiliated with the University's MD residency programs in multiple specialties. We also have an RN union (both county hospitals are union) so the standards of care, pay, benefits, etc. are pretty much the same everywhere.

the interviewer was being a little vague. Big hospitals cannot be compared to little rural county hospitals. Ignore the comment and find out for yourself. Good luck job hunting

Thank you all for your responses . If anybody has something else to add that would be great! But my area is in Los Angeles county. I have experienced that you really need to be assertive job hunting, otherwise no one will give you the time. I wish they didn't sugar coat the reality of nursing while I was in school. But I'm not going to give up and stay postive! I wish you the best Old and New grads!!!

LA county, huh. Is it a teaching hospital - usually teaching hospitals have prettygood orientations. I would take it, (if offered), and look elsewhere after a year.Best of luck.

I LOVED working for a large county teaching hospital. It was the best experience of my nursing career.