Anyone lived and worked as a nurse in the Virgin Islands? I have a job offer.?

Question

We're thinking of moving to the Island of ST. John. I would like to communicate with anyone who has lived and worked in nursing on ST. John. Any reliable information would be GREATLY appreciated. Would like to talk to people who have worked in the field of nursing, not vacationers. Please help.

Answer 1

I'm not a nurse, but was married to one, been here 35 years, have several nurse friends in STJ and STT and manage a75 unit condo complex with 6 traveling nurses in it; so..........

St John has become a millionaires island....prices for everything in the islands are 25% or more ahead of stateside and on STJ even more,.....rents are absurd so unless you have rent included in the offer, figure at least 2,000 a month for good one bedroom........if you can find it...and 300-400 a month for electricity........$50k a year is NOT a middle class wage on St John.....

there is one small government run clinic beset by being on a small island and furious politics between the "born heres" and the stateside know it alls....serious health care is done on STT at the hospital which is actually pretty damn good.....there are two good private practices onSTJ.....Hartshorn / Whitley and Clayton's Family Practice...I've used both and they're good people; there's a lot of specialists to refer people to on STT or, God help us all, Puerto RIco....

As mentioned STJ has sen a huge boom in $1,000,000 dollar home construction and the tensions that result from nuevau riche vacation homes pricing out the islanders who have lived here forever, and the aging hippies that wanted a quiet place to mourn the passing of the 60's.we used to call St John the "World's Largest Open Air Asylum and Petting Zoo"...it's not quite that mellow any more but it still a damn nice place to be, especially if you like warm weather and water sports...........get EVERYTHING in writing, a return ticket, and come on down!

Answer 2

I love St John. What a opportunity. Go to this site. It has a relocation site to the Virgin Islands. You will get help with all your questions.
http://www.vinow.com
You will have to sign up to post on this forum but it's so worth it. Very helful.
Good Luck
s

Answer 3

Roy L Schneider Hospital

Answer 4

Attention, nurses: Why not work in paradise?

ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I. (Feb. 17, 2007) - Registered nurses in all specialties – including medical-surgical, critical care, nursing educators, case management and certified nurse-midwives – are being sought by Schneider Regional Medical Center (SRMC), a modern family of facilities providing comprehensive and specialty care in the gorgeous tropical setting of the English-speaking U.S. Virgin Islands.

A massive 100-day recruitment effort targeting RNs in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati begins March 1 for Schneider Regional Medical Center, consisting of the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital and Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute (opened 2006), both on the island of St. Thomas, and the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center on nearby St. Johns.

Exciting professional challenges in these up-to-date facilities are just as attractive to nurses as the spectacular living conditions in the English-speaking, dollar-based U.S. Virgin Islands, says SRMC's Chief Nursing Officer Angela Rennalls-Atkinson.

"This is paradise," says Rennalls-Atkinson, under whose watch the 100 Days recruitment seeks to bring topnotch nurses to the JCAHO-accredited SRMC.

"I have worked on the mainland myself," explains Rennalls-Atkinson. "Spent most of my time in New York. And one of the things that pushed me here was snow storms and temperatures below 30 degrees. Anything below 30 degrees is too cold!"

Instead of shivering and shoveling snow, she and her nurses enjoy excellent benefits including 19 paid holidays in tropical beauty that's a winter-whipped Northerner's fantasy. Here, a more leisurely pace of life creates dramatically different, more humane and pleasant days. Here, Rennalls-Atkinson says, life simply becomes easier and better.

Delphine Olivacce. from Detroit, Michigan agrees. "I first came as a travel nurse, and I immediately fell in love with the people and the beauty of the island," says Olivacce, who weighed job offers in Michigan, New York, California, Connecticut, and Ohio before committing to the islands.

"Once I found out it was a U.S. territory, I was more relaxed," says Olivacce, now the clinical nurse educator for critical care and medical-surgical. "I actually worked here for a little while, then left and came back. I worked as a staff nurse, in intensive care, then moved into supervision."

That range of opportunities, she notes, is a major attraction for nurses who want to grow. "We are a small hospital – a 169-bed facility," she says. "You have a very strong support structure here. This is a place where you see your chief nursing officer everyday, and you have access to senior leadership every day. And it is more family-oriented than most large institutions."

"We are offering registered nurses the opportunity for a rich, fulfilling work life in a gorgeous place," says Rennalls-Atkinson. "We are eager to share the rewarding lives we enjoy here, working with an ethnically, racially, economically diverse population that is united by our love for our home – the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands."

Registered nurses in all specialties wishing to participate in Schneider Regional Medical Center's 100 Days nurse recruitment in Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh may contact Atkinson at 340-776-8311 ext. 2271 or [e-mail]. To learn more about Schneider Regional Medical Center or to arrange an interview with Angela Rennalls-Atkinson on this topic, please contact Jerry Thomas of Jerry Thomas Public Relations at 312-285-5166 or [e-mail].