For Nurses

At Baltimore Washington Medical Center, nurses are treated like the critical resource they truly are. As different and unique as each nurse might be, what we all have in common is a desire to feel good about the care we've provided when our shift is over. At Baltimore Washington Medical Center, the connection between RN staffing and safe and effective care is acknowledged and respected. When we do experience staffing problems, we solve them through working with our staff, and true mandatory overtime is practically non-existent here. Although we do have a few vacancies, overall our vacancy rate has remained significantly lower than Maryland's and the nation's averages. We are also proud that our RN turnover rate is less than half the statewide average, and our utilization of agency RN's is extremely low. Our Patient Care Technicians, Assistants, and Administrative Technicians are well prepared to support RN's in fulfilling their responsibilities.

One of the many great things about being a nurse is the diversity of opportunities it affords. At Baltimore Washington Medical Center, you can exercise your options in any one of the following areas:

Baltimore Washington Medical Center offers generous continuing education benefits not only for formal academic programs, but also for classes and conferences that will enhance your particular knowledge and skill set. The ongoing professional development of our staff is a high priority for us, and adds to the value of your professional contributions. We offer pay incentives both for BSN-prepared RN's and for national specialty certification. Recently, we formed a partnership with the College of Notre Dame of Maryland to offer an accelerated on-site RN to BSN program. Consistent with our philosophy of lifelong learning, we consider continuing education part of our commitment to supplying nurses with the resources they need to provide high quality patient care. The result is high patient satisfaction scores, well above the national average, and low rates of nursing-related complications such as nosocomial infections and pressure sores.

If you are just beginning your career as a registered nurse, you will benefit from our highly acclaimed 7-10 week nurse internship program that gently introduces you to your RN role and responsibilities. This program provides you with the opportunity not only to achieve competency in psychomotor skills, but even more importantly, it will help you to become adept at integrating critical thinking and technical ability. The goal of the program is to ensure a painless transition from the student to novice RN role, under the guidance of a clinical nurse educator. To help jump-start you on your way, we offer generous concurrent or retrospective payment of school-related expenses for the last four semesters of your nursing program.

Even the most dedicated and enthusiastic nurse needs to have a life outside of work. And we think that, in the long run, it's that balance between work and rest and relaxation that will enable you to be at your best as a nursing professional. All of our units use some form of self-scheduling, which results in maximum flexibility for individual staff members. Shift rotation is minimal, consistent with research findings that have repeatedly shown the adverse health and performance consequences of frequent shift changes. We also offer a full range of benefits to fit your current lifestyle needs, including a generous TSA plan which is incrementally matched according to tenure at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

Last but not least, we maintain wages that are market competitive, reflective of prior relevant experience, and consistent with our commitment to fairness and preservation of internal equity. We offer several RN float pool options, depending on your degree of commitment to Baltimore Washington Medical Center and the breadth of your clinical competency. RN's who exhibit a high degree of flexibility in clinical assignments may apply for our "JET" (Just Excellent Timing) positions, and reap the reward of agency-competitive rates. Unlike most hospitals, we are philosophically opposed to "sign on" bonuses. Instead, we show our appreciation for those nurses who already have a proven track record with us through our retention bonus program.

Baltimore Washington's affiliation with the University of Maryland Medical System has brought unprecedented growth to our campus. Over the last couple of years, we have added the Tate Cancer Center, the Joslin Diabetes Center, the Maryland Vascular Center and the Spine and Pain Center. Our new Palliative Care Program has already helped many patients, families and staff member.

Despite our growth, we remain committed to our unique community hospital culture, which is based on respect and caring for one another as we care for our patients. Staff who are new to our hospital experience this as "friendliness." It's impossible to accurately convey this in words. Visit us and you will feel it! Join us and let's grow together!

For more information on a nursing career with Baltimore Washington Medical Center, call nurse recruiters Sue Stein at 410-787-4717 or Sue Guzinski at 410-787-4615 or click here to view BWMC's Employment Opportunities.