RN - Acute Care Step Down

Longwood University; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 55,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque is seeking a Registered Nurse for the Acute Care Step-Down Progressive Care unit. This 36-hour-per-week role features 12-hour day or night shifts and a base pay range of $39.69 to $58.17 per hour, reflecting experience and qualifications.

The new Progressive Care tower provides 144 private rooms, EPIC charting, and a built-in leadership path from preceptor to clinical practice leader.

Qualifications

• Associate Degree in Nursing or above required.
• Active RN license in NM or a Compact state required.
• BLS certification at time of hire.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate nursing care for acute care step-down patients—patients too complex for a general floor, not sick enough for ICU.
• Provide direct patient care and family education; manage transitions of care as patients step up, step down, or go home.

Education

Associate Degree in Nursing or above

Active Registered Nurse license - State of New Mexico or a Compact state license

BLS certification at time of hire

Job description

STEP-DOWN IS WHERE NURSING JUDGMENT GETS SHARP.

Higher acuity than med-surg, more autonomy than ICU - in a brand-new tower
built around the way progressive care nurses actually work.

Registered Nurse | RN | Progressive Care (Acute Care Step-Down)
Presbyterian Hospital - 1100 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Full time | 0.9 FTE | 36 hours/week | 12-hour days or nights | $39.69-$58.17/hour
Requisition R-7524

WHY THIS OPPORTUNITY

Progressive care at Presbyterian Hospital sits at the center of the
highest-acuity work in the state's largest private health system - and it is
one of the few units where a nurse can move into a leadership role without
leaving the bedside.

Built-in leadership paths:

Progressive Care RNs step into Preceptor, Clinical Practice Leader, Relief
Charge, and Quality Improvement roles. These are defined roles with
differentials attached, and they are the standard route toward charge nurse,
nurse manager, and system-level clinical roles.

A real on-ramp for new graduates

New grads enter the Nurse Residency Program: monthly seminars led by the Nurse Residency Team, peer-to-peer debriefing, mentoring and support groups, and structured rounding. It is a full transition-to-practice program, not a longer
orientation.

Education that is paid for, not just encouraged

• Tuition and certification reimbursement
• Education differentials: $2.00/hour for BSN, $4.00/hour for MSN
• Loan forgiveness through the New Mexico Higher Education Department

A flagship with room to move

Presbyterian Hospital is the system's flagship - heart, women's health,
children's health, and neuroscience care all under one roof. Nurses who want to
specialize later don't have to change employers to do it.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Coordinate nursing care for acute care step-down patients - patients too complex
for a general floor, not sick enough for intensive care. That includes direct
patient care, patient and family education, and managing transitions of care as
patients step up, step down, or go home.

Schedule:

• 36 hours per week, three 12-hour shifts
• Days: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. | Nights: 7:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.
• Both day and night openings currently available
• Non-exempt - hours over 40 are paid at overtime rate

Where you'll work

The new Progressive Care tower - 11 stories and 335,000 square feet,
purpose-built for this population:

• 144 all-private patient rooms with views
• Decentralized nurse's stations designed to shorten the walk to the patient
  and put providers within reach
• Healing gardens and green spaces where staff and families can step away
• Private wellness rooms for breastfeeding employees
• An employee gym with new equipment
• EPIC electronic charting
• Staff safety badges - wearable, discreet, and they summon help immediately

TEAM AND SUPPORT

The tower's decentralized station design was chosen specifically to keep nurses, providers, and support staff in constant contact rather than clustered at one desk at the end of a hallway.

Technology and clinical resources

• EPIC across the system - one chart follows the patient from clinic to
  hospital to health plan
• Wearable staff safety badges for immediate, discreet help
• Malpractice liability insurance covered by Presbyterian
• Access to specialty consult teams across a flagship facility - cardiology, neuroscience, pulmonary

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Base pay range: $39.69 - $58.17 per hour
Offers within this range reflect experience and training, internal equity, and
organizational need. Differentials are paid on top of base.

• Differentials:
  • Night shift and weekend differentials
  • Education: +$2.00/hour BSN, +$4.00/hour MSN
  • Certification differentials
  • Lead role differentials for eligible positions - preceptor, relief charge, clinical practice leader
• Hiring incentives
  • Sign-on bonus for qualifying candidates
  • Relocation assistance for qualifying candidates
  • Loan forgiveness through the New Mexico Higher Education Department

Education and development

• Nurse Residency Program for new graduates

Coverage and protection

• Medical, dental, and vision
• Malpractice liability insurance
• Retirement plan with employer contribution
• Paid time off
• Free on-site and community-based gym access, including the tower's new
  employee gym
• Nutrition coaching and classes
• Mindfulness and meditation resources
• Wellness challenges and programming

ABOUT PRESBYTERIAN

Presbyterian Healthcare Services exists to improve the health of the patients,
members, and communities we serve. Locally owned and not-for-profit,
Presbyterian is a system of nine hospitals, a statewide health plan, and a
growing multi-specialty medical group.

We started in 1908 as a small tuberculosis sanatorium founded by Reverend
Cooper. Today we are New Mexico's largest private employer, with nearly 14,000
employees - more than 1,600 providers and nearly 4,700 nurses. Our health plan
serves more than 580,000 members statewide. Together, we care for more than one in three New Mexicans.

We are part of New Mexico's history and committed to its future.

Albuquerque runs on roughly 310 days of sunshine a year and four distinct but
forgiving seasons. The Sandia Mountains rise straight off the east edge of the
city - you can finish a day shift and be at a trailhead in twenty minutes, or
ride the tramway to 10,378 feet for dinner above the valley.

• Short commutes. Most of the metro is within 20-25 minutes of the hospital. A cross-town drive here is what a neighborhood drive is in Dallas or Phoenix.
• Outdoors year-round. Hiking and mountain biking in the Sandias, 16 miles of Rio Grande bosque trail through the middle of the city, skiing at Sandia
  Peak, and Taos and Ski Santa Fe within a few hours.
• Food with its own vocabulary. New Mexican cuisine isn't Tex-Mex. Green chile, red chile, or Christmas - on everything.
• Getting out. Albuquerque International Sunport is 10 minutes from the
  hospital with nonstop service across the country. Santa Fe is an hour north; Denver, Phoenix, and Dallas are a short flight.
• Family lifestyle. School and charter options, the zoo and aquarium, and the
  Balloon Fiesta every October - the largest hot air balloon gathering in the
  world.
• Culture and history. Pueblo communities, four centuries of layered history,
  world-class art in Santa Fe, and some of the darkest night skies in the
  country an hour outside town.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Associate Degree in Nursing or above
• Active Registered Nurse license - State of New Mexico or a Compact state license
• BLS certification at time of hire

Preferred

• Degree from an accredited academic nursing program
• PCCN certification
• ACLS

New graduates are welcome to apply. New grads participate in the Nurse
Residency Program, which is required and built to carry you through your first
year.