Until I visited Valley, I was actually in a nursing program at NSC.  My experience here singlehandedly changed all that and made me realize I didn't want to be a nurse.  \n\nIn the ICU, the nurses are overworked, stressed, and hostile.  During a brief volunteer stint, I witnessed firsthand multiple mix-ups with records, nurses being given WAAAAY more patients than is safe to handle at one time, and nasty attitudes in regard to patient requests.  I don't want to go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that what I saw upset me enough that I immediately switched career paths entirely.  The nurses were MISERABLE.  As a former teacher who was pretty miserable myself in that profession, I couldn't IMAGINE going into a field where I would be equally miserable.  That's the impression this place gave - that it's an awful place to work or be laid up.  It was so bad, in fact, that I contacted hospital administration about some of the awful things I witnessed.  I don't know if it ever came to anything, but I sure hope it did for the sake of the patients.\n\nDuring training to work or volunteer in the Valley Healthcare System, they constantly refer to patients as \""consumers\"" - oh yes, we need to make the \""CONSUMERS\"" happy.  This dehumanizing attitude prevailed throughout my experiences in this hospital.  Patients weren't treated as valuable human beings.  Instead, they were treated like these sick, annoying cash cows for the hospital.  How awful.\n\nIf you have a choice (and I know sometimes you don't), I'd advise you to choose a different hospital for yourself or your loved ones.  If you're going to be viewed as a consumer - if that's REALLY all you are - then you might as well be an educated one.