Newly Licensed RNs
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Exceptional nursing is at the heart of Cheshire Medical Center's quality care, with over 500 nurses in myriad specialties and at every level of leadership. If you are deeply compassionate with a drive to excel at a broad range of nursing skills, you'll fit right in!
We'll also save you money and worry with financial education support, including:
- RN loan forgiveness
- Certification support
- Scholarships
- Tuition reimbursement
Why work at a smaller community hospital?
You'll have the chance to practice the full scope of your clinical skills and build great relationships with people in every department you interact with—starting during your nursing residency.
We know and support each other as a community here. Cheshire provides more specialties than are typically available in other rural medical centers, and recent graduates will find more opportunities in those areas than at larger institutions.
Nursing Residency
Our nurses are surrounded from the start with support and development opportunities in our Nurse Residency program, providing a structured orientation experience that allows newly licensed RNs, LPNs, and nurses transitioning their area of practice to grow their careers with confidence.
Along with other new graduate RNs, you'll participate in general and specialty education within a supportive atmosphere that fosters critical thinking, growth, and the ability to thrive in today's health care environment.
- Evidence-based courses that feature case presentations, didactic lectures, skills, and simulations.
- Hands-on skill review covering a wide scope of practice and an introduction to all units.
- Classroom discussions led by our experienced Nurse Educators.
- Orientation to our electronic health record, eD-H (Epic).
- Unit orientations with trained nurse preceptors.
- Strong relationships and supportive connections—often including lifelong friendships.
You'll experience autonomy with a support system. Our intensive residency is 6 weeks, and some departments, such as ED, OR, and ICU, continue with a 6-month orientation. Then, all newly licensed nurses receive 6-month and 1-year check-in support modules, including presentations on self-driven topics.
Katie Bemis, RN, reflects on her residency experience:
Email our Education department or call 603-354-5454 x 2410 to learn more.
How do we care for one another here?
Choose your home at Cheshire
With countless opportunities from ICU bedside and perioperative nursing to ambulatory specialty care and clinical informatics, each team can offer you a unique feel, educational experiences, and daily work.
Nursing unit overview
Thompson Unit
Cheshire Medical Center’s largest unit, Thompson is a 39-bed, mixed-acuity unit that specializes in medical, surgical, and stepdown level of care. At Thomson, you have the opportunity to join a committed and talented staff, competent in treating a variety of different diagnoses—many of them are certified in either medical-surgical nursing or progressive care. You will gain valuable experience treating patients with a variety of medical conditions as well as postoperative patients. Most of them are elderly, but they also can be as young as 18.
Surgical Services include Orthopaedics, Podiatry, General Surgery, Urology, Cardiology (pacemakers), and occasional GYN surgeries. Common medical diagnoses include sepsis, pneumonia, chest pain, COPD, CHF, ETOH, electrolyte abnormalities, respiratory failure, GI bleed, AKI, pain, CVA, TIA, fever of unknown origin, weakness etc.
You can expect to work 12-hour shifts. Our staff value teamwork and are always willing to lend a hand to a coworker in need. We also like to have fun and keep a light atmosphere whenever possible.
Thompson Unit offers you all of the advantages of working in a small community hospital while providing ample opportunity for training and advancement. Training for interpreting cardiac telemetry is essential in this unit, and is made available to all staff along with the opportunity to certify in advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS). If there is a certification or training you are interested in, the unit will help with preparation and fees. Advancement opportunities open to you include charge nurse training, preceptor training, and other leadership development courses.
Women and Children’s Health Unit
WACHU, as it is known, is often the most joyous unit of Cheshire Medical Center. You will find it well equipped for a small community hospital, with four labor rooms, one operating room, and separate, designated rooms for postpartum patients. The unit offers hydrotherapy for pain management in labor, includes a nursery for infant testing or post-resuscitation care, and even has its own negative pressure room. In this unit, you gain experience in everything from labor and delivery to postpartum mothers and babies and gynecological patients.
The WACHU has a Baby-Friendly Designation, although we care for a wide variety of patients and use a lot of skills. We have a wide range of experience levels on the unit, and we are a great team—we really work well together and care about each other. You can expect to work 12-hour shifts on a four-week schedule, with every other weekend off. Your orientation and training will be extensive, usually eight weeks in postpartum and 12 weeks in labor and delivery.
Additional certifications available include Neonatal Resuscitation Program, STABLE, AWHONN Intermediate and Advanced Fetal Monitoring, ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics), and NCC nursing certifications. Growth and advancement are encouraged through committee and meeting involvement, shared governance, practice improvement projects, and charge nurse training.
“I want our patients, our team, and the organization to succeed because this is my hospital, these are my people, and this is my community,” says the unit leader. “I take it very personally.”
Intensive Care Unit
Cheshire Medical Center’s unit for critical care nursing is a 10-bed suite, focused on caring for and supporting patients and their families while using advanced technological systems and tools to monitor and treat critical illnesses. Each patient room is equipped with a specialized therapeutic bed, emergency call system and a wall-mounted documentation station.
Working with a dedicated multi-disciplinary team, ICU nurses perform patient care aimed at stabilizing vital functions, preservation of life, and prevention of complications, in the service of restoring patients to maximum functional capacity. Your patient population will include critically unstable patients exhibiting a range of conditions including, but not limited to, DKA, altered hemodynamics, cardiac arrest, sepsis, shock, and acute pulmonary disorders.
Our goal is to provide optimum 24-hour critical care nursing to unstable patients requiring specialized treatment and supportive measures. Cheshire’s ICU nurses are prepared to rapidly recognize and collaboratively treat life-threatening complications, with an emphasis on total patient care.
You can expect to work 12-hour shifts, with holiday and weekend rotations. Training includes a comprehensive orientation designed to support a newly licensed RN, as well as individualized plans for those without prior critical care experience. Cheshire’s ICU actively supports continuing education through Dartmouth Health system-wide seminars, computer-based Elsevier learning modules, unit-based skills training, and funding of American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) memberships.
Operating Room
Although we are rural community medical center, Cheshire Medical Center features 5 up-to-date operating room suites with a sixth in the Labor and Delivery department. You will experience a diverse population of both inpatients and outpatients undergoing surgical, diagnostic, invasive, and other special procedures, including patients of all ages, infant to geriatric.
Cheshire’s OR provides the opportunity for you to work in a highly technical environment. Our OR relies heavily on teamwork and cooperation among an interdisciplinary team, and you will find that all members of the OR team work together to ensure the safety of our patients and the high quality of care delivery.
Expect to work full time in 8- or 10-hour shifts, Monday through Friday, with a call requirement evenings, holidays, and weekends.
There are many opportunities for professional development in the OR, including on-the-job training to gain competency for all procedures, the AORN Perioperative 101 Course, and in-house BLS and ACLS classes and certification. Cheshire’s OR leadership is highly supportive of specialty nursing certification (CNOR) to further knowledge and skill. Cheshire’s OR is also a clinical training site for Dartmouth Health’s Surgical Technology Training Program. The OR can lead to exciting career paths in nursing leadership, nursing education, or as a nurse anesthetist or nurse practitioner with a surgical focus, among others.
Preoperative Unit
Cheshire Medical Center’s Preoperative unit of Surgical Services provides comprehensive nursing care for patients undergoing surgical, diagnostic, invasive, noninvasive, and other special procedures. You can help our dedicated team provide quality daytime care to individuals of all ages who are preparing for elective or emergent surgery, as both outpatients and inpatients. Your engaging tasks will include pre-admission testing, comprehensive nursing assessment, development of a plan of care, preoperative and postoperative education, and support for patients and their family or caregivers based upon individual needs.
In our tightknit unit, the nursing and ancillary staff operate as a cohesive team to achieve high-quality patient care goals. Care is provided to patients following standards set forth by the Association of Perioperative Nurses (AORN), the Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses (ASPAN), and the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses Association (SGNA).
You can expect to work a variety of 8-, 10-, and 12-hour shifts, Monday through Friday, with no night shifts or work requirements for on-call, weekends, or holidays.
Your professional growth is encouraged at Cheshire, with annual skills competency education and training and in-house BLS and ACLS classes and certification. Cheshire’s leadership is highly supportive of specialty nursing certification (CAPA) to further nursing knowledge and skill in this unit.
Post Anesthesia Care Unit(PACU)
Cheshire's PACU provides compassionate, quality care to patients after surgery or other procedures that involve sedation. As a part of our excellent team, you will provide care to both adult and pediatric patients recovering from a wide range of procedures, with about 80 percent of them being outpatients.
You will find that this team demonstrates a high level of engagement in the work of the department and the Medical Center. We are committed to standards of behavior that promote healthy team interactions and staff satisfaction.
Our PACU is staffed from 7:30 am to 8 pm, with the remaining hours covered by on-call staff. You can expect a flexible work schedule, and even the ability to set your own schedule.
Professional growth opportunities include a comprehensive PACU orientation program and the potential for supervisory roles. Many of our staff are pursuing advanced degrees, and these efforts are highly encouraged and supported. We are also exploring exciting new ways to promote growth and leadership within in this department including developing a PACU Administrative Council.
Kingsbury Unit
Kingsbury is a 27-bed medical-surgical unit, caring for adult acute inpatients with a variety of medical and operative conditions. You can be part of this competent and committed team performing an exciting variety of caregiving tasks. You will find that Kingsbury has a good mix of staff experience, and is welcoming to newly licensed professionals. Teamwork is very important, as well as having fun.
As a member of this excellent team, you can expect to work 12-hour shifts, starting at 7 am or 7 pm with some weekend and holiday requirements.
Professional development opportunities abound on the Kingsbury unit, including cardiac telemetry training, ACLS, as well as other leadership development courses. The staff on Kingsbury work closely with the Nursing Education department and the Unit Educator to ensure everyone is following evidence-based practice and many participate in our Unit Practice Council, promoting shared accountability between management and staff.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
Cheshire Medical Center’s Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit is a 24-bed specialty unit providing comprehensive rehabilitation services to patients who are primarily in need of physical restoration following a disease or disabling condition, from strokes to motor vehicle accidents. You will be part of a diverse, interdisciplinary team including physicians, rehabilitation nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, speech and language pathologists, dieticians, social workers and other specialists.
As part of this dedicated unit, you will ensure that each patient has the opportunity to attain their maximum potential physically, socially, vocationally, and cognitively. Ours is a team effort involving the patient, their family or caregiver, their physician, and various professionals skilled in rehabilitation techniques, with the goal of returning patients to their optimal level of physical and functional independence.
You will find that the rehab team works together to ensure that there is a consistent and integrated approach to patient care 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. You can expect to work 8 or 12-hour shifts or on a per diem basis. Professional growth opportunities range from classes in dysphagia and safe patient handling and mobility to certified rehabilitation registered nurse credentials (CRRN) and other certifications, leading to advancements in your career.
Emergency Department
Cheshire Medical Center’s small but mighty Emergency Department features many of the perks of a larger regional hospital, but serves the local community with compassionate and quality care. The facility includes 21 beds, a private OB specialty room, two trauma/resuscitation bays, and the use of telemedicine to consult with other specialists in neurology and emergency medicine.
You will experience interdisciplinary teamwork and comradery in this well-equipped ED, as you work side by side with other nurses, techs, health unit coordinators, providers, and associate providers. Cheshire’s ED serves a diverse population of patients from this rural community, from newborn to end of life, including some college students from the Keene State.
You can expect scheduling flexibility and a self-schedule format, working 12-hour shifts—starting at 7 am and 7 pm or swing shifts starting at 11 am and 3 pm—including every other or every third weekend.
This ED is an excellent place to gain diverse experiences and training for professional development, with a clinical educator, case studies, and chart reviews performed between leadership and staff. You will also find free online training resources including quality improvement through the Value Institute Learning Center at Dartmouth Health. You can access valuable certifications for CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse), TCRN (Trauma Certified Registered Nurse), ENPC (Emergency Nurses Pediatric Course), and TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum), and stay involved with other available educational resources through the shared governance model.
Float Pool
If you are interested in gaining the most diverse range of experiences and expertise available at a small community hospital, Cheshire’s Float Pool department is for you. The Float Pool is a versatile clinical team that floats across departments, based on patient location and care needs. Staff are oriented to all inpatient units, including the Emergency Department and the Women’s and Children Health Unit (WACHU), so you could be helping to treat a hockey injury one day and caring for a newborn baby the next.
The Float Pool is exciting, in a word. It never gets boring—you never know what unit you might be on in a given day. You meet a variety of staff on all units, and they are happy to see you as you are helping them with a staffing need. Meanwhile, you get to develop many skills for each area. Float Pool team members have a great relationship: they support each other and are recognized by all staff as an important resource.
The Float Pool is made up of 3 tiers, with each tier representing more advanced training. The more areas you get oriented to, the better the compensation. You can expect 12-hour shifts, with a schedule that rotates so you can plan your weekends off for months to come.
Training for each unit includes orientation checklists and preceptors to orient you to each unit, and nursing council membership allows you to help make decisions that support the work you do and your professional growth. This department can be a great stepping-stone for career advancements. Many nurses oriented to the administrative clinical supervisor role have gone on to nurse manager positions.
Job shadowing and clinical rotations
We offer job shadowing so both students and professionals can experience a position of interest first-hand. Students from over 25 affiliated programs can also apply for clinical rotations at Cheshire Medical Center.
Learn about job shadows and clinicals
Cheshire Medical Center to hire New England College nursing students while they complete their nursing degree
Nursing students earn credits and wages while completing the three-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing .
Live, work, and thrive in the Monadnock Region
Not only is Cheshire a great place to develop your nursing career, but our beautiful, vibrant community is a fantastic place to live a better life.
If you love outdoor living, are an arts enthusiast, or are looking for a beautiful place with a deep sense of community, Southwest New Hampshire might be the perfect place for you. Learn about our unique corner of the world.
Mike and Kylee West: Finding love and adventure in the Monadnock Region
A travel nurse who lives life one adventure at a time, Mike West, RN, returned to Cheshire Medical Center—and Kylee—for the biggest adventure of his lifetime.
Hear from some of our nurses
Meet more members of Team Cheshire
Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Not All Nurses Wear Scrubs
While Cheshire boasts many scrub-wearing superheroes among our nursing ranks, many nurses report to work wearing “normal” clothes—and all sorts of different hats.
Home Away From Home
Reassigned Cheshire nurses rose to meet the moment during the most recent COVID-19 surge. Many loved their new positions: they stayed, or expanded their own.
The Nursing Practice Council: Defining, Promoting, and Supporting Evidence-based Practices
Maggie Bard values the opportunity to develop her leadership skills, keep learning, and give input on how her job is done.
Ambulatory Care Coordinators Bring it all Home
While many of Cheshire’s nurses care for hospitalized patients, this small but mighty team partners with our community to ensure our patients continue to recover well after they leave.
Forensic Nursing
Victims of violence require care from nurses specially trained to treat trauma, collect evidence and provide legal testimony, when necessary. Cheshire’s forensic nurses take a holistic, respectful, trauma-informed approach to caring for survivors.
View all nursing opportunities at Cheshire Medical Center and satellites