Huntsville

kbugrn · Apr 30, 2006

Hi, I lived in Huntsville for 5 years, and I loved it. I worked at Huntsville Hospital (a great place to work), new grads started out at 18/hr (I think) with $4 shift diff for nights and weekends (Thurs, Fri, Sat or Fri, Sat, Sun) make $39/hr no diff for BSN or CCRN or anything like that, good benefits, it is a 900 bed facility not for profit and if personal problems wouldn't have made me leave Alabama I would go back in a heartbeat. It is a teaching facility, ICUs ratio 1:1 or 1:2 very rarely 1:3, floors were usually 1:3 or 1:4 on days 1:4 or 1:5 on nights, not sure about ER...anyway, there's also Crestwood Medical Center for profit, alot smaller there patients aren't usually as sick...good places to live are Harvest (if you like the country feel-about 25 mins away) Madison is really nice, good schools but pricey 15 mins away, Hampton Cove VERY nice and of course VERY expensive, if you live in the city South Huntsville is the best place I would recommend. Hope this helps, any more questions and I'd be happy to help :lol2:

military spouse · May 2, 2006

Hi, I lived in Huntsville for 5 years, and I loved it. I worked at Huntsville Hospital (a great place to work), new grads started out at 18/hr (I think) with $4 shift diff for nights and weekends (Thurs, Fri, Sat or Fri, Sat, Sun) make $39/hr no diff for BSN or CCRN or anything like that, good benefits, it is a 900 bed facility not for profit and if personal problems wouldn't have made me leave Alabama I would go back in a heartbeat. It is a teaching facility, ICUs ratio 1:1 or 1:2 very rarely 1:3, floors were usually 1:3 or 1:4 on days 1:4 or 1:5 on nights, not sure about ER...anyway, there's also Crestwood Medical Center for profit, alot smaller there patients aren't usually as sick...good places to live are Harvest (if you like the country feel-about 25 mins away) Madison is really nice, good schools but pricey 15 mins away, Hampton Cove VERY nice and of course VERY expensive, if you live in the city South Huntsville is the best place I would recommend. Hope this helps, any more questions and I'd be happy to help

Hello,

Thanks for the replies (this one and the one for Boaz). We are trying to evaluate all aspects to moving AGAIN. I've never been to Huntsville, but we've heard wonderful things about it. We used to live in Dothan and still think about that all the time. I can't believe how much the weekend option pays. I never thought of wages in AL as being so high. I perused the hospital's website, but didn't see any weekend options listed. I would imagine many employees want that increased pay. I was disappointed in how low wages are hear in PA. We moved from AZ and I make $7.50 an hour less here ($24 here). I could make more, but I actually do like my job. If you can provide anymore info--anything you think would be helpful--I would appreciate it. Thank you again!

kbugrn · May 4, 2006

Hi again, I'm not sure if they actually list weekend positions on the website, Tracey is a nurse recruiter and he is very helpful and nice so you could always just give them a call and although you would think everyone would want to go to weekends it's not necessarily true...I worked in CCU nights on the weekend shift (they just increased the pay from 28 to 34 (I don't know why I put 39 sorry for the typo) back in August, I know that CCU will have a weekend pm shift available soon if you like CCU b/c they still haven't replaced me and another RN is leaving to go to the OR who works weekend shift....I talk to my old co-workers (I'm a traveling nurse now) alot and they are giving an across the board raise within the next few weeks I know new grads start at 18 and then a $4 shift diff for nights, I'm not really sure what you would start at since you have so much experience....oh well....Huntsville is a great town, especially a great town to raise a family! Good Luck!