HELP...Need info on Tampa/St. Pete Hospitals

U.S.A. Florida

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I currently live in Laurel, MD and work as an OB RN with a BSN. I also have experience working long-term care Per Diem. My husband and I are trying to move to Tampa/St. Pete this August and are in dire need on info.

We moved here from Philladelphia last year for his job. In that process, I took a pay cut from $26/hr base to $22 and had to give back a huge sign-on bonus ($15,000). I figured that was ok since we were moving to this supposedly fabulous area and was told by everyone I would get a pay increase. Not! What I got was a pay CUT, NO sign-on bonus, an increased weekend-committment (from 1 a month to every other), higher and less pleasing childcare, RIDICULOUS HOUSING COST (avg 3 br/2ba home is upwards of $400,000), less to do with my daughter, no family nearby, etc... :crying2: Needless to say, I am pretty unhappy here. To top it all off, my husband's job has announced they are moving his whole division into Rural, Virginia in a town where there is 1 K-mart and 1 gas station. That's it for me. :crying2: I can't take anymore. With our 2nd child due in June, we've decided to relocate to St. Pete where we have family and life is more enjoyable. :) I know I will take another paycut but my quality of life will be much better.

Now, I have spoken to Bayfront and Children's in St. Pete. I am interested in both. Does anyone know about these 2 hospitals? Reputation among nurses? Pay? Staffing? Bonuses? :uhoh3:

Any other hospitals in the area with better pay and benefits? I am interested in a Baylor program if I can find any in a hospital or nursing home. I'm open to night shift too. :rolleyes:

Any places in Tampa? I would like to find somewhere that i can stay for a while as I will most likely be the breadwinner while my hubby looks for a new job (in case he doesn't get one while we are still here). I know this was a long one but I really could use some help. I scan the papers my sister sends me but I need more info than that. ANY help would be appreciated! :)

Thanks,

Nancy

Specializes in Emergency.

Another option for you nurse-99 that you may not have thought of but might be an option would be to look in to a travel assignment in the area. It would get you down into the area and give you some time to look for yourself. It could even lead to a permenant position at that particular hospital. Most travel companies provide shared housing but for a small fee- prob much less than to rent an place private housing. This would save you money esp since your spouse would be looking for work. I work ER and it's what we are doing till we decide we want to stay here permenantly.

RJ:rolleyes:

hi, this is copswife cop,

in east manatee you have easy access to i-75 (tampa bound) and i-275 (st.pete bound), check your florida map and you'll see what i mean. in manatee you are close to several malls and lots of basic support retailers. the area has canoeing and some nice beaches (20 min or so, depending on the homes location). there are state parks in the area (like little manatee river state park). beaching is something that usually tapers off as your time in florida lengthens, unless you have teens that just go to hang out and be seen.

one thing to consider in the great real estate quest...... flood insurance and hurricane evacuation zones. frequently, nurses are stuck at the hospital during hurricane warnings. it can be nerve racking when you're at work and the family is home. evacuation should be a choice, not mandatory.

manatee memorial hospital is close at hand. tampa has tampa general (which includes a children's hospital) and st. joseph's hospital. a few more options for you to check out.

feel free to ask anything else........

hi cop's wife,

thanks again for your post. it's so informative. i tried to do a couple of searches on housing in east manatee and keep coming up with nothing. i told my agent and i am waiting for her call. i did speak with st. joseph's and they don't have any l&d/high risk ob. the recruiter pointed me back to bayfront. the recruiter at tampa general kept on trying to push me towards med-surg and the like for her hospital. when i absolutely wouldn't budge, she too pointed me to bayfront. i'll try again later. maybe i'll find another recruiter who can tell me about peds. i pray it's not only 1 recruiter on staff. :-)

how can i find out about the hurricane and evac zones? i guess i'll ask the agent about that too. i definitely want it to be voluntary. i felt so bad this past yr w/ all the evacs you guys had to do. that getting stuck at work business is tough to swallow. i'll have a toddler and a baby and my hubby would panic for sure! :-) i guess we'll have to deal.

what is the avg price for a 4br/2 ba house in the east manatee area? any clue?

thanks so much,

nancy

another option for you nurse-99 that you may not have thought of but might be an option would be to look in to a travel assignment in the area. it would get you down into the area and give you some time to look for yourself. it could even lead to a permenant position at that particular hospital. most travel companies provide shared housing but for a small fee- prob much less than to rent an place private housing. this would save you money esp since your spouse would be looking for work. i work er and it's what we are doing till we decide we want to stay here permenantly.

rj:rolleyes:

hi rjflyn,

thanks for your reply. i did briefly consider traveling. i thought it'd be a great way to test the waters at some facilities. i decided against it for several reasons.

one was that i want to take advantage of any relocation $ i can get. i paid a bunch of $ out of pocket to move last yr and i really would prefer not to again this yr, especially since the move to fla will likely cost me much more.

2nd, my whole family will be moving. i understand that the travel groups tend to provide 1 br apts. i need a 2 br.

3rd, i keep hearing so many things about people getting screwed by the travel groups that i'm affraid of them. with a new baby, moving, a new area and a new job, i don't know if i can take on fighting w/ an agency in the event that i'd get screwed.

what about you? who are you with? are they housing your whole family? what hospital are you at now? how do you like it?

your info is really appreciated.

thanks,

nancy

hi cop's wife,

thanks again for your post. it's so informative. i tried to do a couple of searches on housing in east manatee and keep coming up with nothing. i told my agent and i am waiting for her call. i did speak with st. joseph's and they don't have any l&d/high risk ob. the recruiter pointed me back to bayfront. the recruiter at tampa general kept on trying to push me towards med-surg and the like for her hospital. when i absolutely wouldn't budge, she too pointed me to bayfront. i'll try again later. maybe i'll find another recruiter who can tell me about peds. i pray it's not only 1 recruiter on staff. :-)

how can i find out about the hurricane and evac zones? i guess i'll ask the agent about that too. i definitely want it to be voluntary. i felt so bad this past yr w/ all the evacs you guys had to do. that getting stuck at work business is tough to swallow. i'll have a toddler and a baby and my hubby would panic for sure! :-) i guess we'll have to deal.

what is the avg price for a 4br/2 ba house in the east manatee area? any clue?

thanks so much,

nancy

it would be very hard to find anything under 300k. check http://www.realtor.com city would be bradenton or try zip codes that start with 342, such as 34212

Each county has there maps and zones. your real estate agent should be able to help you with that info. I would also like to suggest southern Hillsborough county. It is rural but the area is very pretty, well inland and is still realativly inexpensive. A community called Sundance is in that area and my husband loved it when he lived there. Again it is Rural, the area will grow rapidly over time and with the ages of your kids, by the time they get to the point of needing t-ball, soccer, scouting etc. The area may have grown up. This part of Florida is not exactly designed for close community living. Usually we parents have to drive our kids everywhere anyway, nothing is really close here. It is a very pleasent commute over the Sunshine Skyway bridge it is about 25 minutes from Sundance to Bayfront hospital, but it is all highway. I think houses in that area go for about 175,000 to 200,000. Sundance property owners association has a website, I don't know the URL I will try to find it for you. This is just a suggestion, remember it is rural.

Specializes in Utilization Management.

I think I'd come down, rent, and go into a Pool position somewhere--say, All Children's or St. Joseph's, just to get used to the area and feel out the hospital culture.

As far as East M. county is concerned also consider new development of housing in Parrish; Ellenton and Palmetto. These towns are close( 15 to 30 min ) to:

Manatee Memorial Hospital (Bradenton)

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center (full hospital) Bradenton/Sarasota

Blake Hospital Bradenton

Sarasota Memorial Hospital about 45 min drive away.

hi angie,

i did think about doing a pool position but let that idea go as i really want to take advantage of a relocation package. also, i need to carry medical coverage while my hubby searches for a job.

i think i'd come down, rent, and go into a pool position somewhere--say, all children's or st. joseph's, just to get used to the area and feel out the hospital culture.
i think i'd come down, rent, and go into a pool position somewhere--say, all children's or st. joseph's, just to get used to the area and feel out the hospital culture.

hi,

can you tell me anything about st. joe's women's in tampa? i'm looking at there as my 1st choice and want to know what's the opinion of that place.

thanks for your help,

nancy

Specializes in Emergency.

i can understand being worried about a particualr travel company by what you read online. but for every bad story your hear there are probably many more good that you dont hear like anything else. as far as relocation nothing says you cant do the travel thing to find a place you want to stay while trying to sell your home in your current location or else storing your stuff until you find a hospital you like. that and one can still get relocation money from a hospital if they want you bad enough- for example the one i currently work for made such an offer during orientaiton no less. as far as the apartment size mine allowed my wife to travel with me and provided a one bedroom at no extra charge- i waived a points reward option to get this. if i wanted a larger apt i could have one- just pay the difference, course the added room/s are not funished like the one bedroom.

rj

hi rjflyn,

thanks for your reply. i did briefly consider traveling. i thought it'd be a great way to test the waters at some facilities. i decided against it for several reasons.

one was that i want to take advantage of any relocation $ i can get. i paid a bunch of $ out of pocket to move last yr and i really would prefer not to again this yr, especially since the move to fla will likely cost me much more.

2nd, my whole family will be moving. i understand that the travel groups tend to provide 1 br apts. i need a 2 br.

3rd, i keep hearing so many things about people getting screwed by the travel groups that i'm affraid of them. with a new baby, moving, a new area and a new job, i don't know if i can take on fighting w/ an agency in the event that i'd get screwed.

what about you? who are you with? are they housing your whole family? what hospital are you at now? how do you like it?

your info is really appreciated.

thanks,

nancy

I think somebody posted earlier that Tampa is paying 17-19 for a BSN W/ exp. I think you were misquoted. I was offered a few positions in Tampa, and they were all 19+/hr for a diploma grad with NO experience. There are raises the first year too. I know they pay a wee bit more for BSN, (new grad). Also, If you don't need any benefits, UCh pays (again new grads) very well for opting out of benefits. If you don't mind commuting, look at areas north of Tampa/ St. pete. Trinity is very expensive, but West Pasco is still affordable, as well as Hernando county (a fortune compared to when I lived there 5 years ago, but cheap in comparison to Philadelphia, where I live now)

I was offered a position at a BIg center city philly hosp. for $24/hr. The benefits were EXPENSIVE, and its almost $10 a day to park. Figure in EXTREME cost of living here, and obscene taxes, and that $19/hr looks good. The comparision of what I sold here(philly) for almost $200/k and what I bought there for 150k is crazy (Housewise)(plus prop. taxes). Plus we want to have kids, and you can't send your kids to public school here. I know you have already moved from Philly, but I guarantee you won't miss the money in comparison to the lifestyle in Fl.

Was it the OP that asked about St. Joes womens? I have a friend that works there and she loves it. I believe its not for profit.

Anyway, not to keep babbling, I am excited to move, so I may be a little biased, but really, I have heard a million times that nurses generally make the same throught the u.s. because of the varying cost of living. $24 an hour in Philadelphia is nice, but you won't be moving to the suburbs. $19/hr in fl. is decent, if you live outside the city.

I was shocked however that our homeowners insurance is actually MORE than our property taxes, and thats in a non-flood zone. (Just a little warning).

Anyway, best of luck to you!!

Hi BonJovi girl,

I called a couple of places in Tampa and a BSN w/ 1 yr exper, I was told the pay would be about $19/hr. I've only found one paying in the 20's and that's where I am headed. What is UCH? I'd like to talk to them.

How far is West Pasco from St. Pete? I was looking at Brandon as the prices are still decent. I've been told it's an hour from St. Pete... that's kind of far from the only family I have there. Any idea is appreciated.

About Philly, I would so not work in CC! Between the traffic in commuting and the $ to park, it's too much of a hassle. The only beauty in any of the CC hospitals is working for HUP because of free tuition to their school. If you are not headed back to school now, I'd look elsewhere. I worked at Frankford-Torresdale and loved it. It's easy to get to (right off 95) and it's free parking. Everything is computerized, the pay is good (I think it's $26/hr base for new grads), it's clean and they offer nice bonuses.

I also found nicer and better priced housing in the greater Northeast and Bucks County. Bucks Co.'s school system is good also. I'd avoid Philly schools like the plague. I did school nursing Per Diem and swore to NEVER let my kid come anywhere near that school system. It's disgusting.

Thanks for the comment about St. Joe's Women's. I am definitely going to them. I look forward to my lifestyle in FL. I just need to find nice, affordable housing and I'll be set. :-) I'm very much shocked by how the prices have taken off in St. Pete. It's ridiculous. We were planning on trying to live on 1 income but I guess that's out.

Thanks so much,

Nancy

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