The Case for Practicing Nursing in Las Vegas

Currently in kansas, working as an LPN. will have my RN end of 2006. married w/ 4 boys 11,6,4,2. what is a good area? have visited several times and liked it. used to live in LA before we had kids.

There are many areas to live in that are good, just depends on a hospital you would like to work. Summerlin is good, green valley/henderson is growing and is a good area and so is the north west area, which is also growing. i dont ever recommend downtown of course with kids especially! Always avoid crime ridden areas, which is in the more condensed areas, if you want more specifics i can get that for you since my husband is CSI with metro. just email me at juls111@aol.com
julie

I'd like to move to vegas because california's cost of living is so high yet vegas is 4plus hrs from family in Calif. What areas do I avoid when looking for houseing? I know Henderson is ok and Summerlin What about the area around Nellis AFB?

I've lived here for twenty plus years. Came as a new grad and done a variety of practice, ortho, ICU, ER, Flights, PICU, NICU, etc. UMC is it, period. Retirement is 2 1/2 % for each year you stay. That's 50% of your base pay after twenty years. You contribute, zero. You can do up to thirty years...75% of your base pay. Add deferred compensation and you can retire with the same pay check you earned while you worked. Who stays thirty years? Well I've done twenty and never planned to stay in LV this long , but you have to live somewhere. 320 days of sunshine. Get a pool if you don't like the heat. Run out of H20? We'll get water from somewhere we'll just pay a little more for it. It's (water) still cheaper than many areas of the country. Crime is everywhere...but no one has cut a fetus from a pregnant woman here yet, so there. Gangs are everywhere too so keep your kids close and love them to death whether you live here or Grand Is. Neb. Back to UMC. There's no deduction for social security either. That's 6.2% more each pay period in your pocket. No state income tax as well. That's another (on the average) 6% more in your pocket. Total...12% +. If your from ohio or CA. $140.00 out of every thousand dollars in your pocket that you would not see otherwise. After a few years there's longevity pay. Also 11.3 hours of vacation per payday = 7 weeks vacation a year on a twelve hour shift work schedule (after 5 years). The damn union runs the place. Good or bad, it does makes the grunts life easier. 2 pts ICU/CCU, 4-5 in IMC, 5-8 on the med surg, so don't work med surg unless your organized and young. Besides its not always eight pts either. Usually six to seven. And that's night shift too. Day shift is less pts. Drawback for LV is housing. It has really gone up in price. But an experienced nurse can make sixty to seventy thousand a year with overtime and not kill herself (him). So if your husband is not a bum you'll do ok. Schools do stink as well. But remember you have to manage your own child's homework and attitude towards it. Send em to Sylvan if they don't get it...I had to. It's your kid spend the time and money early and it will be less than when they're older. Hope this helps. Good luck.