Anything good about working in Texas?

I guess I'd better not reply to this one- I'm an RN in Texas, and I have a rep as a big Texas job-hater on this board, lol.

It is what you make it. If you CHOOSE to work in a crappy unit where they chronically understaff then <<<shrug>>>> that is your choice. I've worked in Texas as an RN for 12 + years and just simply move to another unit or hospital if there is an issue. There is going to be job issues in every.single. job you have.

I feel like the pay is good and the cost of living is low. You simply cannot expect to come to a state with very affordable housing and expect to pull in the outrageously inflated salaries they are seeing on the West Coast. They are paid well, but heck...it costs 800K for a SHACK. Of COURSE they have to pay them something. Salaries are lower here, but read my other threads....you can buy a decent or even nice house for 150-250K.

There are well known hospitals that have safe patient ratios and care about the staff.

Where in the sam hill do you live girl ? I would kill for something three times that amount. Please don't be selfish, tell it tell it, go tell it on the mountain

C'mon ... could you at least quote some data before you make such outrageous statements? $800K for a shack?

The average price for a California house, right now ... statewide ... is $430K. So obviously not all of us are paying $800K for a shack. In fact, a lot of us pay and/or have paid a lot less than $430K.

And that $430K average price isn't going to last long with falling housing prices. The average home price will probably drop to $350K or less in the next couple of years since builders are slashing prices daily.

I realize that some people don't like the fact that California nurses make a lot of money ... and maybe this is a way to make yourselves feel better about that but ... we're certainly not going broke out on the West Coast. Many nurses are doing quite well out here.

You are probably going to have a stroke when you see the cost of housing in the area. People keep saying that the cost of living is low but all I can think is that they came from the Seattle or California area if they think that North TX has low C.O.L. The salaries are not commensurate with the cost of living in the area.

Hospital in Corsicana is for-profit. Have heard complaints from people who left there. Have worked for the company that owns that hospital. Money is more important than the pts or staff. Company is a spinoff of HCA - the big baddies from a few years ago.

Hospital in Ennis is for-profit that also had the town help chunk down money to build a new building. From what I've seen, they always have openings and turnover. They recently had CNO and CEO leave after scandal involving sexual abuse of pts by a doc and nurses who helped cover for the doc when policy was violated.

I believe the hospital in Waxahatchie is a little hospital with one of the big names from the Metroplex - maybe Baylor. It's a small hospital - you get what you get. Haven't heard any scandals from there but haven't really paid attention.

Don't go to the hospitals in Mesquite -there are two owned by the same company. Bad, Bad. Search this forum for info on that scandal.

Frankly, it depends on what you are looking for as to what you will find in the area. I have not been impressed by the hospitals in the Metroplex. There is a distinct atmosphere of apathy manifesting as passive aggressive behavior by many of the nurses there. Salaries are low compared to other parts of the state that have lower cost of living than the Metroplex. Part of this is due to LOTS of nursing schools in the area. Also can be attributed to Group One hospitals that share all that salary info about everyone.

Outside agency is sometimes difficult to get full time work. If you need full time, you will probably be better off signing on with a hospital for an FTE or PRN position.

Read up on Group One - you can search this forum for them. They can make or break you.

Working ICU will probably get you a job the easiest as well as the most money.

Good luck and welcome to the neighborhood.

Well, I based this from a visit to an area near SanFran a few years ago. I was standing outside my friends house and she pointed to what looked like a chicken shack from our viewpoint and said "see that ? That is selling for 800K." I do realize prices are dropping.

You can make upwards of 30/hr for prn work here in our area of Texas. That can approach 50-70K a year depending on how much you work. For someone with an associates or a BSN, I just don't see why that is so low to some people? Do you guys expect to be making 100K?

A house for 25K is pretty much a shack here in Texas I will admit. But a 125-200K home is pretty reasonable IMO and MUCH more affordable than 350K for an average size house.

Oh, and I am personally not jealous of the $$ Californians make. I'm just tired of them complaining about conditions here when they really are comparable when you consider COL.

27K for a house?!?! Holy crap!! Even going into the worst areas in the worst neighborhoods and looking at the smallest houses they have you couldn't find anything for that price around here.

I don't live in TX, but I lived there for 5 years when I went to school. Housing was cheap, and I've actually thought about moving back there so I could afford a decent house. But I like where I'm at right now.

Good people in TX though, the friendliest!