NICU in McAllen Medical Center??

Things aren't likely to ever get better in McAllen hospitals. There's a very good reason they offer the large bonuses. All I can do is to recommend that you do a lot of research into this area before you move here.

The Rio Grande Valley is unlike any other area you're used to.

However, you might love it. Who knows. But still, you really need to do your research.

I...can't wait to leave the RGV.

My wife and I have been in the RGV for 3+ years, on a 4 year contract (hers) with a hospital here. I'm in NS at the moment.

I can't emphasize enough that you should visit the RGV before signing a contract to work there. Not just to see the hospital but to see what the area is really like. I have no first hand knowledge of the hospitals (aside from what others have told me and it's all bad) but I can tell you I wouldn't want to have to live there. I went there for a job interview once and quickly beat a path back home after staying there just 24 hours or so. Oh and brush up on your spanish, you'll need it. In all honesty I think you would be in for quite a culture shock moving from MA to the RGV area of Texas. I live in South Texas and even I found it to be a bit of a shock to how similar some parts of it were to a third world country. You may be one of the few (the very, very few) that love it. You never know but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Also keep in mind that you are a stone's throw from Reynosa Mexico. To read up on how things have been going in Reynosa, check out some of these wonderful stories:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/reynosa/index

Our vehicle was stolen within 8 hours of moving here. The cop said "Welcome to the valley". As the person above said, learn Spanish. It's common to have the drive through at McDonalds answered in Spanish, and for there to be no one in the restaurant/store that can speak English. If you're "anglo", as white people are known here, you'll be going from a majority to an instant minority. You'll be ignored, skipped over while waiting in lines, talked down to, and everyone around you will be speaking Spanish. Each year, these small towns (McAllen is 100k people) swell to 200-300K because of "winter Texans", which are elderly northerners who spend from Oct to May down here to avoid the cold weather. Traffic becomes a snarled mess (and the people here CANNOT drive...you take your life in your hands daily by being on the roads) and you can forget about getting a table at a restaurant.

As the above stated....you're 6-10 miles from the border with Mexico, and this place is more Mexico than US. Even though we have all the stores and restaurants you may be used to, they're all a royal mess...crap thrown everywhere, can't park at the mall without coming back to find your vehicle has been stolen and taken to Mexico...

Seriously, come for a visit before you sign a contract. Generally, hospital Nurse/patient ratios is 8+ patients per nurse. In NICU it'll be less, but everywhere else it's terrible.

No other part of Texas is as bad as the RGV. Austin is beautiful.

Austin is amazing but the pay is a lot less than Houston and the cost of living is a lot higher.

I lived in Austin for a while about 5 years ago. I didn't find the cost of living to be bad at all. But again, that was 5 years ago so things may have changed. If you are into outdoorsy stuff and/or live music, you'll love Austin.