Relocating to NOVA from Chicago

[Magelan]

Hi everyone :)

I will be relocating to Northern Virginia next January. Any insights from nurses living in the area?

I am a LPN with 2 years of experience in acute rehab and skilled nursing, so I have no problem with working in LTC or acute/subacute rehab facilities.

Any advice on where to look for a job? What is the pay for LPNs in NOVA? Here in Chicago I'm currently at $27.50 per hour. I'm aware that it will be hard to expect that in NOVA/DMV area but would like to have some info :)

Thanks in advance :)

[kejRN88]

Hey there! My name is Kayla. I live in Winchester, VA. Some people consider it NOVA, some don't...lol. I am a Labor and Delivery nurse at Winchester Medical Center. Our hospital recently formed a "partnership" with Inova, which is in Fairfax. From what I hear, Inova is a pretty good hospital. I think they pay decently. The nurses in our area make a little less than the average for the area. My base pay is around $26, that does not include shift diff. I cannot really tell you what cost of living is in the Fairfax area, but I know it is fairly expensive. A lot of people commute from here to that area. I hope your search goes well!!

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Do you have any idea which part of NOVA? The commute is a huge factor, and NOVA is a big area, from Ashburn/Sterling to Manassas to Alexandria to Arlington, etc. I worked for Inova Loudoun Hospital in Loudoun County, and I can say that Inova is a pretty good company to work for. I worked in an ER and we didn't hire LPNs, but I don't know about the rest of the facilities. inova.org is the website, they'd be a good place to start.

[Magelan]

Thanks KejRN and Pixie

The area of NOVA that I'm targeting is around Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church :)

I did look at INOVA website, they do hire LPNs for some positions as office nurses and at their LTC facilities. Yes, I'm very aware that for LPN's there are not so many (if any) options in the hospital setting. For example here in Chicago hospitals are rarely hiring even ADNs, mostly BSNs since the market is extremely saturated plus most of the hospitals went "Magnet".

Last jun I got offer in Charlottesville, VA but could not accept only $19.10 per hour so I decided to stay few more months in Chicago. Winchester, VA is very nice place, I was considering it as well. I'm just concerned that LPNs are not getting as much in Winchester

I'm currently bridging to RN thru Excelsior college (1 more nursing subject to go, 5 more general and FCCA & CPNE) so when that (hopefully) gets to an end I hope there will be more options in beautiful Virginia :)