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I will be moving to the Fairfax area next month and was hoping someone could answer a few questions for me. Are they plenty of jobs there or are nurses being cut back too? Where are the best hospitals or clinics to apply? I have been out of nursing for awhile and need to take a refresher course. Has anyone taken the GM refresher course? Is so, is it good? Other recommendations? My husband insists that I should find a job first and see if the employer will assist with costs of the refresher program. That sounds good, but, in our current economic condition, I was afraid there would be less jobs and certainly wouldn't expect an employer to help with a refresher course. What do you think? Also, if the refresher course is pretty intense, would I want to be working also (considering my kids are also ajusting to a new area and school)?

Thank you for any input!!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

There's always the Inova system: http://www.inova.org -- things seem a bit tight here, but Inova does have jobs open.

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I took a refresher class at NOVA last fall and thought that it was very good. Most of it was online, and then we met three weekends for skill lab type stuff, and then you had to have a preceptorship, which was 80 hours. I have talked to a couple of nurses who did the GM one and didn't like it as much. The NOVA is more expensive though....

I actually asked about Inova reimbursing me for the class but they didn't bite. I was able to get a job at Inova at the heart vascular center and went through a 12 week ICU fellowship, which really helped ease me back in to nursing. I'm working on an ICU step down unit.

When I applied for jobs and talked to nurse recruiters, I was told that if I had been out of nursing for more than 4 years, they'd expect me to take a refresher class.

Good luck to you! I believe that there are jobs out there, but certainly not as many as there were even last summer.

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Hello, can anyone tell me the base starting pay for NoVa Mt. Vernon I have 3 years med/surg experience.

Thanks so much

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