A northern transfer!

MassED, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2008

Hey all! I have a few questions in which I was hoping someone could help out with. I am an LPN graduating as an RN next May. My husband is from Florida but I am from Vermont. We are thinking of moving, "somewhere", in FL. Not sure where yet. I know nothing about the areas really other than visiting a few cities. I am scared crapless because I have lived in VT most of my life where there the crime rate consists of someone emptying a good beer! (LOL)!!! Yet, I am dying for a change and LOVE FL! Aside of that, I had heard from several Vermonters that VT and Fl have a reciprocal licensure. Does anyone know about this for sure? Secondly, how is the job market there for RN's? Does anyone have any recommendations for any good family orientated towns/cities w/ good school systems? And lastly, any good recommendations of hospital employers? Thanks for any reply!!!

I lived in the St. Pete/Clearwater area for 5 years and still have family in St. Pete. I worked at Largo Medical Center in Clearwater - before I was a nurse. There are some great hospitals in that area - a level 1 trauma center at Tampa General, Morton Plant has a few... children's hospital in St. Pete. Many not far from the beach. They're all good in Pinellas county (the hospitals), and in Hillsborough county. Good luck!

elkpark · Jun 17, 2008

There's no such thing as a "reciprocal license." The closest thing in the US would be the Nurse Licensure Compact, but neither VT nor FL are members. The compact wouldn't help if you moved to FL, anyway.

However, you can easily apply for a FL license -- check the FL BON website and look for the instructions for licensure "by endorsement" to see what their requirements are. You can access the website from this site -- click on the grey "Resources" tab in the upper right corner of the page, click on "Boards of Nursing" on the drop-down menu that appears, and that will take you to an alphabetical listing of all the US BONs, with links. Or, if you know you're going to be going there, you could just apply for your initial RN licensure in FL to begin with (if you're an LPN about to graduate from an RN program, you'll have to apply for new licensure, as an RN, anyway, wherever you are).

There have been lots of posts here over the years about how the nursing market in FL is pretty poor -- so many nurses (like everyone else) want to live in FL that it's a "buyer's (employer') market" and the hospitals can pick and choose among plenty of candidates without having to offer high salaries or great benefits.

Best wishes!

namaste_71 · Jun 20, 2008

There have been lots of posts here over the years about how the nursing market in FL is pretty poor -- so many nurses (like everyone else) want to live in FL that it's a "buyer's (employer') market" and the hospitals can pick and choose among plenty of candidates without having to offer high salaries or great benefits.

Not true in a lot of areas ...

MassED, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2008

There have been lots of posts here over the years about how the nursing market in FL is pretty poor -- so many nurses (like everyone else) want to live in FL that it's a "buyer's (employer') market" and the hospitals can pick and choose among plenty of candidates without having to offer high salaries or great benefits.
Not true in a lot of areas ...
I have been looking at the hospital websites (in Pasco county), for instance, and found where you can take a full-time position, no benefits for $35/hour plus shift differentials. That's not bad at all.

frznmommy · Jun 20, 2008

Thank-you...I was beginning to think I was crazy after reading all the positions available on-line!!! :confused: