Anything good about working in Texas?

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Specializes in Case management, Utilization Review.

I'll be moving to Rice, Tx in 6-12 months. I'm a little uneasy about working in Tx from reading some of the threads. I'll be living near Corsicana, Waxahachie, and Ennis..any good places for an RN to work? How about Baylor in Dallas? Agencies? Travel Companies?

Any advice is appreciated.

FYI..I have several years ICU experience, a few years PACU and Float, 3 years case management experience, a little HH and Wound care and 5 years clinical instructor experience.

post here

thanks for any advice!!

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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.

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It is what you make it. If you CHOOSE to work in a crappy unit where they chronically understaff then >>> 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.

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Specializes in Case management, Utilization Review.

So what are some of the better facilities, in your opinion?

We have low COL where I live now, w/ relatively decent salaries. 150-200 k sounds like a lot of money to me, I paid 27k for my house last spring...LOL

I won't be buying a house in Tx since my future husband already has one so that's one expense that won't be an issue. I'm hoping just to work prn or part time after a year or two.

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I paid 27k for my house last spring...LOL

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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

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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.

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

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.

;)

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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.

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Specializes in Case management, Utilization Review.
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

LOL..

It'll be for sale in about 6 months!!!!

I live in SW Mo right now, and my house was pretty cheap even by our standards. Plus it's only 2/1 and about 800 square feet. The lot is 50 x 190. Good school district, no mail delivery to homes but post office is just a few blocks from everywhere.

150-200 will get you a McMansion here on a large lot or even some acreage. about 75K will get you a pretty nice home depending on what part of town you live in. 2 houses on main street in the town I live in recently sold for about 90k each..not real big, but they were newly built.

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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.

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.

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Specializes in NICU.

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!

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

there is no way i am ever paying $125,000 for a house here in texas. maybe it is just cause i am a trailer trash ,goodwill, break ya down to my price , bottom of the barrel shopper, but i guarantee you can live a lot cheaper than that here in texas.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I was born and raised in California and by no means jealous of ANYONE that still lives there. I got to Texas as fast as I can. In the podunk central valley town I was from crap box houses that are barely worth buying are going for 500K. The house I was born in (Santa Barbara) that my parents bought for 19,500 in 1965 just sold for 835K 4 months ago (3 bedroom starter home). The house I live in now (3 br on 2 acres) apraised at 110K would easily fetch upwards of 650K in many parts of cali.

Of course salaries in Cali are higher, but so are the headaches and the list goes on... I wouldn't trade my $34 an hour job here for ANYTHING in Cali.

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