Anything good about working in Texas?

NeoNurseTX, RN · Jan 16, 2008

OK- you guys are scaring me! I have been thinking about going back to work part-time, due to a severe injury. If the working conditions are so bad, the 'Group One' cutting so many nurses out for trivial things, the poor pay listed, I can see why there might be a shortage of nurses in Texas. I don't want to go back to work in a bad place. I have worked in both- the worst as civil employee- BIA- very bad! Drug addicted nurses, employees stealing everything from beds to stock items, a public hospital where my boss was in jail for attempted murder of her husband with a fireplace poker- the same hospital had a psychiatrist who was on trial for attacking a camper in a park. Of course I quit!! I let them know how disgusted I was with these two places! I am sure they wouldn't want me to work for them, as much as I would never consider working for them!! What do I do when I apply for a position- I can't lie about why I quit! I want to tell the truth. As far as the wages, the national average is supposed to be around $35/hr- Texas seems to be about 1/2 that! Possibly better in Houston area, but the crime/illegals is so bad that I am sure the hospitals need to offer more to entice nurses. I am so dissapointed reading the Texas posts! It seems that the BON/employers have you in their claws! What to do...???!!! Do I scrap considering nursing in Texas?? I don't want to be 'owned' by either a facility, or blackmailed by the Group One!! And I thought some other jobs were bad.....

I've lived in the Houston area all but 5 months of my life. I have never even heard of Group One till I got on these boards. I'm a new grad startign at almost 25/hr and have never had a problem with crime. Sure, I've heard about it, but no one I know nor I have had anything stolen or vandalized. And people don't seem so desperate for nurses in the Tx Med Center area...

heartofanRN · Jan 23, 2008

Good Question. Don't just ask. Do. Do Something to make sure your patients get safe care and your professionalism is maintained. Join other nurses in Texas who are lobbying for a ratio bill to keep the ratio between nurses and patients safe for all. How many job changes do you want to make in your life? Do what you can to make sure you and your co- workers have great work conditions where you are.

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!!

Bridey · Feb 7, 2008

I've been a LVN for 5 years now. I've lived here in SE Texas for 14 months. Prior to moving here I was living in Turkey for a year (ex-husband is in the AF) where I worked as the Executive Assistant (glorified secretary) to the Hospital Administrator on the AF base there. And before that I lived in Vacaville, California from 1999-2005. Good ole' cowtown. For those of you who have never heard of it, it's about midway between Sacramento & San Francisco. I grew up in SF.

Anyhow, about the cost of living comparison... there really isn't one. Living in SE Texas making only $17/hr is bar-none a better standard of living than living in California making $24/hr (as an LVN). Why? Because of several factors... California has a 8% state income tax... Texas has no state income tax. Average cost of rent for a 3 br house in the area of California I lived in was around $2000/mo. Currently I pay $650/mo rent for a 3 br house in SE Texas. Buying a house? California = $250,000 for a small (1500 sq ft) 3 br starter home. Texas = $125,000 for a decent sized (2000 sq ft) 3 br home. Gas prices in California average $3 a gallon, here in Texas it's about $2.50 a gallon. Utility prices are better in Texas. Food prices seem about the same... although some produce is more expensive here than in California. The trade off from moving AWAY from a largely agricultural part of California. Something I'm happy I can still enjoy are farmers markets!! I used to frequent them in California and Texas has them too! So that's a huge plus for me. Air quality is probably a little less clean here due to the power plants, but it isn't so crowded here. The roads in a lot of SE Texas are often under construction, but I can't recall not seeing CalTrans on the freeways in California.

Something about SE Texas that I don't care for is the weather, however I've only been here 1 year... maybe last year was a bad year. I do miss the milder predominantly sunny days. Here sun = humidity. Bleh! I miss being close to an ocean I'd swim in, but in Texas defense there are loads of rivers, lakes, etc to swim in... just look out for gators!

There are always festivals, cultural events, concerts and loads of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors here in SE Texas, so that's something I'm glad is abundant here in Texas, as I enjoyed a lot of that in California.

As far as work is concerned... there are ALWAYS going to be places that have people who are undesirable to work with. That isn't exclusive to Texas by any means. You just have to decide what's more important to you, providing the best quality of compassionate nursing care YOU can provide... or worrying about what everyone else is or isn't doing. You can't save the world, but you can set an example to follow. In regards to the ratio law in California... it's all smoke & mirrors. I worked in a very large prestigious non-profit hospital in Sacramento that found ways around the 5 to 1 ratio. While the LVN's may have had 5 patients... the RN charge nurse was generally responsible for 10-15 patients... as she oversaw the care of 2-3 LVN's. So while people might think 6 patients is too much in Texas because the nurses in California "never" have more than 5, well that's a farce. There are hospitals here that have bad reputations as far as whether or not nurses like working there. Not everyone who works at them dislike them though, otherwise some nurses probably wouldn't stay there 15-25 years. There are other places whos management sucks, but again that isn't exclusive to Texas. I worked in a hospital in California with a horrid DON and an Administrator who defended her awful attitude... I stayed there nearly 2 years. Shortly after I resigned both of them were fired. Do I wish I had stayed there? Nope, I ended up taking a job in a different hospital making a little more and working with a lot of really awesome nurses. Were there lazy, rude, holier than thou nurses at that hospital? Darn tootin'... Did I let them get under my skin? No. The fact of the matter is, you won't get along with everyone you work with. So long as you keep a professional attitude and recognize you're priority is to work, not make friends then you can work around them if not with them. If you happen to make friends... that's just an added bonus.

My 50 cents on the matter as far as Texas and California are concerned... and I grew up most of my life in California.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2008

Living in SE Texas making only $17/hr is bar-none a better standard of living than living in California making $24/hr (as an LVN).

Hi, there. I'm also a native of California, and found my way to Texas a couple of years ago because of the standards of living that you speak of.

I've been earning $19 hourly as an LVN here in TX for the past couple of years, but recently received a job offer to work NOC shift at another facility for $23 hourly. I would say that $23 hourly is rather decent pay for an LVN, especially in a state that others love to bash for offering supposedly "low" pay rates for nurses.

So far, the job market in Texas has treated this LVN fairly well.

MBsGirl · Feb 12, 2008

I'm hoping to start out at least 24/hrly or so. The hospital I'm looking at is small, so I realize that pay may be low compared to the bigger ones but it's fairly close to where I'll be living.