Best Cities to Work (Pay and Experience)

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Hey everybody, I'm planning on starting traveling in the spring. I want my first assignment to be in or near Philly (I have family there). I still want to travel to other places just for the experience. At the same time, I have two degrees worth of student loans in repayment right now, so $$ is important. What cities/ hospitals did you guys have the best time in?? Where did you get the best pay?? I always hear about California, but where else??

Specializes in NICU.

I actually am doing my second 3 month travel contract at Providence in Anchorage, which has been a very nice place to work with great staff. I have been over to ANC for a look-see out of curiosity & when a tourist up in Barrow, the nursing supervisor took me on a tour of the Barrow native hospital. The nurses I am working with have friends that work at ANC & are happy there. Maybe you could get your foot in the door with some per diem.

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how do you find alaska weather wise? honestly? my husband is dying to go there (he loves hunting, fishing, etc) and i think it would be great for our kids, i'm just nervous about the winter! (we live in indiana now, so it's not like we don't have winter)

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Specializes in home health, hospice, clinic, telemetry.
I actually am doing my second 3 month travel contract at Providence in Anchorage, which has been a very nice place to work with great staff. I have been over to ANC for a look-see out of curiosity & when a tourist up in Barrow, the nursing supervisor took me on a tour of the Barrow native hospital. The nurses I am working with have friends that work at ANC & are happy there. Maybe you could get your foot in the door with some per diem.

Thanks for responding. I am considering per diem as well. Right now I am going to continue where I am and see if I can't get my foot in the door like you said. I love where I work now but so NEED some bedside nursing experience. :)

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Specializes in home health, hospice, clinic, telemetry.
how do you find alaska weather wise? honestly? my husband is dying to go there (he loves hunting, fishing, etc) and i think it would be great for our kids, i'm just nervous about the winter! (we live in indiana now, so it's not like we don't have winter)

Honestly, it took some getting use to but let me say that it isn't that bad. We moved here from Louisiana where we get pretty much NO winter/snow. lol. It took me to learn to drive in the snow but I moved up in oct 2009 and started in hospice where I was out everyday and on call during the winter. Now? I LOVE it here. We are outdoor people and spend many weekends in the summer on our boat in Prince William Sound. Camping, hiking or fishing. There is never enough time in the summer to get everything in that you want to do. My husband is a big hunter as well. He went on a bear hunt this year, moose hunt and caribou hunt. All were fun for him and he brought home a caribou. Our son is 13 and I was worried about him moving here but he has adjusted well. He too loves the outdoor stuff so he is always finding things to do like fishing, camping, hunter......You get the idea. :) I do like the schools here much better than Louisiana. I feel he is getting a better education now.

Winter is winter. It snows but really it never slows us down. Yeah the traffic at first snow is tricky because everyone is still in summer driving mindset but it isn't that bad. There is still so much to do in the winter. The hardest part was the darkness but with Vit D and show shoes or skis you are good to go. The key is to get active and have fun. I enjoy winter as much as I do summer now but for different reasons. I think if you have a chance to come here you should. It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. We originally planned to be here for two years and now have revised our plan to spend at least the next 8 yrs here.

If you need any additional information or have questions feel free to contact me. :)

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thank you akRN..... my hubby is a HUGE hunter, and i can't really emphasize that point enough.....and we have 3 boys.....who are dying to go with him. even the 2 year old. go figure. i HATE indiana weather b/c it's cold and b o r i n g, so maybe it's not so cold up there? i know it's expensive, but i plan on heading to AK if the job makes sense, the money makes sense, and i will be finishing my NP so I think then it will be more affordable. maybe not. i'm not really interested in alaska north, as i really don't think i could manage complete darkness mixed with complete cold. it looks like a beautiful state, and my mother lives in hawaii, so it's not like i couldn't hop skip.......

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Specializes in home health, hospice, clinic, telemetry.

If you like the outdoors then you will love it here. The cold isn't bad really. I live in the Anchorage area and it isn't bad. Like Fairbanks with -60 in the winter at times. I wouldn't live anywhere in this state except this area and that is as much to do with the winter. The cold is doable more because the humidity is low. While it is cold it isn't miserable and you still can have fun being outside. Be prepared though, the cost of living is probably more than what you are use to. We knew that moving here but I feel we were a bit ill prepared. We live a nice community outside Anchorage and spent quite a bit for the comfort but it is worth it. Our main expenses would be our boat that we purchased to go out to Prince William Sound. I came from La where we had a bass boat and a 12K-15K boat was expensive. The boat we have now could have bought me a couple of cars. lol. However, the trade off is worth it due to the amount of time we spend on the water.

My son loves to hunt as well. One thing we have had to do is limit his hunting for the first year or two so my husband can go and learn. He is use to deer hunting, duck hunting. Hunting moose, caribou and bear is VERY different and can be deadly. However, I know that by next year our son will be out there with his dad. Please contact me if you decide to move up and need help/advice or anything that can help you make the transition. Oh and yep...tickets to hawaii are CHEAP!!!

Cheers!!

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thanks i will! if only time flew...

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Thanks AKRN68, I'd love to know more about travel nursing in AK, especially around Anchorage where the weather looks amazing. I'm looking to go in January but am having trouble locating pediatric positions. I'd love to sublet while I'm there but since I don't have any connections it might be hard to find one. I'd love any suggestions and info about housing, subletting, nursing in AK. Thanks!

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when do you believe is weather actually nice in alaska? i plan travel nursing up there for a 13 wk contract, but i hate extreme weather! like winter or summer, how is spring or fall? i would love to see the aurora borealis!

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Specializes in ICU, PROGRESSIVE CARE.

Anymore experiences in travel? Please do tell.

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I would think it depends on the agency and how desperate they are for nurses.....along with figures such as per diem pay, are you going to take their stipend or allow them to house you? Some of the popular places such as Cali aren't paying as much as they used to years ago because everyone wants to go there!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I'm at a Hospital in Baltimore Maryland that pays decent and the people are great. Its a ICU unit. Cost of living is cheap, and there are alot of things to do and see. Come East!

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