I am a nursing student currently living in Minnesota. after graduation....about a year and a half....my husband and I would like to move to Florida. My heart has always been set on Tampa....big, but not too big....low cost of living....right by the water...and of course....hot as he** (which is sooo much better than freezing my buns off for six months of the year)
This spring, he and I will be visiting his grandmother in Sarasota to check out the area, and look into things.
Can anyone tell me about some of the cities...Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, etc......the good, the bad....good hospitals, etc. Any information and bragging would be greatly appreciated.:kiss
I would also be interested in making pen pals, and maybe meet some of you when I come out in the spring.
:monkeydance:hey, 58! if you can find a decent sandwich here, definitely let me know. i really miss being home, though. yeah we are close to sevierville and were actually looking for a house there. i can tell you that being a nurse in fl was more than enough preparation to be a nurse here. the ratios are much lower. almost like a vacation. speaking of vacation, i have to get arthroscopic surgery on my knee in january and then 2-3 mos of therapy. shoot me now. i like working. talk to ya soon,
Southernurse, I have my grouper snoopers out canvassing Sevier County for that sandwich. Will get back with a progress report.
Hope your arthroscopic surgery goes well. I can relate to knee problems. I tore my ACL falling off the helicopter when I was still in Sarasota. Don't worry, I can fly a helicopter better than I can balance on a flightstep. Took about a year for that to heal, sort of. It flares every now and then. It bothered me about 3 weeks ago and I went in and got a cortisone shot; I really like those, I want more of them.......NOT! :chair:
Did you have any of your family involved with the tornado that went through Deland yesterday? There were quite a few tornadoes along that front. Imagine, tornadoes in Florida on Christmas Day! Crazy weather...
I hope you had a good Christmas in Tennessee. Santa was good to us here in Florida, 'cept for those tornadoes of course!
Hey 58! I'll be waiting for that grouper, man!:trout: None of my family was tore up yesterday, I check the local news on the net through WESH and we did okay. Whew! I was also looking into Florida Hospital in DeLand, might be a travel nursing stop after I get my RN done this spring. I had more respect in Florida as an LPN though. I can't tell you how many people asked me if I was a nurse or an LPN here.:angryfire Just smile and wave! :smackingf As for your cortisone, you can KEEP IT! I had shots in my lower back and my L shoulder. JUST SAY NO. I would rather get run over by a car with spikes for wheels! Christmas was snowless, and that is fine with me! Talk to ya soon!
Hi to you all :Snowman1: Firstly, Merry Christmas to you guys from across the Atlantic Sea! Yep I'm a little brit nurse, you guessed! Although wanna be USA nurse xx
Thanks for all your information and yet entertaining threads on the best city in Florida!! :icon_wink: I'm from a City called Cambridge in the UK and I'm currently working as an ITU RN here. However, I came on holiday (reluctantly because I HATE flying!) to Kissimmee in October with my family and oh boy........my eyes were opened for the first time in 29 years!!!! I just LOVE Florida!! :bowingpur
I am now studying for my NCLEX exam as I just have to move over there!! I am SOOOOOOOO annoyed and fed up with the UK now I have seen Florida. The UK is just freezing, expsensive and in my opinion, people are overworked, under payed and as a result, not half as friendly as the Floridan people I met. I was even more reluctant to come home.
I am coming over again in April for 2 weeks, visiting Atlantic side for 1 week and Clearwater for 1 week. :monkeydance: :)
If anyone can help me, I am a bit confused with where the area to apply, I like the sound of Tampa but have read about the numerous strip clubs and a dirty mentality generally in a thread, which I'm not keen on at all.....any help on the nice areas of Tampa would be good, and any help and info on best hospitals for ITU work, and green card visa application would be so appreciated.
I want to live somewhere that is on the coast but within walking distance or a short drive (0-20 mins) from shops, resturants, beach, and of course a good hospital! Ideally I would like to be able to walk to the beach.
Any info of any kind will be great......thanks guys! Can't wait to get over there xx
Hi Kelly, welcome to allnurses! Merry Christmas to ya!
I see you visited in October which means you may not have experienced the normal Florida temperatures. Plain and simple, it gets HOT. Be prepared for that. At the moment though it is mid 30s. I'm likin' that. Most of the year it is quite warm.
I've seen very little of Tampa, from the ground that is. I like the Davis Islands area just south of downtown. If I had to move there, that's where I would go.
When you come back to visit in April, and that's a good time of year here BTW, Clearwater is a good start. Look at Sarasota south to Naples. Nice shoreline, pretty water. The Keys are a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. On the Atlantic side try St Augustine south to Daytona. In the panhandle Pensacola to Panama City is a good place to look. Other areas are crowded, or getting that way fast, or marshy.
Just remember that all coastal areas of Florida are subject to hurricanes. Wherever you rent or buy stay above the flood line.
Remember too that Florida has critters in the water that will eat you. The beach is for wading, not swimming. An 8 foot shark can hide very well in 4 feet of water. So can a gator. Don't feed anything in the wild that has a mouth bigger than your hand.
:smiletea:Hey Kelly! I see you instantly fell in love with Florida the way I did when I went in '78. My family lives on the east coast by Daytona (TOO close to the Speedway if you ask me!) Because I spent a lot of my childhood there, I lived on the west coast once I got married. It depends on your preferences, but if you like city, I would go Sarasota, though it is costly. Further south where I used to live, in North Port, was nice and the beaches were nearby. If you like quiet, go to Englewood. They have BEAUTIFUL beaches that are not too crowded or overrun with tourists. "Season" as we call it is October to April. That is when the snowbirds show up and it is crowded and busy. Other seasons we have are "Love Bug" which, when in abundance, slap onto your car in great numbers and can ruin the paint. Rainy season, Hurricane season and on the west coast, turtle season when they dig nests on the beach and are left alone until they hatch, May to October. They are clearly marked, and people who live on the beach have to keep their beach-facing lights out so the turtles don't go toward the houses instead of the gulf. A few hints to keep in mind, no matter what area of Florida you choose: like 58flyer said, NO WATER! No canals (gators), no ocean or beach (WADE ONLY! sharks, some jellyfish, and oh yes RED TIDE-you can tell when the algae blooms on the water by the reek of the fishkill stench:trout:) No well water-it is extremely hard and/or loaded with sulfur or iron and stinks or stains. You can tell when people water their lawns. Put some rice grains in your salt shaker, and keep your sugar and coffee in the refrigerator and freezer, respectively. Don't leave your shoes outside and check them for spiders before you put them on. When rainy season starts in June, there will be a thunderstorm EVERY day, you can set your watch to it. The sky can get very black, but it isn't always a horrible storm. When you apply at a hospital, you will probably have to sign up for a "before" hurricane team , at which time it should become a Warning, you go in till the "All clear" comes, or the "after" team, who relieves the before team. That is how we did it at my hospital on the west coast. As for the heat, yeah it gets hot, but it also gets COLD! People think just because it is Florida that it will never be cold but 30 degrees is 30 degrees no matter where you live! I worked with a few British girls on the west coast and they had no problem with the transition, so I don't foresee you having difficulties either. :welcome:I don't want you to be scared now, because all of that will quickly become a way of life that, to me, is a small price to pay to be HOME:1luvu: I wish you all the best, and hope all is right proper for you!
Thanks for both the replies for info on UK nurse trying to move to USA to work and live in florida!
I have all the literature now to revise for the NCLEX exam........wish me luck!
I log on to the forum regularly so I'll still be grateful to chat about nursing in Florida and general area tips to keep my little dream alive :loveya:
Happy New year to everyone, and hope to chat you guys soon :smiley_aa
im nursing in texas and thinking of moving to virginia or panama city florida.any tips,i know the pay is less and housing more expensive.i want somewhere that has lots going on as i am english,any info would be helpfull
I am researching Florida as best I can (from England!) I'm revising for the NCLEX as we speak, so well done if you battled through the long process to get to the USA to start with! It all seems so far off to me at the moment.
Have you read through all the posts on this thread as I've seen lots of advice on towns which might help you.
Are you looking for somewhere as busy as London or just a town? If you have time to reply, post some info on the type of area you're interested in, including costal or inner state, will get you some more specific information from people who have probably lived in Florida for years.:w00t:
Like wise if you have any info that might be of use to, eg how nursing in the US compares to England? or how well you adapted would be nice to hear.:Melody:
I have lived and worked in Minnesota since 12/97 till present. I also built a home and live part time in Lake Nona, Fl.(on the boarder of Orlando). The weather in Florida is the only thing that is good about it. The state of Health care in Florida on a scale of 0-10 is a 1 compared to Mn. which I rate a 9/10. The conditions are horrible and the wages are on average $20.00 less per hour than Mn. We built our home in Florida right before the housing boom in 6/2004 so we do just fine but I work in Mn and only per diem at Florida hospital. Florida's cost of living is high with wages horribly low no matter where you live. For example in Mn. right now a gallon of regular gas is $1.92/gal in Fl. $2.59. I've heard that St Augustine is one of the most beautiful places to live in Florida but I think the standard of nursing care for patients and yourself should be the most important deciding factor on where you want to live and work
for your honest reply.i worked in the clearwater area on a travel assignment once,with a view to stay there and was very disapointed.i got the same impression as you,but i thought i was just unlucky,you know how it is,wrong hospital,bad attitudes.it appears you share my impressions re florida, i also am not prepared to drop my standards of care because the hospital demands it.and also pay me less for doing so.stay in touch it was refreshing to read your advice.:smiletea:
i just wanted to put my 2 cents in for defense of my florida. i have been licensed since 2000 as a cna then an lpn. i had all of my training in charlotte county:icon_hug: and i am proud of it! there was no better education, and particularly when our strength was tested while working in st. joseph hospital in port charlotte during hurricane charley in 2004. everyone worked together and we made history as a community. i still wear my charlotte technical center pin on my badge in tennessee as well. that school was bootcamp, but i was well overprepared for life as a nurse. there are unpleasant hospitals wherever you go. :smiley_abputting florida down as a whole is as bad as a patient telling everyone a whole hospital is bad because one doctor or nurse was nasty. i received a class a education i can be proud of, and i will defend it. the level of care depends on you:innerconf. florida is not for everyone, as minnesota is not for everyone. i could call it a cold, desolate place that never sees the sun and that would be wrong and unfair, wouldn't it?
once again, the level of care depends on us,
and there is a lot we can do to advocate for our patients when some nurses do not. in florida, i was expected to be in the room when the md came to see the patient. now in tn, it is unheard of for a nurse to stay while the md is there. it is actually frowned upon. there is also a lack of empathy on the part of most staff and md's. ( not in every facility of course) i am used to giving a higher level of care and i am doing things people don't expect around here, but that was how i was taught. getting a blanket for someone is not extra care and it is part of my job as a nurse, no matter what level. anyhow, i am sure there are places in florida that are subpar, but not all of them and certainly not the one i worked for. i am sorry you guys had a bad experience, and i am wondering if any formal complaints were made and if the were followed-up on.
(which is sooo much better than freezing my buns off for six months of the year)
I just LOVE Florida!! :bowingpur 
The UK is just freezing, expsensive and in my opinion, people are overworked, under payed and as a result, not half as friendly as the Floridan people I met. I was even more reluctant to come home. 
They have BEAUTIFUL beaches that are not too crowded or overrun with tourists. "Season" as we call it is October to April. That is when the snowbirds show up and it is crowded and busy. Other seasons we have are "Love Bug" which, when in abundance, slap onto your car in great numbers and can ruin the paint. Rainy season, Hurricane season and on the west coast, turtle season when they dig nests on the beach and are left alone until they hatch, May to October. They are clearly marked, and people who live on the beach have to keep their beach-facing lights out so the turtles don't go toward the houses instead of the gulf. A few hints to keep in mind, no matter what area of Florida you choose: like 58flyer said, NO WATER! No canals (gators), no ocean or beach (WADE ONLY! sharks, some jellyfish, and oh yes RED TIDE-you can tell when the algae blooms on the water by the reek of the fishkill stench:trout:) No well water-it is extremely hard and/or loaded with sulfur or iron and stinks or stains. You can tell when people water their lawns. Put some rice grains in your salt shaker, and keep your sugar and coffee in the refrigerator and freezer, respectively. Don't leave your shoes outside and check them for spiders before you put them on. When rainy season starts in June, there will be a thunderstorm EVERY day, you can set your watch to it. The sky can get very black, but it isn't always a horrible storm. When you apply at a hospital, you will probably have to sign up for a "before" hurricane team , at which time it should become a Warning, you go in till the "All clear" comes, or the "after" team, who relieves the before team. That is how we did it at my hospital on the west coast. As for the heat, yeah it gets hot, but it also gets COLD! People think just because it is Florida that it will never be cold but 30 degrees is 30 degrees no matter where you live! I worked with a few British girls on the west coast and they had no problem with the transition, so I don't foresee you having difficulties either. :welcome:I don't want you to be scared now, because all of that will quickly become a way of life that, to me, is a small price to pay to be HOME:1luvu: I wish you all the best, and hope all is right proper for you!
hi all
Southernurse
144 Posts
:monkeydance:hey, 58! if you can find a decent sandwich here, definitely let me know. i really miss being home, though. yeah we are close to sevierville and were actually looking for a house there. i can tell you that being a nurse in fl was more than enough preparation to be a nurse here. the ratios are much lower. almost like a vacation. speaking of vacation, i have to get arthroscopic surgery on my knee in january and then 2-3 mos of therapy. shoot me now. i like working. talk to ya soon,
southernurse