Best Paying Hospitals in South Florida???

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Hi,

This is my first post

I'm 30 years old and I'm a newbie RN. I started working in November of 2007 and my 1 year anniversery is fast approaching. I applied for a transfer to PACU in November, Which hopefully I will get, mainly because I truely want to get the critical care experience. I've been working on the neuro-surgical floor for the past year at an NYC hospital which I'm very happy with. But Im very unhappy with NYC. I've lived here all my life and its just too expensive to live in. Im tired of NYC. FLORIDA is calling me, South Florida; either Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Im planning to move their by November of 2009. This will give me 1 years experience of working the floor, and if I get it, 1 year at a critical care setting (PACU).

My only problem with Florida is the pay nurses get. YES im very aware cost of living is lower than in NYC, so it balances out. But by the end of the year I'll be making a little over $70,000 per year in NYC. Not bad. It's a little hard to say bye to that kind of pay.

So can anyone recommend or provide me with a list of the top paying hospitals in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I would be very grateful. Just remember that I'm an RN and take my past job history as an RN into consideration.

Thanks again,

Florida truly is calling me, I'm willing to overcome my fear of driving in order to move their. Yes I don't know how to drive, YET! I grew up in Manhattan where you don't need a car, ever.

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Specializes in OR, ICU, Med-Surg.

This is easy. Fortune magazine ranked them :)

Baptist Health of south Florida is by far one of the best companies a nurse could expect to work for ANYWHERE in the united states, let alone Flroida.

Why? They had the highest % of nurses making over 100k/ year and only 13% nurse annual turnover as opposed to a national average of 20%. That must mean they provide sufficient reason to remain employed there!

Check them out. I have a cousin who worked for them at West Kendall Baptist in Miami for 11 years until she moved out of state. She was an important factor in my choosing nursing as a profession.

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I have yet to meet an RN in Florida making 100k without working two extra shifts per week, 15 years of experience, charge diff, lots of holidays etc...

not sure it can't be done, but it's a total exception. As for Baptist in Miami, they offer 26 or 27 bucks/h for 2 years of experience in tele (as of late 2008). That's ridiculously low considering a decent 1 BR apartment in a safe neighborhood in Miami will cost you 1200 sans utilities.

Not trying to bust your bubble, but that's the reality in south Florida. Very high cost of living and low pay.

If you're dead set on Florida and feel you can live on a modest (!) income, try central Florida. Ocala or Gainesville. Shands pays in the low 20's for someone with your experience, but you might find a halfway decent apartment around g-ville for 550 bucks.

The panhandle is also cheap to live, but salaries are even lower.

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Specializes in NICU Transport/NICU.

You should also keep in mind that yes, you do make $70,000, but you also pay federal, state, and city income tax in NYC. In Florida, you will only be paying Federal Income Tax. You should really compare your take home pay instead of your salary.

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i moved to FL from NY and to tell you the truth i don't think the cost of living here in SFL is any cheaper, matter a fact i'm looking to either move back to NY or elsewhere.

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I agree with you 100%

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Hello all!

As a former New Yorker(3 years) I regret the move and long to go back!! I am now going back to school for nursing and it has been my happiest time here! Baptist is also very difficult to work for when you come from NY work force mentality! Remember this is an employer state! Think it over I am very depressed here!

All the best!!!:cry:

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"Hello all!

As a former New Yorker(3 years) I regret the move and long to go back!! I am now going back to school for nursing and it has been my happiest time here! Baptist is also very difficult to work for when you come from NY work force mentality! Remember this is an employer state! Think it over I am very depressed here!

All the best!!!:cry: "

So true. It is an employer state. I never used to be hot about unions, but having worked in california, i have really started to appreciate them. working conditions and wages are so much better at hospitals that have strong unions. And no one seems afraid to speak up when something's not going right.

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Thank you for your reply! I never was a union buff either but now I take my hat off to them. What can we do - make the best off it now and take the lpn program for me and back to NY I go!

As you also mentioned no one wants to rock the boat and say what is wrong and complacency wins!

Thamks again!!:yeah::yeah:

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Panhandle wages are really low, about 18 for new grads without diffs, orlando area pays about 28 an hour for new grads, but way more expensive. If you can, try to contract with civil service for the military hospitals, better pay, and great job security ;)

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alejandro,

Stay up north! Stay up north!

I grew up in north Jersey, very close to NYC. I have a lot of family in Queens and Brooklyn and Long Island. I lived in New Jersey for 20 years. I went to nursing school in Pennsylvania, right outside of Philly. The one and only reason I moved to Florida is because my Dad was practically forced to relocate to the Tampa Bay area because his company transfered him. I am an only child, so I felt it was my obligation to live where my parents are.

I hate living in Florida! I miss NJ and NY and PA every day! People who live up north just don't get it. Florida is a very nice vacation state. Yes, it is a lot of fun to visit Disney World in the winter. Yes, it is cool to spend Spring break on South Beach. Sure, Florida can seem like "paradise" when you vacation down here. But trust me, for many of us "transplanted northerners", it is not paradise living here day in and day out.

I have several friends who work full time as RNs in Philadelphia. They LOVE their hospitals, they are proud to work there. They love their nursing jobs. They make really good money, have excellent benefits, and they own really nice homes and go on great vacations and they live very comfortably. Yes, even in this current economy. They are very happy nurses. Well paid nurses.

To be honest, I don't know of any Florida RNs I could say that about. Nursing salaries in Florida SUCK! We are underpaid in FL. And the cost of living in Florida keeps on going up. It is not cheap to live down here. The unemployment rate is really really bad right now in Florida, I think I heard it is currently one of the worst in the USA. We have a HUGE problem of many many Florida residents being uninsured (no medical insurance).

Many of the best hospitals in the USA are up north. Boston. New York City. Philadelphia. Trust me, there aren't that many great hospitals in the state of Florida. I have noticed a huge difference in health care. I lived and worked and went to school in NJ & PA and I have lived and worked in FL.

A lot of hospitals in Florida are owned and managed by HCA. HCA has a really bad reputation.

I have never been to Miami, so I have no idea if there is mass transit in Miami. But I am very familiar with taking the subway and the bus and the train in NYC. I know New Yorkers who have never driven a car in their entire life and have never needed to own a car. It's not like that down here in the sunshine state! Atleast in the Tampa Bay area, we are very very car dependent. We have to drive our cars everywhere. We put a lot of miles on our cars down here. We have to pay for a lot of gasoline. So, keep in mind, if you move to Florida, you will have to learn how to drive a car, then you will have to purchase a car, purchase auto insurance, pay for gas, pay for oil changes, etc etc.

And remember, HURRICANE SEASON! I don't know about Fort Lauderdale, but I know Miami has gotten pummeled by hurricanes more than once. Trust me, it is TERRIFYING to hear the weather man say a hurricane is headed your way and you should evacuate, but while your friends and family get to protect their own lives and familes and properties and pets and they board up and evacuate, you the RN have to stay put and report in to work and be stuck in a hospital while the hurricane heads your way. I was here during the hurricane season of 2004. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jean. I was at work in a hospital in Tampa the night before Hurricane Charley. They thought Charley was heading for Tampa. It was terrifying. Trust me, I'll gladly take a blizzard over a hurricane any day!!

The only reason I live here is to be near my parents. I am their only child. My Dad's job was transfered to Tampa in 2002. But I am very unhappy living here. I miss NY and NJ and PA every day. My nurse friends up north beg me to move back home. They are convinced I'd be happier in my nursing career up north. They certainly are.

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FYI, Orlando pays between 20 and 21 for new grads.

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