Best places to live/work?

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Aug 10, 2011

In the south? maybe Emory in Georgia (core0 may be able to weigh in on that), I know Shands/University of Florida has an ICU NP group, maybe the medical centers affiliated with Vanderbilt, UAB, UVA. Those are also universities with established ACNP programs. I'm in San Francisco -- couple places in Northern Califiornia have ICU NP groups but the university here is a steady source for ACNP's to fill the area's needs.

mammac5 · Aug 10, 2011

Vanderbilt it awesome if you want a pretty large metro area with great universities and LOTS of scholarly work going on all the time.

Western North Carolina is great is you want excellent quality of life and healthy outdoor activity. Western Carolina University has an NP program about 30 minutes outside of Asheville.

MUSC in Charleston has an NP program, beautiful place to live/work, several colleges in the area...and nice beaches.

allennp · Aug 10, 2011

Friend of mine is a PNP in the Duke system (NC) that sounds pretty NP friendly.

a

core0 · Aug 10, 2011

I'm currently working on my DNP for ACNP and I'm interested in working in critical care upon graduation (particularly trauma or other surgical critical care). My wife and I have talked and decided that we will most likely be interested in relocating our family after graduation. We would like to live in the South (because of the weather) and I'd ideally like the opportunity to work in a surgical ICU (trauma, Cardiothoracic, or general surgical) and also be able to participate in some sort of academic/research activities. This could be something formal (i.e. teaching in an NP program) or informal (i.e. precepting NP students or working somewhere where there is a post-graduate fellowship for NPs). Research could also be formal or informal (I'd like the chance to contribute to scholarly work, but it doesn't necessarily need to be big-time research). Clinical is the most important role and I'd be willing to sacrifice academic/research for a great clinical situation and a nice place to live.
Can anyone recommend good places? Cities/metro regions to live in that have a good ACNP market, or specific hospitals/systems/universities?
Thanks!

I can talk about Georgia (or northern Georgia). In Atlanta, Emory has a new center for critical care. There is a fair amount of research going on so the possibility is there if you want it. In the end though you will be hired as an ACNP and need to prove yourself there first. There is lot of precepting going on. I've had an two ACNP students in the last year. For what its worth, I'm not sure how well the DNP is accepted around here in nursing. The Emory nursing school seems to be pretty firmly against it. Outside of Emory their isn't much research going on although precepting again should be pretty easy to do. Trauma is Grady and AMC. AMC has a big PA presence, not sure about NPs in the ICU. Grady is pretty much completely resident driven. Lots of research by physicians not much by anyone else. MCG has some NPs in their ICU. Not really sure about research.

As far as lifestyle the whole middle south is pretty nice. Easy enough to get to the coast but far enough away to avoid hurricanes. Hot during the summer but pretty temperate during the rest of the year. And for Atlanta, you can be anywhere in the world in 17 hours when you get sick of it.

NeuroNP · Aug 10, 2011

Thanks for all the replies so far. Several of the places mentioned are places I'd already been looking at, but it's nice to hear from people who know first hand!

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Aug 11, 2011

...just as a last piece of advice, I would seek out ICU NP positions where you live first and get some experience before venturing outside of your state. Based on my current experience working for a major academic medical center, our group is composed of 12 NP's and the 5 of us who were hired from out of state, brought years of NP experience in critical care from the state where we initially got certified in. The rest were graduates of the university the medical center is affiliated with.

nikkimarthe · Feb 9, 2013

juan where are u practicing?

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Feb 10, 2013

juan where are u practicing?

I might have divulged it on a past post at some point. I work in San Francisco. Prefer not to mention the actual name but it's pretty obvious I think.

nikkimarthe · Mar 11, 2013

Texas Medical Center hires a lot of acute care nurse practitioner here too but quite saturated. Methodist, Memorial herman, Ut System, Md anderson generally only hire Acute care nurse practitioner. There are different jobs for acnp and they have acnp program in Methodist system. ICU coverage by ACNP is also available but a lot of rotational shifts.

W

nikkimarthe · Mar 11, 2013

I absolutely agree with Juan about looking at ICU experience is mandated and experience as an NP is preferred. A lot of indendepence in the Critical care units if you want and lots of procedures to learn after graduation.