Best places in Washington for new nurses?

waRN2b2011 · Jul 14, 2009

I will be graduating in the spring as well :) I currently live in Washington and think the best places to live are Puyallup, gig Harbor, Bellevue, North Bend, and Seattle. I would stay away from certain areas of Tacoma and S. Seattle. Do you have any outdoor interests? I guess that may help narrow your search down a bit. The east side of the state is pretty too...much warmer! Spokane is good, but I love the Tri-Cities (kennewick, pasco, richland area) and Walla Walla...beautiful wine country! Let me know if you have any more questions and I would be glad to help :)

j450n, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 14, 2009

CNN ranked Mukilteo, Washington as #10 out of 100 in the Best Places to Live 2009. It's about 30 minutes north of Seattle.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL5347735.html

Other than that, my favorite place to live was the University District, which has the UW Medical Center nearby. Many nurses I've spoken with love working there and they do hire new grads because its a teaching hospital. It is home to a lot of the younger crowds because there is a lot of students that live in the area. If you look hard enough too, most places are affordable. It is only about a 10-15 minute drive to downtown. Although, the crime rate has gone up a little bit recently in that area.

Capitol Hill is awesome. It has sort of like the counter-culture, bohemian vibe and the nightlife is usually always cracking. :up: There is a big medical presence in the area. Group Health is on Capitol Hill. Also, First Hill is very near Capitol Hill and it has Swedish Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center. Harborview is UW Medical Center's sister hospital and is the only Level 1 trauma center to serve Alaska, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

Belltown is right on the waterfront of downtown Seattle and you can pretty much walk to almost anything you need. It's very nice and the nightlife is vibrant as well, especially on the weekends. There are quite a few bars and clubs in that area. It literally is like 2 blocks from the world famous Pike Place Market. The thing is, it's very expensive in that area.

To the east of Seattle is Bellevue, which is nice as well, but can be ritzy in certain areas. I'm sure you can read up about it on wikipedia. Overlake Medical Center is over there, but I'm don't know too much about the nursing there. From what I've heard, it's a good facility as well. Hope that helps.

vlmusicalsound, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2009

Thanks for the input

EireannRae, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2009

Where are you in Florida? I just moved back to Seattle from Fort Lauderdale. Just graduated myself. Good luck on the planning, and maybe we'll see you up here!

Reno1978, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2009

The east side of the state is pretty too...much warmer! Spokane is good, but I love the Tri-Cities (kennewick, pasco, richland area) and Walla Walla...beautiful wine country!

I live in the Tri-Cities and the cost of living here is LOW and the salaries for nurses are HIGH, in comparison. I was hired as a RN with 1 year experience at $26.78 on nights. We have 3.50 night differential and 3.50 weekend differential and I work nights. So, I make 30.28 to 33.78 per hour. I like the benefits package as well, with tuition reimbursement, pay for continuing education, etc. We hire new grads at our hospital. PM me for more info if you'd like.

Also, cost of living is low here - My other half and I live in west Pasco and we rent a room with a private bath and walk in closet for $550/mo (including utilities). We have two other roommates that are cool. A lot of people who live in this area rent out rooms for around $500-600/mo and I like it. Considering I bring home about $1700 every two weeks without working overtime, and I'm responsible for $275/mo in rent, I'm able to pay a lot towards my student loan debt and bills that I have. As far as buying a house, there are lots of homes in the low $100k. A $200k home is quite nice. I'll probably buy a home someday, but my situation is too good now to now take advantage of paying off my debt!

The Columbia River is here if you like the water. Lots of hiking too. Seattle and Portland are both about 3.5 hours drives, so it's easy to make trips there to have fun.

rkitty198, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2009

Hey, everyone. I'm going to be graduating next Spring (hopefully) and I'm trying to find places to where I may move. I live in Florida right now and I'm just ready to get out. My question is what are the best places in Washington for a new grad to go? Any cities in particular that some of you had success in as a new nurse? Any particular hospitals that are known for hiring new graduates? Any nice neighborhoods? Any and all information would be helpful. Thanks!

I moved here about 2 months ago from El Paso, TX.

I live in Lynnwood WA 10 miles north of Seattle. It is very expensive up here. Just be ready for the traffic and try to live close to wherever you are working. I didnt find that it was that easy to find a job either. I found this amazing charge nurse online here and I ended up getting the job because of her.

When are you moving?

I think Seattle is really great, it is, but the traffic is horrific. I came from El Paso Texas and I thought it was bad there!

Also the prices for things may be a bit higher to me because of where I came from.

I was also a bit shellshocked about hiring wages. I am now getting only a dollar more than in El Paso, I have been a nurse for 3 years. I am used to getting paid more for the extra things I do at work, like a ladder system. Everytime you are on a committee you get points and at the end of the year if you can become a nurse level 1-5 based on performance. I loved it! I was getting about 26-28 per hour. I wont state the actual. But it was nice!

However, I was also, in El Paso caring for 7 patients, in charge over a 33 bed unit, working 14 hour shifts without breaks, and made to work overtime (called mandatory overtime).

Here in WA they are unionized and you are required to join the union. But, the workload seems so much better. 4-5 patients there is a designated charge nurse, you cannot work more than you required shift unless you WANT to.

I really think my quality of life will be better here!

By the way I agree with the other poster, Mulkilteo is a beautiful place.

I think they are also leaving out Redmond and Kirkland as places to live, again very nice but expensive. I hear that Evergreen in Kirkland is amazing.

I want to stress too that at the hospital I work they have a new nurse program. They are called "interns" and they are really treated wonderfully, as am I.

I love where I work, at Stevens Hospital. It is much smaller than what I am used to, 200 beds approx. and I was used to 500 beds. It is quaint, the CEO Mike Carter is amazing and I have already spoken to him twice in the three days I have been there already! It is like a family working there. I have heard similar stories. My hubby is a Firefighter for Lynnwood and said he thinks that Harborview has the best ER department. It is a busy hospital, but really nice (as per him).

If you do move into an apartment I really suggest in looking them up online!!!! I live in a supposed really nice place for the area, and there is a pawn shop up the street, the kids here are throwin feces on the cars (because it is summer), breaking into cars, people have music blasting all hours of the night. Then I was told that there are many apartments around where I live that are fantastic. So I went to look, and I sure missed quite a few.

If you can I would suggest visiting a bit first.

If you need any information I would be willing to find out by word of mouth or look it up for you. I know how hard it is to be moving and not having all of the information. Feel free to ask.

I love it here, I have been hiking, seeing the sights in Seattle, visiting my family in Portland, met friends already, been househunting, LOADS of shopping!!!!!!!!! I cannot get over all of the shopping I missed when living in El Paso! I love it here and will not trade; traffic, feces throwing kids, blasting music, expenses, rainy days for NOTHING!!!

Good luck!

vlmusicalsound, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2009

Thanks for all the help!

rkitty198, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

Your welcome!

AimeeJo RN · Jul 18, 2009

I have heard some nurses especially new ones have a difficult time getting hired. It seems like Franciscan hospitals hire quite a few new nurses. Residencies are a great way to get started if you can find one. PM me if you want details.