British Nurse coming to NC

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Feb 9, 2006

You can PM me. I have worked at: Wake Med, UNC, Duke, Alamance Regional, Moses Cone, Rex, and a few others, no I am not a job hopper, I am a traveler. I do have my personal favorite, but I think its probably not a good idea to start such a debate.
It's true to all of Durham is not the gun and knife club, just some of Durham.
There are some great places to live in Durham. Plus, I'm not so sure about the schools, hen again, the schools in Raleigh, are not supposed to be all that great either, and most of my friends have their kids in the private school system....

That's why I mentioned Treyburn. They must have put that subdivision in this particular ZIP for a reason, because folks who can afford that kind of real estate would be picky about schools, I would think.

KatieBell · Feb 9, 2006

That's why I mentioned Treyburn. They must have put that subdivision in this particular ZIP for a reason, because folks who can afford that kind of real estate would be picky about schools, I would think.

Which is why Treyburn has just been approved to put a neighborhood middle school on site, seems the people buying there don't want to use the local schools; the schools in Durham, public ones, are really not so hot, but then again, NC ranks pretty poorly out of all the states in public education. I mean, it's getting better, but we have to be honest, NC ranks poorly in education. Maybe not as poorly as Mississippi, but poorly nonetheless.

misswoosie · Feb 10, 2006

Thanks for all that info and the kind offer to show us around.We may be planning a trip around April so will keep in touch.I was going to ask about schools.Most of Wake County Schools are quite good but as you say Durham schools are not so good! I guess that's one of the things that holds property prices down but you have to pay to send the kids to school.

Do you know how much people pay? Does it vary a lot from school to school?

WOW yes , we fell upon Wholefoods in Durham in November while looking for Duke Campus. Deeelicious!

Not sure if you have seen my posts else where re salaries. I am told by British Nurses over there that your nursing is very different and that 6 months on a floor /ITU would be best at first.

Would you say I would find an employer who would petition me for Green Card in the area.Also do you think $19 an hour would be realistic. Not too bothered as I am a Clinical Nurse Specialist and only earn $20!

Do you know if they are quite into stroke care at Duke?

Cheers

Sue

KatieBell · Feb 10, 2006

I think you will probably make a little bit more than 19 an hour...but not a whole lot more, unless you work nights. Duke has an excellent Neurosurgical ICU, and a good program, UNC also has a good Neurosurgical ICU and a very very nice stepdown floor- one of the best to work on, I've heard in the hospital. I don't know about rehab. from Stroke, but I assume they do well in that too, though I have no personal experience there. The ratios at Duke for things like stepdown and a regular floor are a bit better than the other hospitals in the area. Although it is easy to call and just talk to them, I can give you the name of a very effective recruiter at Duke if you like or need.

School costs vary if a private school. If it is affiliated with a church, and you go to the church, sometimes it is less expensive, or the child will qualify for some sort of tuition reduction, same goes if you have more than one child enrolled at the same school. I've heard costs from about 10-15 thousand a year for private school. Which is why some people try to live in Carrboro, and the outskirts of Chapel Hill, which while expensive is a really nice community (I like the free bus service for anyone, just hop on. When I worked at UNC it saved me a lot of pennies and milage on my car, though it is a bit inconvienient say if one wants to stop off at the market).

Really, Welcome to the triangle area. It is booming here, and we need nurses.

RNSuzq1, RN · Mar 23, 2006

Misswoosie, I just came across your post from last month, not sure if you're still looking into moving to NC, I live in one of the areas you were inquiring about and thought I might offer a few suggestions re: your questions. I'm originally from Boston, MA, but have lived in and around my husbands family near RTP for the last 20 years and know a great deal about the area.

First - about Unionized States - The only one I'm familiar with is Massachusetts - My brother and his wife are Nurses in Boston, MA and members of the Nurses Union. From what they've told me, their Union is extremely supportive of Nurses in the area.

Re: North Carolina -

Benson - Just trust me - Scratch that off your list - It was my husbands home town back when it was a cute farming community (Truly Mayberry, RFD), it's right off a major interstate and they now have a major drug problem in the town itself and what used to be the "Country" is now over flowing with sub-divisions and traffic problems - plus, it's not near any major medical center. Real shame because it once was a nice place to live.

Clayton - We've lived in Clayton for the last 16 years. Again - back when we moved to town it was a sweet little Southern Town on the out skirts of Raleigh. My husband has worked at Wake Medical Center for 20 years and taking back roads, can be at the hospital in less than 20 minutes - but for us - the town has changed for the worse. Where we live is now called the Historic District or Old part of town - all the farmers sold their land to developers and we're now surrounded by Golf Course communities with homes on top of each other ranging from 200k - over a million dollars. If you like to Golf - it's a great place I guess. Highway 70 - the major route through town was always the direct route to the Beach for folks from Raleigh - with all the new congestion in town (strip malls, Wal-Mart, 5,000 convenience/gas stores, etc.) - Highway 70 is now like a "parking lot" during rush hour - it's CRAZY.... The Town can't build schools fast enough to house all the new students, taxes have gotten out of site and for those of us unfortunate enough to live within the city limits - our Electric/Gas Utilities average 3-400 dollars a month - OUCH!!!

Wake Forest, North Raleigh and Chapel Hill are pretty areas, great hospitals - but real estate there is also very expensive - of course it depends on what you consider expensive I guess. Last month I saw a sign near Falls Lake in N. Raleigh - New Homes - $600,000 and up - quite a bargain - good grief....Big Giant houses, but so close to each other - if you were in your bathroom and ran out of toilet paper, your neighbor could "literally" reach out his window and hand you a roll, ha, ha - no kidding - too close for me...

I'm graduating from Nursing School in May and our plan is to try and sell our home, move to the NC Mountains where land is still affordable and get the heck out of here. There are some wonderful hospitals in the Blue Ridge Mtns. near Asheville - the area is incredibly beautiful, so much to see and do for the family and still so many towns with that quiet, slow pace of life that we're looking for - for us and our children.

North Carolina is a great place to live, it has a lot to offer - from the coast to the mountains - it's beautiful, but like most States, parts of it have just become too crowded and some of us are heading out of the metro areas in favor of less populated places.

misswoosie · Mar 27, 2006

Carolinapooh

I tried to reply to your PM but your box is full!

Would love to meet up

Thanks

Misswoosie