Considering Austin

blueindigo79 · Jan 18, 2010

In terms of hospitals there are 2 systems- seton vs st davids. Seton is part of ascension

and is catholic- dont pay for birth control etc. Wages ive heard are about the same. I would guess u would make between$22-25/hr.I have heare both good and bad about both. Weather is good, summers get toasty though! People are nice, lots of green areas for outdoorsy stuff. Good luck!!

MissBrahmsRN · Jan 18, 2010

hi! i've lived in austin for nearly 10 years now. it's a great town, very young, lots of college students (traditional & non) and many young families too. the weather is great but i love it hot, in March it starts warming up and the "winter" weather doesnt arrive until around christmas or after. you can look up our average temps on weather.com i'm sure. it NEVER snows, FYI. many northerners move here & ask about snow, you might get flurries here once in a blue moon but last measurable snow was in 1984, such a big event my hubby remembers it clearly even though he was a little boy! the restaurant & music scene are fabulous, also lots of shows & concerts stop here too, austin is super casual if you go to a broadway show or a 5 star restaurant expect to see everything from tuxedos to jeans & tshirts.

our two hospital systems are Seton & St Davids. St Davids is for-profit Seton is not-for-profit. each have pros & cons. each has several hospitals in the area. i will tell you straight up that the nursing job market in Austin is quite saturated & is getting more and more so from move-ins and local nursing programs that keep expanding! for example, i just graduated in Dec & St Davids only hired about 20 new grads, Seton less than 100. in May 2009 both systems were on hiring freezes which are very slowly getting better. there are some new hospitals that are opening, notably Seton Hays & Seton Edgar B Davis, also St Davids just announced a new expansion for South Austin Hospital but that won't start construction for awhile. many people in other fields in Austin are going to nursing because they believe it's recession proof and that when you walk out of boards there will be jobs left & right, i was a lucky new grad to land a job but it took 6 interviews, over 100 resumes and a lot of networking to get one. if you have experience you might do better but i have met many experienced nurses that cannot land jobs here.

if you like Texas (i love it!) but want a slightly larger city & snow, Dallas/Fort Worth is very nice, San Antonio is quite nice too but no snow. Houston is great, many RNs who do Oncology like MD Anderson but it's very humid in Houston and hurricanes are a biggie there. I have friends in Lubbock who really like it there and friends in Amarillo who love their city.

beforewarned, football is the main religion here, the egos are huge (but most texans are quite friendly-like) and they think that BEEF brisket is actual bbq:uhoh3:

MissBrahmsRN · Jan 18, 2010

ps:

my starting salary at Seton is $21.88 (new grad) not counting shift differentials. St Davids is usually about a dollar more. the Seton shift differential is $4.00 for nights & $2.50 for weekends.

http://www.austinchamber.com/

http://www.helloaustin.com/Attractions.cfm?gclid=CN_S-dD2rp8CFQjyDAoddHa9dQ

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USTX0057?from=tenDay_bottomnav_undeclared

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,_Texas

http://stdavids.com/

http://www.seton.net/

hunnybaby24, BSN, APRN, NP · Jan 19, 2010

why is Austin's salary so low comparable to other places in the state? Because of the saturation? The locale?

MissBrahmsRN · Jan 19, 2010

i actually don't know, i've lived in Austin the entire time i've lived in Texas...my guess would be that compared to Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio the city is smaller and the cost of living lower...

ICUMatador · Jan 22, 2010

Hi, I just applied to Seton's Versant Program is there any advice you would be willing to share? What was the interview process like? What kind of questions do they ask? Any info would be awesome!

Thanks, Mattie

NeoNurseTX, RN · Jan 24, 2010

i actually don't know, i've lived in Austin the entire time i've lived in Texas...my guess would be that compared to Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio the city is smaller and the cost of living lower...

I thought the COL was higher.. I looked into working in Austin but it was lower pay plus higher COL in 2006 so I stayed with Houston which is said to have the highest pay for COL in the states.

fitRNpic · Jan 25, 2010

I too was wondering about St David's Medical Center, specifically NICU. My husband and I also live outside of Chicago (Rockford, IL) and have been talking about TX. I received an email from Nursing Spectrum about Neonatal RN positions at St. David's and wanted more info. I have talked to the nursing recruiter there, but I still need to get my new Resume finished and actually apply for the position. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

txredheadnurse, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2010

why is Austin's salary so low comparable to other places in the state? Because of the saturation? The locale?

Native born Austinite here. The COL has been higher in the Austin area since the late 1960s. Part of that is the competition for affordable rental housing caused by having a very large university in the town, part because Austin has an unusual "style" compared to most of the rest of Texas and folks are willing to forego higher wages in order to live in the area and partake in the unique combo of outdoor living, casual atmosphere, live music environment and access to recreational areas like lakes and hiking.

Weather is brutually hot at times, traffic congestion can be a big issue if your job requires a start time anywhere close to the traditional 8AM-5PM times, home prices can be affordable compared to some other parts of the country but property taxes are fairly high compared to many other areas in the country since Texas does not have a state income tax.

There are nursing positions available but many of those are not hospital based and the more experience you have the more likely you will be hired. LTC is always looking, home health is always looking and some of the medical practices in Austin, especially those with multiple sites, do employ both LVNs and RNs.

sd1984 · Feb 6, 2010

I recently moved from Austin to Houston. My cost of living in Houston is considerably less, and I'm making considerably more. I worked for South Austin Hospital. It's small, tight knit. I hear the pay was so low because there just wasn't competition to drive up the pay. They only have 2 hospital systems. South Austin Hospital is expanding and needs it bad. I remember more times then not we were at 100% capacity.

I had asked for more money, and didn't get it. It was something I was vocal about in my exit interview. I now work for Memorial Hermann in Houston, and enjoy the large hospital. I would still go back to Austin in a heart beat if I could. It's a wonderful city.

MissBrahmsRN · Feb 12, 2010

i dunno where you live in Houston but if it's like any other city, including Austin, it all depends on which part of the city you live in. Downtown is expensive if you avoid the slums. the 'Burbs are cheaper but further out, and some 'Burbs are still really expensive like Bee Caves & Anderson Mill (although Anderson Mill is cheaper than Bee Caves.) we live very cheaply in a burb, our 1500 sq foot home cost less than 150K but we are still very close to downtown... glad you found a nice place in Houston, I like Houston but only the parts close to Galveston & the Gulf the rest is a bit high-falutin' for me. (not saying Houstonians are all like that but the 4 times I've been thru the main parts of the city Moms were driving Caddy SUVs & wearing Prada to kroger...bizarre. i don't think i would fit in with my mid 90s sedan & jeans...