East Washington/Idaho nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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DH and i have DECIDED today. Its FINAL. We are going to move to East Washing or Idaho. We are thinking of living in Spokane WA, Post Falls ID, Couer D'alene ID or thereabouts. I need to find out roughly what nurses (RN ICU) make in that area. Any tips or help on how i can do that? I did a search and the posts i came up with here on allnurses didn't really help me much. :( I'm curious, what do nurses make around this area?? Gotta adjust our budget! :D

Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.

kids-r-fun:

Wow! Vancouver sounds pretty good! We also were thinking of moving to Spokane....looks good on paper, but am I glad I read this thread! I really want to be "somewhat" close to the coast, and on the map it looks pretty good. Any concern re: Mt.St. Helens? Also, what pay range can an experienced RN expect, and how is the job market in general?

Thanks so much!

Originally posted by kids-r-fun

Vancouver, Washington

Spokane is, and has been as long as I can remember a depressed area.

Just to add my two cents for southern Washington, I live just a little ways north up the freeway from Vancouver and south of Olympia. Our community hospital is also WSNA (closed shop) and we settled our contract last year for a 21% increase spread out over 3 years. Starting wage is 19.80 base and tops at 30.84. We also have shift differential of 3.50 an hour for nights and 2.95 an hour for evening shift, double time after two hours of OT, and time and a half for any extra shift worked above your FTE. Our turnover ratio is only 5% (I think national average is still 11%). However, that doesn't leave us with many openings. My unit only has was open position, which was just posted Tuesday. We do have a few openings in ED - seems there's still a lot of burn-out in that specialty.

I happen to be one of the nurses from "the other hospital". Yes, we did recently vote down the union and although there may be some who disagree, most believe this was definately the best choice (myself included). We did take a 9% paycut, along with all the other dept's in the hospital. But I feel confident things will turn around soon.

As far as your decision to move to Spokane, I would not let one persons very negative view to persuade you to completely take this are off your list of potential places to relocate. We too moved here a couple of years ago and I have worked in both of the "larger" hospitals. As a matter of fact there are 5 hospitals in Spokane and numerous clinics most of which are unionized if that is what you prefer.

As far as money is concerned, if you are used to wages in the south you will find Spokane's wages much better (even with the 9% paycut). There is also pretty good variety. Most of the nurses I work with are exceptional and most of the physicians are great to work with.

The most amazing thing about living here is the way of life. There is so many things to do and see, you will never be bored. It truly is a beautiful place.

Just wanted to let you in on a little different perspective.......

Well I grew up in Spokane and attended the Intercollegiate College of Nursing (ICN) the name changed. And Gonzaga is apart of ICN too by the way.

Starting wages one year ago at the two large hospitals we 19.50$ an hour or so. I don't know what starting wages all over the country are but that was pretty good when I graduated last year. I took a job in Phoenix, AZ instead and started at a lower wage.

Now the thing to really consider is cost of living. Spokane's cost of living is way below the national average. You can still buy a 2000 sq. ft home with property for under 150,000 dollars. Try to do that in Seattle or Portland. Spokane has 500,000 people in the country and about 300,000 in the city limits. It is a great place to raise a family and the weather is 10 times better than the west-side. You get all four seasons and there are always things to do outdoors. The local public school system is very good and there are a couple of private schools too.

So take everything into consideration before you make your choice. I have lived in Portland, Vancouver, Dallas TX, Phoenix AZ, and Spokane. I can tell you that you will be hard pressed to find a great town like Spokane in the rest of the country.

The issue for us not moving there to Spokane is that we haven't received any calls. So we are going to Casper Wyoming for now. I think if it doesn't work out for whatever reason we'll pursue Spokane more aggressively. I agree with whoever said its great weather, all seasons, and the low cost of living. We just have to have them call us for jobs! :)

Originally posted by CougRN

Well I grew up in Spokane and attended the Intercollegiate College of Nursing (ICN) the name changed. And Gonzaga is apart of ICN too by the way.

Starting wages one year ago at the two large hospitals we 19.50$ an hour or so. I don't know what starting wages all over the country are but that was pretty good when I graduated last year. I took a job in Phoenix, AZ instead and started at a lower wage.

Now the thing to really consider is cost of living. Spokane's cost of living is way below the national average. You can still buy a 2000 sq. ft home with property for under 150,000 dollars. Try to do that in Seattle or Portland. Spokane has 500,000 people in the country and about 300,000 in the city limits. It is a great place to raise a family and the weather is 10 times better than the west-side. You get all four seasons and there are always things to do outdoors. The local public school system is very good and there are a couple of private schools too.

So take everything into consideration before you make your choice. I have lived in Portland, Vancouver, Dallas TX, Phoenix AZ, and Spokane. I can tell you that you will be hard pressed to find a great town like Spokane in the rest of the country.

At this point, almost nowhere has truly been taken off the list. However, the closer I get to graduation, the more reality is starting to bonk me on the head. I have serious doubts I will have the money to make the big move far from here.

At this point, I'm leaning toward finding somewhere within about a day's drive of here that I can tolertae and rethink the big move to my 4-seasoned mountains city in a couple of years.

However, I may yet find a way to at least come up that way and explore. I recently came in contact with a "long-lost relative" down in Moscow, ID. That would make for a good jumping-off point to explore the area.

Was just reading the posts and couldn't help but put my 2 cents worth in too. Just graduated and started at a hospital in north central Idaho (near Moscow) where base starting wages are about $18.75/hr. The trade-off is the lifestyle (mountains, beautiful Ponderosa pine, plenty of fresh air & room to roam) and low cost of living. Spokane is the largest city for hundreds of miles and has alot to offer. In Idaho & Eastern WA the bigger cities are like an oasis (since there's so few of them), so you get some of the benefits of city life but with a very rural flavor.

I was raised in Western Washington and have lived several places in WA and also ID. Can tell you it would be worth your while to at least see the area within about a 100 mile radius of Moscow...Think you'd love it. We do have winter but snow is so dependent on the elevation...and this country is full of hills and valleys.

Good luck in your search for an area you'll enjoy!

I heard that there is a temporary hiring freeze at the hospitals right now. I heard this today while talking to a doctor. Since my hospital is affiliated with the hospitals in Spokane (Providence? Sisters of Providence...I don't remember) it looks as if we may be headed down the same road. Can anyone verify this for me?

I don't know about a hiring freeze all over Spokane, but I spoke to some friends who work at Sacred Heart and what has happened is (contrary to the above post from the nurse from "the other hospital", many other nurses were not so pleased with the pay cuts), large numbers of nurses from Deaconess, who WEREN'T happy with their pay cut, & other issues with Empire Health's anti- union feelings, left & took virtually all open positions at Sacred Heart & Valley Hospital (the other Empire Health hospital that DID unionize with SEIU 1199), and Holy Family, which is operated by Sacred Heart. My friend, & the other nurses at Sacred Heart are rather unhappy about this turn of events, because this is a contract year and they were hoping to ask for a substantial pay raise due to the nursing shortage. They will probably get squat IMHO. WSNA has been worse than worthless after "care redesign" took over in the 90's (they were never outstanding, they just got worse). The rest of the hospital unionized with 1199 last year, (RT's, secretaries, techs, etc), & got substantial raises. My guess is that the RT's & techs will be making more money than the nurses.

My suggestion is to would be, as my above thread stated, to skip Spokane and move to Seattle. While some cost of living is less than other areas, the rest is not. The pay here doesn't support the rest of the cost of living. Gas, for example, is considerably more than it is in Seattle. Housing, which is important, is not the only consideration. One still has to make enough money to save up for a down payment. The starting salaries are low, raises are miniscule, benefits are less generous, employment for spouses is slim, unless they are minimum wage -no benefits, service industry- like career- type people (waitress, nurse aides, gas station ), and entertainment is almost non- existent. There is nothing to do here! It is a cow town!

And lets not forget Spokane's less than cordial feelings about nurses- you could have 10 college degrees after your name, but as long as one of them is "RN", you are nothing more than blue- collar white- trash "hired help" to the public. They have a strong dislike-distrust of those who moved their from big cities, large hospitals, especially from the east coast, California, and even Seattle. If that is what you want to work in, come to Spokane. don't say that I didn't warn you. Many new grads are movng to Seatte, Portand, California to get away from Spokane and not just nurses. There few jobs, industry, for college graduates here. It is frequently lamented here in the papers, that young people have to leave Spokane to get good jobs after they graduate from college. This is not a college- graduate type of city. As I said above, if all you are interested is low- paying, minimum- wage, no benefits type of employment, Spokane is the place to be. And doctors are still the un- disputed king over nurses.That is not just my opinion, but of many others who seek a better life for themselves and their children through higher education that is available in other cities in Washington, and other states throughout the country. The problem with Spokane is that too many people have lived here their whole lives and think that the world revolves around Eastern Washingon. They are suspicious of anything that is "differant and knew" and prefer to leave life "the way it was". I found that to be true, especially in nursing. Nursing was in the Stone Age when I moved here 14 years ago, and the attitudes of the public, and nurses hasn't change that much.

Anyway, I hope that this answed your question about why their are few nursing jobs in Spokane and any others about where you should start your career in nursing.

Lindarn

The problem with Seattle is the weather. it rains WAY too much there, and my husband gets seasonally depressed, so that would be way too much for him. I'd love to live there tho!

Originally posted by SnowymtnRN

The problem with Seattle is the weather. it rains WAY too much there, and my husband gets seasonally depressed, so that would be way too much for him. I'd love to live there tho!

If your husband suffers from seasonal depression, perhaps a move to the south might help. Being further south, the days' length doesn't change as radically from season to season, which, as I understand it, is the major factor in seasonal depression.

Originally posted by vettech

If your husband suffers from seasonal depression, perhaps a move to the south might help. Being further south, the days' length doesn't change as radically from season to season, which, as I understand it, is the major factor in seasonal depression.

We are from the south originally! LOL The optimal area for us is all seasons, its not any season in particular that he doesn't tolerate, its too much of any one type. That's why we are going back west, seasons are nice there. He accepted the job in Casper Wyoming, so hopefully that will keep us there for a while!

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