Hello All

hi there,

i am a native floridian, but i live in south florida. i don't know the pay scale down here for lpn's, but the cost of housing is rediculous.

kissimmee is the land of disney (which i love), but i don't know how it is to live around there. i know traffic seems a little out of control. i have only been to the downtown orlando area, so i'm not really sure about the housing. it seems busy there (just like down here). i'm not sure if the expensive housing market is down here or statewide. we do have great weather, but you also have to ready for those hurricanes:uhoh3: !

there is a florida nursing paper called the nursing spectrum. they have a website, and are full of ads for jobs all over the state. maybe you could look into that to get some ideas.

glad to have you here and hope to have you here if florida soon !!!

Christina, it's the luck to the draw for LPNs working in hospital. Here in the Tampa Bay area LPNs are in high demand to working in nursing homes and long term care and make good money, but I'm not sure of the rate as it's been a while since I've heard what they make.

Good luck!

rather than relying on people's individual opinions i think you should go to nursevillage.com they have an article on orlando under "best cities for nurses" the direct link is http://www.nursevillage.com/nv/content/personalside/travel/orlando/index.jsp , as for money stuff http://www.salary.com/ is gonna be your best bet for pay questions, http://www.virtualtourist.com/ will give you tons of info and pics of orlando and the area from locals, and check out the official sites for Orlando and Kissimmee at http://www.cityoforlando.net/ and http://www.kissimmee.org/

I live in Orlando and while I do not work in the Hospital yet (student), I can give you pointers on central Florida. Stay clear of Kissimmee unless you like living in the ghetto. Yes, they have the cheapest housing but it is not a very safe place to live. I would really try to find something in Orange or Seminole County. Dr. Phillips, Williamsburg, Winter Park, Lake Mary are all great areas. A lot more safe, close to the major hospitals. The only draw back is the cost of living. I have lived in Osceola County, which is where kissimmee and poinciana are located and I absolutely hated it. The commute is terrible. Celebration is a nice area too.

I hope this helps!

I don't know how salary.com is with Orlando, but it is not always accurate for my town (outside Orlando), so just be careful.

Maybe you can talk to human resources at some of the hospitals and get some scoop there too in addition to posts and salary.com, etc. to get various inputs.

From what I can tell, Florida seems to have low nurses pay, so be prepared. Real estate has gone up a lot in FL in the last couple of years, as well as utilities (again, check for Orlando in particular - you can try realtor.com to get some ideas - I don't know about all areas but a close friend lived in Lake Mary and it was nice, as the poster above mentioned).

Traffic is bad in Orlando, so I'd personally want to live close to my work.

There is also a lot of uncontrolled growth in Florida, eating up the green space.

All that said, I love FL and there aren't many other places I'd consider living! I just wanted to put out some potential pitfalls so you'd know... I'm sure you already know the good points!