Hospitals paying for your stay?

[sillymu]

I'm a nursing student graduating in May. I've started applying for nursing jobs out of state and I'm currently waiting to hear back for possible interviews. My boyfriend has this idea that if a hospital is interested they should pay to fly me out and pay for my accommodations to stay during the interview process. I've worked in healthcare for 5 years, including a very prestigious hospital. I don't think they do that sort of thing unless you're like some big shot doctor. I am wondering if hospitals actually do this for nurses. If so, would they do it for a new grad? I'm sure the answer is no, but I'd like some feedback or info from those who have experienced something like this.

His reasoning is because he works for an Ivy League institution and they did all of this for him when he was interviewing. For some reason he thinks this is normal across all career fields, but I tell him it's not realistic when you have hundreds of candidates trying to get a job. You can't just throw money at every new grad that wants to work in your facility. Relocation package sure, but to pay to get me there for an interview sounds a little weird. We're willing to drive and pay for accommodations if need be.

[LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP]

11 hours ago, /username said:

You really shouldn't compare the cost of living in SC and say it's on par with the cost of living in NYC or SF... I just did a search on apartments.com, and the most expensive apartments currently available in Greenville are what the smallest, cheapest, not-the-safest-neighborhood apartments in NYC and SF START at.... You're nog getting larger than a studio until you get into the 1600-1800 range, and a true two bedroom apartment will often start just below 3,000, and there's no way in hell you're living in lower manhattan or downtown SF on a nursing salary, even if you have dual income household and roommates.

When there are only 7 apartments in the whole city of greenville that are above 3k per month, it's not exactly the same....

Another important consideration are all the expenses beyond rent. For example, in SF right now gas is 3.30-3.40 a gallon. In NYC it's about a dollar cheaper per gallon at 2.30-2.40. In Greenville it's barely over 2.00 at 2.05, with significant numbers of gas stations under 2 dollars a gallon.

Things like groceries will be between 30-50% more expensive in both of those cities.

Yes, Greenville is expensive to live in while being paid a nursing salary, but saying the cost of living is equivalent to SF or NYC is inaccurate and misleading.

I disagree with this characterization of living in the city. There are plenty of RNs who live in the city or who could live in the city, if they chose to. If they have a dual income or roommates, it's absolutely affordable. The buy in cost for a one bedroom is high, but to go to a two bedroom, it's not double the price, so if you can have a roommate, you can get a great 2b/2b and be paying <3k/month each in a good area. And again, starting pay for an RN with no experience who is working only days is around 75/hour I think? I work at Mission Bay, and people who work at Parnassus are even better off, because living in the Sunset is far less expensive. You can definitely get a nice place for <3k by yourself there. You might end up needing a car though, since it's further out.

Groceries are not 30-50% more expensive. They are about the same here as they are in the midwest, and the veggies and fruits are cheaper and better, IMO. While you can find plenty of expensive restaurants, you can also find lots of cheap good restaurants also.

The cost of gas does not figure into it for many city dwellers - a car is not a good choice. It's hella expensive to park both at home and everywhere you would go with it. Better to walk, bike, scooter, muni or uber/lyft. I got rid of my car and don't miss it at all. There are car shares for when I need a car for a road trip.

Most of the nurses here travel extensively and live pretty fabulous lives, even though many of them might complain about money. When I was living in other states, people got paid far less, and weren't able to do as much as they do here.

Personally, I feel the east coast is far worse because they do not compensate for the cost of living as much as the west coast does. My salary is high enough that I am able to easily afford my lifestyle. I could not afford it in NYC, where the salary is not that much higher than it was in OH or TX

[/username, BSN, RN]

6 hours ago, LilPeanut said:

I disagree with this characterization of living in the city. There are plenty of RNs who live in the city or who could live in the city, if they chose to. If they have a dual income or roommates, it's absolutely affordable. The buy in cost for a one bedroom is high, but to go to a two bedroom, it's not double the price, so if you can have a roommate, you can get a great 2b/2b and be paying <3k/month each in a good area. And again, starting pay for an RN with no experience who is working only days is around 75/hour I think? I work at Mission Bay, and people who work at Parnassus are even better off, because living in the Sunset is far less expensive. You can definitely get a nice place for <3k by yourself there. You might end up needing a car though, since it's further out.

 Groceries are not 30-50% more expensive. They are about the same here as they are in the midwest, and the veggies and fruits are cheaper and better, IMO. While you can find plenty of expensive restaurants, you can also find lots of cheap good restaurants also.

The cost of gas does not figure into it for many city dwellers - a car is not a good choice. It's hella expensive to park both at home and everywhere you would go with it. Better to walk, bike, scooter, muni or uber/lyft. I got rid of my car and don't miss it at all. There are car shares for when I need a car for a road trip.

Most of the nurses here travel extensively and live pretty fabulous lives, even though many of them might complain about money. When I was living in other states, people got paid far less, and weren't able to do as much as they do here.

Personally, I feel the east coast is far worse because they do not compensate for the cost of living as much as the west coast does. My salary is high enough that I am able to easily afford my lifestyle. I could not afford it in NYC, where the salary is not that much higher than it was in OH or TX

Thanks for the opinion, however, as someone who currently lives in NYC, I am intimately familiar with the cost of living, and the increases from lower cost of living areas (where many of my family members live). Just a couple things out of my grocery cart from last night included an avocado ($2.25), a white onion ($1.50/lb), a gallon of milk ($4.08), a 1/2 pound block of cheese ($3.80), and a 6 pack of beer ($18.50).

As far as apartments are concerned, there is high variability in pricing. What you don't see just looking at the pictures, is that most of the "2 bedroom" apartments that you'll see listed are actually a true one bedroom, not two bedroom. The brokers will say that the common living space is one "bedroom" and the separate, enclosed bedroom is the "second bedroom". I've been looking at apartment listings nearly every day as I'm looking to get into a bigger place, and have yet to find a two bedroom for significantly less than 3,000 a month. If you know of one, I'd love to hear it...

[2Ask]

9 hours ago, /username said:

Thanks for the opinion, however, as someone who currently lives in NYC, I am intimately familiar with the cost of living, and the increases from lower cost of living areas (where many of my family members live). Just a couple things out of my grocery cart from last night included an avocado ($2.25), a white onion ($1.50/lb), a gallon of milk ($4.08), a 1/2 pound block of cheese ($3.80), and a 6 pack of beer ($18.50).

I've been looking at apartment listings nearly every day as I'm looking to get into a bigger place, and have yet to find a two bedroom for significantly less than 3,000 a month. If you know of one, I'd love to hear it...

How much do you get paid in NYC?

I make $45/hr base in San Diego which works out to $87K/year if full time. Better benefits than I have had anywhere else (ie lower out of pocket cost to me- the employer picks up more of the cost)

Rent- $2100/mo 2 BR/1BA (true 2BR- small bedrooms but two of them). Beautiful beach three blocks away.

• Avocado 39cents on sale, 69cents regular.
• Milk at Smart and Final Extra- 279 for whole milk which is all we use.
• Cheese at Aldi- the same as it was at the Aldi when I lived in rural NY, OH, and KY abut $3/lb.
• Gasoline $3.29/gallon- I have two cars one for me and one for my 16yo. Auto REGISTRATION here was expensive ($300/car) but my auto insurance is actually less here than it was in KY (go figure!)
• Parking at my hospital $2.50/month I paid $36/month to park at the hospital in Lexington KY and was paid $20 less per hour

If I refer you to my hospital I can get a bonus! Let me know

[LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP]

On 2/25/2019 at 5:51 AM, /username said:

Thanks for the opinion, however, as someone who currently lives in NYC, I am intimately familiar with the cost of living, and the increases from lower cost of living areas (where many of my family members live). Just a couple things out of my grocery cart from last night included an avocado ($2.25), a white onion ($1.50/lb), a gallon of milk ($4.08), a 1/2 pound block of cheese ($3.80), and a 6 pack of beer ($18.50).

As far as apartments are concerned, there is high variability in pricing. What you don't see just looking at the pictures, is that most of the "2 bedroom" apartments that you'll see listed are actually a true one bedroom, not two bedroom. The brokers will say that the common living space is one "bedroom" and the separate, enclosed bedroom is the "second bedroom". I've been looking at apartment listings nearly every day as I'm looking to get into a bigger place, and have yet to find a two bedroom for significantly less than 3,000 a month. If you know of one, I'd love to hear it...

Right, and as I've said, what you have generalized from NYC to SF does not hold true. In SF, our HOUSING is god awful expensive, gas is bad I guess, if you use it, and the rest is about the same as other places. I don't think you'll find a 2 bedroom in downtown SF for less than 5k, but it's also usually less than 6k, so if you have a roommate and are splitting it, it's less money than each having a one bedroom (or even a studio often). Now if you start heading to inner sunset or glen park or twin peaks or bayview or vistacion valley or colma, sure, things might be cheaper, but there's trade offs.

I'm just saying your characterization of SF living is not correct. I live here, downtown, in a nice area, in a new building. I know the rents for the different neighborhoods, and how much groceries are.

[Nickc58]

On 2/22/2019 at 12:55 AM, HomeBound said:

Greenville is also a very expensive town to live in, remember that if you think it's such a cool thing.

It's a college town with a huge teaching hospital. Try and look at the rentals there and see why they'd offer anything like this---and then remember---the starting pay at Vidant is around $23-24/hr. Parking at Vidant is....how shall I say it nicely---well, I can't say it nicely. They will spend an entire day on threatening you about parking. Boots on cars, tickets, etc.

There is also the "bait and switch" there--they offer high salary for "Tiered PRN" schedules---and say you will get a $40/hr Tier for committing to a certain schedule, and then yank it out from under you at the last minute--saying there are "no more positions of that category left"---and tell you that they can offer you $29/hr for PRN.

Then there's the predictive testing--PBDS--that has you going through vignettes of patient scenarios...you have to write down everything you see, what your diagnosis is of that patient, what labs you would anticipate being ordered, what diagnostics, etc....and it's timed. There are 8-9 of them.

Plus some version of the BKAT and an arrhythmia exam.

They assure you that this is all just to "see where you are" and how they can help. Not so. A friend went all the way thru the weeklong orientation, and was told that her offer was rescinded because of her poor performance on the predictive test.

This was, by the way, for a Med Surg position.

These are questions that you need to ask ANY prospective employer, New Grads---what are the requirements? What is the schedule? What about rotating? How about floating? Do you get a solid, permanent preceptor (not 5 different ones, depending on who shows up that day)? Is there a structured teaching program for you as a new grad orientee?

What about parking? If my shift is an off hour one, will the bus be there to take me to my car? What are rents like in the area? How about state income taxes?

Reasonable hourly rates can turn very quickly into minimum wage jobs if you aren't paying attention. It's always so cute and romantic to live in downtown NYC or SF---but when the reality hits---you are either being recruited to a HIGH COL area for a seemingly "high rate of pay" or a toxic hospital where locals or internal candidates can't be found because they've caught on.

Hey there Homebound,

I recently accepted a job offer from Vidant for a new grad position. I do disagree with you on the price of rent. I signed a lease in a place that is practically unseen for less than 2k/month in my area of upstate NY for around 850/month in Greenville, within 5 minutes of the hospital. The pay is definitely less than if I stayed in my neck of the woods (about 28/hr in NY vs 24 in NC) but it’s more money than I’ve ever made anyways so I don’t mind this trade off. I am concerned about your mention of the predictor tests. I was told about them by the recruitment team but obviously there was no mention of a job offer being rescinded due to not performing high enough. I’m unsure of how direct messages work on this website but please message me if possible because I’d like to discuss this further with you. Thank you!