Information about your state

Hi Sweetooth, I thought I would reply since nobody else has and it's been over a day since you posted. I can only offer my experiences from where I have worked and lived in SC. I was born in Charleston, SC and lived there until I was 12 but I'm 46 now. It is very warm there and I only saw snow and ice one time when we lived there. There are many hospitals to choose from there. MUSC is a teaching hospital and has a children's hospital. I have relatives that still live there and can't really offer much on the salary level but it is a very pretty place. I have an ex sister in law that is a nurse in oncology that works at Roper Hospital which is in downtown Charleston. Her husband is a pharmacist with MUSC. They live in Mt. Pleasant, which is about 15-20 min away. They have lived there and worked there for about 20 years and they love it. As far as real estate, it depends on where you live. It's pretty competitive there but you can Google some homes in Mt. Pleasant, downtown and an area called "West of the Ashley" and look at prices on homes. I am a former Paramedic brand new LPN now and have worked in Greenville, SC for many years. I don't work there anymore but they have a teaching hospital too, Greenville Memorial is what it used to be called but I think it now is called Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center. They have a children's hospital that is operated under the Shriner's which is all donation but it is owned by Greenville Memorial. You can go to www.ghs.org and look at their site. They have the salary information for each position you apply for. Now the salaries listed for nurses is for a brand new nurse with no experience. They will pay you really good money for years experience and they may even take into consideration that you were a Paramedic before. I worked for their private ambulance service as a Paramedic back in 2001-2004 and they paid me really good. About $17.00 an hour but they added shift differential which was $4.00 more an hour for weekends and more for each shift. They pay really good and have excellent benefits. If you are looking for hiking areas, Greenville is the place to be. They are only miles from the mountains and only about an hour from Asheville, NC which is close to several mountain areas. And the area is beautiful. When I worked in Greenville, I commuted an hour to work because the pay was worth it. I only saw snow and ice one time each winter that I was there. The climate is warmer in Charleston, you can look that up too. You can Google anything. I would choose Greenville over Charleston even though Charleston has the beaches. Both places are beautiful with tons of things to do. You won't find hiking in Charleston but tons to do. Greenvile is about 3 hours from Charleston and 4 hours from Myrtle Beach which is where everybody in SC goes for the beach. Real estate in Greenville is about the same as Charleston from what I see on the internet. Greenville also is close to Spartanburg which has Spartanburg Regional Hospital but the do not have a children's hospital. The only thing that Greenville will not treat is burns. Charleston used to treat burns but everything in this state goes to Augusta, GA burn center for burns. And I know that by working EMS for as long as you did. 12 years. I got burned out on the 24 hour shifts and I am making more money as an LPN than as a Paramedic. I plan to finish with my RN but wait lists moved to LPN first. You can Google Greenville and Charleston and see anything you want. Both have tons of shopping, great schools for kids and just lots to do. Good luck and I hope I helped. Average winters here are not really cold until December, January and spring is usually here by late Feb early March. I know tons of people who are from the north and love it here. Beth:nurse:

thank you for all the info moomoo,

So what woudl you say the average winter temp would be?

Sweetooth

I have been in the Greenville, SC area for 11 years. I think the perspective on "winter" here would vary depending on your previous experience. I'd consider winter to only be 2 months or maybe 3 months long here. Depending on the particular year, winter is December and January, or mid-November to mid-February. It is very mild. We get an "ice storm" or two each winter but rarely snow. But my perspective is from my being raised in the Buffalo, NY area. If they consider winter to be 5 months long here, I'd have to say that winter is 10 months long in Buffalo! Haha!:chuckle I eventually got rid of most of my winter clothing after being down here a few years...as most of my winter clothes were just sitting collecting dust in my closet. It does get cold here, but not like Buffalo where we'd have windchills below zero.

Taxes are so low here it is laughable... at least compared to NY. But because of low taxes, some services are lacking. But, I personally, would rather have lower taxes and less services. Housing prices are reasonable. We could afford more of a house because the tax bill was so low. RN's are paid well. I'd say with experience, you'd start in mid-20's an hour. New grads less. Lots of places nearby to hike and enjoy nature! Greenville is in the foothills of the mountains.