Is FL really a terrible place to work?

[oahufish]

I'm an RN/BSN 20 yrs experience with 16 yrs Surgical and Open Heart ICU,CCRN,ACLS ect... We have spent the past 16 years in Hawaii and are considering a move back to the mainland to be closer to family in TX and the East Coast. My wife has several job possibilities in FL, one in the Space Coast area, one near FT Walton Beach area and one in Tampa area.

We are more than ready for a move back to the mainland, but I really have reservations about leaving my current job. I've been at facility for 13 yrs have seniority on day shift in small Open Heart unit making $50+/hr and it's really a fantastic place to work with great manager and supportive staff...

Every time we have a traveler come through I ask them were are the best places they have worked and the worst place. Most tell me that Cal and HI are the best places and FL is by far the worst place. I hear the Management and Surgeons are difficult to work with, poor staffing ratio's even in ICU's and terrible pay.

Is this pretty much true throughout FL? Anyone know the pay rates for experienced ICU RN's on Space Coast and Panhandle area's? How is the staffing in the Open Heart unit's and are there ever day jobs available? Any recommendation of good places to work in these area's.

Is the cost of living really that much less in FL that folk's get by on the $20-$25/hr that I've heard about there? Seem's like it would be hard taking a 50% cut in pay unless everything is considerably cheaper. Hawaii is expensive but we are living pretty comfortably now between our two job's, even with a $380k morgage....

[nursejossy]

The two hospitals I have worked in( SW FL) were pretty bad. The pay was low.. mid twenties. No protection from forced overtime, floating to other units or safe staffing levels. That is in med/surg not sure about your area. The cost of living in my area is not cheap either!! To buy in a "good" school you will pay 300 and up. So if my husband did not have a well paying profession, I would be in another state. No doubt. There are some areas of Fl that are less expensive, however they are more rural or very urban. THINK long and hard before you move here!!

[redddy]

Pay is terrible here in Tampa. My friend in CA makes double what I do.

[nursemichelle80, BSN, RN]

I work in a prison in Florida because the hospitals were awful. I worked my first 5 years in California with nurse ratios. I moved home to Florida and was working on an oncology floor (giving chemotherapy) where it was rare to have less than 8 or 9 patients. No thank you!

[elkpark]

The low pay rates in FL are definitely not because the cost of living is low, but because there are so many people who want to live there that employers can offer lousy wages and benefits and still fill the jobs. The old cliche' is that "we pay you in sunshine" (yeah, well, when I can pay my bills in sunshine, maybe we can talk ...) I grew up in Florida, left the first chance I got, and have never considered living there again (although I have visited my parents there regularly over the years). My sister (not a nurse) moved home a few years ago to be closer to my aging parents -- although she was at the top of her field, and getting top dollar for her occupation, in the city in which she lived, when she went job-hunting in FL she got offered only entry-level type jobs and pay, and the attitude of potential employers was well, if you don't want the job, there are plenty of other folks who do, don't let the door hit you on the way out. (And that was before the economy tanked and unemployment got so bad!)

[Rntr]

Yes, I am originally from FL, licensed in 75 in the Space Coast and the hospitals are as bad as you have heard... Fl will tell you they pay in sunshine not real money, the working conditions are getting worse all the time. Many hospitals working with brought in help.. by this I mean, I worked Sebring, 20 nurse's came to work and most hadn't taken their boards yet, language was difficult for them and us...they can get these gals for dirt and them treat them crappy.

HCA, HMA, CHS and TENET are the worst anywhere, not just FL... they run low on staff, supplies and pay is poor... for a fact there is a posted message on another forum about HCA surgeries being down and staffing/pay is going to get much worse...

Good luck in whatever you do but I sure wouldn't leave a good job to come back..

[momsta]

I am considering a job offer frm Brandon Regional. The pay is pretty close to MI pay for my experience. Is it an OK place to work? Any input is appreciated.