Laredo Medical Center ??

kwagner_51 · Feb 24, 2006

Anyone out there?

PLEASE!!

Thanks!!

_______________________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!

cadillac05 · Feb 25, 2006

I was there for a 6-week travel assignment a few years ago. Laredo is a border town, not very attractive. People are nice, but Spanish is the primary language, so be prepared to learn if you're English only. A lot of the docs are pretty condescending. It is HOT! Though Texas is my home state, I couldn't wait to get back to cooler country. Sorry, I can't give much positive info. Keep in mind that 6 weeks doesn't count for much.

Good luck.

RN34TX · Feb 25, 2006

I didn't want to post because I only have 2nd hand info but since you're getting such little feedback, here goes:

I work with 2 people that took contract assignments there several years ago and both said that it was a nightmare. Like the poster above stated, they both said that the docs were very condescending, but more importantly, the heavy patient assignments were the real problem.

Both of them also didn't care for Laredo itself.

I've only been there once, I thought it was ok but again, I never worked there.

It's a town literally in the middle of nowhere and if I were a single person moving there alone, I would think that it might be a very isolated place to be and you'd get restless and bored pretty quick.

But if you are moving there with a family or at least a spouse/partner, then it might be ok.

That's the best I can do.

a_clay · Mar 7, 2006

I don't personally know about the medical center but Laredo in general is not a place you want to be right now. Drug wars going on and the drama and killing associated. It's on the news and in the papers alot.

Anyone from Laredo? What is it like? Has anyone worked at the Medical Center?
I have a telephone interview for a grad nurse position on Monday! This will be a permenate position.
Please advise!!
Thanks!
__________________________________
In His Grace,
Karen
Failure is NOT an option!!

RN34TX · Mar 7, 2006

I don't personally know about the medical center but Laredo in general is not a place you want to be right now. Drug wars going on and the drama and killing associated. It's on the news and in the papers alot.

And I'm not saying that Amyindallas is wrong because I really don't know any first hand info.

But......

I've heard those same types of stories of gang activity, shootings, etc. about both Corpus Christi and Galveston when I'd ask people about those towns.

In both cases, I can confirm that those stories about high crime and violence in both Galveston and Corpus Christi were highly, highly exaggerated.

From what people would tell me, I was prepared to be afraid to be out of my house after dark but that was not true at all.

If I would have listened to them, I would have missed out on some great experiences out of senseless fear.

When I lived in Dallas, I sometimes did agency at some of the way out suburban hospitals. The staff at some of these more rural hospitals had one story after another to tell about how dangerous and violent Dallas is and how they'd never go there.

Crime exists in Dallas like anywhere, I agree, but the viewpoints about the level of crime were very exaggerated in my opinion.

And who wants to live out in Allen or McKinney anyway?

Boring! (Just kidding.)

To each their own.

I would say to go visit and hang out there yourself, hang out in areas where you may be living, ask around in Laredo itself. Talk to the actual people who live there, not other visitors.

Most of all, take a tour with potential managers at the hospital and see what you're getting into.

a_clay · Mar 7, 2006

This is not stuff that I have just "heard". This stuff is on the news and in the newspapers quite often. Newspaper reports murdered for publishing articles in the paper about the drug wars going on there. 3 or 4 police chiefs murdered within hours or days of taking their job as police chief because the drug lords want to make sure everyone knows who is in control. Just last week I believe I read an article in the Dallas Morning News saying there is an average of 1 drug related murder per day in 2006 in Laredo. I, personally, would NOT go there.

And I'm not saying that Amyindallas is wrong because I really don't know any first hand info.
But......
I've heard those same types of stories of gang activity, shootings, etc. about both Corpus Christi and Galveston when I'd ask people about those towns.
In both cases, I can confirm that those stories about high crime and violence in both Galveston and Corpus Christi were highly, highly exaggerated.
From what people would tell me, I was prepared to be afraid to be out of my house after dark but that was not true at all.
If I would have listened to them, I would have missed out on some great experiences out of senseless fear.
When I lived in Dallas, I sometimes did agency at some of the way out suburban hospitals. The staff at some of these more rural hospitals had one story after another to tell about how dangerous and violent Dallas is and how they'd never go there.
Crime exists in Dallas like anywhere, I agree, but the viewpoints about the level of crime were very exaggerated in my opinion.
And who wants to live out in Allen or McKinney anyway?
Boring! (Just kidding.)
To each their own.
I would say to go visit and hang out there yourself, hang out in areas where you may be living, ask around in Laredo itself. Talk to the actual people who live there, not other visitors.
Most of all, take a tour with potential managers at the hospital and see what you're getting into.

RN34TX · Mar 7, 2006

This is not stuff that I have just "heard". This stuff is on the news and in the newspapers quite often. Newspaper reports murdered for publishing articles in the paper about the drug wars going on there. 3 or 4 police chiefs murdered within hours or days of taking their job as police chief because the drug lords want to make sure everyone knows who is in control. Just last week I believe I read an article in the Dallas Morning News saying there is an average of 1 drug related murder per day in 2006 in Laredo. I, personally, would NOT go there.

Yes, and you did indeed make that clear in your first post. I didn't mean to say that you merely "heard" bad things about Laredo.

I haven't seen/heard anything in the news about Laredo, so I guess I need to pay better attention if it comes up as frequently as you have seen it.

I had no idea that so much was going on there.

Nonetheless, I personally would not go there either. I've heard enough about it from my co-workers who have worked there and they would strongly discourage people from going there as well.

I was only trying to tell the OP to go there and experience it before packing up and moving there and not to merely rely on a good job promise or people's comments who may have never even lived or worked there.

Also, any manager or recruiter who wants to get nurses hired will only have great things to say about the town they are trying to lure you to.

We all know that, right?

On the other hand, I personally was strongly discouraged by many from going to places like Corpus and Galveston for the same reasons and I almost didn't go because of people's tall tales about how bad the crime was there.

I'm glad that I didn't listen to them and that's all I was trying to point out here when examining whether or not to go someplace.

That comment was meant to be an addition to, not a contradiction of, your comments about news stories of Laredo.

It was not an attempt to compare your comments of news coverage of Laredo with people who merely heard things about it because those are two completely different things.

cjudesaenz · Jan 7, 2007

wow... Im new to this site and this my first post and found this post and just had to comment...I know that this post is really old and I love that people who dont understand the border community are putting in their two cents. First of all dont confuse Laredo, Texas with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Its Nuevo Laredo that has that stuff going on. Second, Im from Laredo and lived there for 18yrs and have never experienced any violence, there are good schools and good people and with all cities it has its problems. I lived in San Antonio for 5yrs and I thought that the bigger city was bit scary, but i got over it and never experienced any violence there either. Its a small community with big city business and its an acquired taste I guess. As for spanish being the primary language, not really. Yes there are people who dont speak english but english is spoken more often. Im hispanic born and raised in Laredo and I dont Speak spanish at all. I suggest to the person who commented about the drug wars, should freshen up on their high school geography.

Soup Turtle · Jan 7, 2007

I live in San Antonio, Texas. I've never lived in Laredo, but I've been there plenty of times. It seems like a pretty quiet, laid back place for the most part. I was in a car accident there, once, and the police showed up on bicycles. There are a lot of Spanish speaking people and broken English speakers, but someone in the family can usually speak some sort of English.

Laredo, Mx IS scary! I used to go there once in a while, but the last time I was there (a few years ago) there was a driving truck, full of men in the back standing in a circle, looking for someone and pointing rifles at the crowds. I went right back over the border to the US side and haven't gone back!