Living In Wilmington

Morgan314 · Feb 15, 2007

Don't know anything about Wilmington, but my cousin lives there and teaches school. She loves it. I'll ask her about cost of living etc, but I doubt she knows anything about the nursing situations.

I've always lived in NC, and it is a nice place

ACKRN07 · Mar 30, 2007

I am certainly not an expert on Wilmington, NC. But I did visit there last summer(summer of 2006). I currenlty live in Ocean County, NJ near the beach. Wilmington area reminded me a lot of the NJ shore! The people were friendly. There is a very larg hospital in town. I stopped in and the nurses were welcoming. I was a nursing student at the time, but have since graduated and become an RN>

I would say cost of living is less in Wilmington than NJ. A lot less(when considering car insurance costs and property taxes alone). I am not sure of rate of pay?...the only "bad" thing I could see about the area is that it does occasionally get hit by hurricanes!

NurseKittyAtlanta · Mar 30, 2007

I recently relocated to Wilmington from Atlanta. I previously lived in NC for 10 years. Wilmington is a beautiful area; however, it is also the most expensive city in the entire state, and has quite a high crime rate as well. Real estate has skyrocketed over the past several years, as have property taxes. I have lived in New York state for 20 years, and can tell you that there is not a huge difference in cost of living anymore. Car insurance is not less, and neither is home insurance once you factor in the "extras" that you will need here such as flood insurance. On the plus side, the people are friendly, the atmosphere around town is very laid back, and of course you have the beach right at your doorstep.

As far as nursing jobs, there is one hospital system in town, with two hospitals - Cape Fear Hospital and New Hanover Regional Medical Center. HR is located at the main hospital downtown. When I stopped by for an application, they were not very receptive and basically told me that I'd have to fill one out online and someone would call me. From my past experience, many places would try to immediately place you with a recruiter to talk to you, but this one did not. Most of the nursing jobs available as of today are night shift with the exception of OR and other highly specialized areas.

There are also quite a few home health agencies as well as doctors' offices and skilled nursing facilities hiring at the moment. This is always an option.

If you're willing to travel outside of Wilmington, there's Brunswick Community Hospital and Dosher Memorial Hospital to the south, and Pender Memorial Hospital to the west. Also there's Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in North Myrtle Beach, SC (about 45 minutes away).

ACKRN07 · Mar 30, 2007

Thanks very much for the info and insight. I however had a different experience when I visited Wilmington last summer. The Hanover hospital was very welcoming and I merely walked in off of the street! They immediately sent me across the street to the HR office. An HR person met with me and gave me a video about the hospital etc. I don't know why I got a different reception? I was a nursing student at the time and had not graduated yet. Could it be that they "welcomed" me because I'm a guy???

NurseKittyAtlanta · Mar 30, 2007

Well, maybe things have changed since last year when you visited. I was only speaking of my recent experience with HR (yesterday). Also, if you were a nursing student at the time then you would have been recruited for the new grad program, which is very different as well. Anyway, how did it go? Did they offer you a spot in the program? Are you living in Wilmington now?

ACKRN07 · Mar 30, 2007

Well, maybe things have changed since last year when you visited. I was only speaking of my recent experience with HR (yesterday). Also, if you were a nursing student at the time then you would have been recruited for the new grad program, which is very different as well. Anyway, how did it go? Did they offer you a spot in the program? Are you living in Wilmington now?

Look at my post about 3 posts up? I currently live and work in NJ on a cardiac unit. I will be in the Raleigh/Durham area next week scouting houses and jobs.

Cherish · Mar 30, 2007

I live in the Raleigh/Durham area and I love going to Wilmington or Myrtle Beach. I usually go there about twice a month during May-Sept. since I am an addicted beach person. I really enjoy the area there's a lot to do. I do think its expensive but most places near the beach are. There is emerald isle that I have friends live its off of Jacksonville in NC. Camp Lejeune is there (Marines) and you can work at the hospital there. Its about 45-60 mins from Wilmington. Have you checked out real estate online like century 21 or remax to figure out what an average house would be? Think thats the best thing since real estate is something that changes often.

gitterbug · Apr 4, 2007

I have never liked the idea of being in a one facility town. I have never worked at NHRMC but knew 3 nurses who did for over 2 years. They were not happy there. They came home. Now I do not know if they were too homesick to make the adjustment or if the facility was too rigid. Either way, the area is beautiful but col is high.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2007

I've lived in NC for a huge chunk of my life, and in two totally separate regions. What I will say is this: the closer you get to the ocean, and that doesn't matter if it's Nags Head in the NE or Cape Fear to the south, your cost of living will skyrocket because beach property is always worth more. I have no doubt that home insurance is more there because the likelihood of severe damage occurring is obviously higher on the coast. I personally have no desire to live there, but I have friends who do and they love it.

I got curious and did a quickie search on Realtor.com; it does seem real estate is more expensive there than what I've paid in Durham for a whole lot more house and a WHOLE lot more land. To be honest, even I was a bit surprised!

But if you love the beach, that would be the place to be. I lived near Nags Head as a kid, but I prefer Wilmington; it's more "homey" to me than Nags Head is, which has always struck me as trying to be a big resort area (it's not) and more ritzy, if you will, than what it actually is....the folks in Wilmington are a lot more friendly and the entire area just seems more pleasant to me. I also like Morehead City and Atlantic Beach for the same reasons.

Sorry to butt in, because I have no idea about the hospitals there; just my two cents, I guess...

DanisTeeta · Jan 10, 2008

Hey guys....I see these posts are a bit old, but I just came across them today.

I live in Wilmington. The pay at staffing agencies is alot, alot, alot higher than the hosp. The only prob I am having adjusting (moved from Ft Laud) is they move superrrrrrrrr slowwwwwwwwwwww here. I got hired THREE weeks ago and havent started yet if that tells you anything. Still waiting for a sched from the hospital.