Living in Seattle

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Hey everyone...I have a nursing job opportunity in the Seattle area with Swedish hospital. I currently live in NW Florida which is nice but the pay is not that great. I know the pay on this other opportunity is more than double my current salary but I am unfamiliar with the Seattle area or if real expensive to live. I have a small family with new baby so is it good place to raise family? Just wondering if I should pursue this opportunity now. Any advice or knowledge of area would be helpful.. Thanks!

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The Seattle area is an awesome place to raise a family. Seattle itself is pretty expensive, and the Seattle public schools are not great. There are a lot of great places in the suburbs for less money and with better schools. I personally prefer north of Seattle and east of seattle. The Bothell-Woodinville-Mill Creek area to the north of Seattle is really nice, and the school district is one of the best in the state. The further to the north you go the lower the cost of living, but I wouldn't go too far because traffic into the city from the north can really, really suck. The east side tends to be more expensive than the north but there are some great areas there too, and the commute into Seattle isn't usually too bad. I live in Snoqualmie and I think it is a wonderful place for my family. Great schools, small town, and it is really easy commuting distance to Seattle and Bellevue.

Do you have a significant other who would be moving here with you? What does s/he do? That could play a factor in which areas you should look into.

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Hey Jenngirl34..Yes my husband is a new grad RN. I would hope he would work as a new nurse up there too. I guess the Swedish group has a good reputation up there?

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Hey Jenngirl34..Yes my husband is a new grad RN. I would hope he would work as a new nurse up there too. I guess the Swedish group has a good reputation up there?

The market is saturated with new nurses up here and floods of people apply for those Swedish residencies.

The cost of living is high, my two bedroom/2 bath apartment is close to $1300 a month.

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The market is saturated with new nurses up here and floods of people apply for those Swedish residencies. The cost of living is high my two bedroom/2 bath apartment is close to $1300 a month.[/quote']

Do new nurses have to go through the residency? My hubby has experience as a tech at our local hospital. But how is Swedish.. I guess it is a good hospital?

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Do new nurses have to go through the residency? My hubby has experience as a tech at our local hospital. But how is Swedish.. I guess it is a good hospital?

99% of the time yes. Tech experience isn't all that helpful unless it was at Swedish. You also have to compete against experienced nurses who need the residency to switch from different specialty areas. The job market up here sucks for new grads and acute care trust me. There are quite a few nursing schools up here churning out grads and not many residency programs. When I was looking for jobs, all the starting RN jobs (Ones that said only 1 year acute exp preferred) that weren't residencies outright rejected me. That's how bad it is...

What do you mean opportunity? A job offer? If a recruiter just called you out of the blue I wouldn't call that an opportunity, too many people they can pick from in the Seattle area to care about someone coming from Florida. It makes no sense.

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99% of the time yes. Tech experience isn't all that helpful unless it was at Swedish. You also have to compete against experienced nurses who need the residency to switch from different specialty areas. The job market up here sucks for new grads and acute care trust me. There are quite a few nursing schools up here churning out grads and not many residency programs. When I was looking for jobs all the starting RN jobs (Ones that said only 1 year acute exp preferred) that weren't residencies outright rejected me. That's how bad it is... What do you mean opportunity? A job offer? If a recruiter just called you out of the blue I wouldn't call that an opportunity, too many people they can pick from in the Seattle area to care about someone coming from Florida. It makes no sense.[/quote']

Hey yeah a job offer but was unfamiliar with hospital and Seattle area. I am experienced and

guess they have needs in the hospitals up there. I think it helps having experience especially in specialty areas. Do you work as a nurse now?

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Hey yeah a job offer but was unfamiliar with hospital and Seattle area. I am experienced and

guess they have needs in the hospitals up there. I think it helps having experience especially in specialty areas. Do you work as a nurse now?

Yeah I do after a lot of leg work. Yes, I would say go for it if you have the offer but your husband will definitely have problems....

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Swedish is an excellent hospital system, and if you have a job offer through them you should seriously consider it! Your husband might have a hard time at first finding a position as a new grad because we have a ton of nursing schools here and new grad jobs can be tough to find, but not impossible by any means. There are a lot of hospitals around here, and a lot of LTC/sub-acute facilities as well. If he is willing to do something that may not be his ultimate goal for a while to get experience he should be able to find something good before too horribly long.

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