Published Mar 1, 2009
typoagain
76 Posts
I am a pedi nurse looking to relocate to CO. I love my current job, but I need to fulfill a promise I made to my wife to move her to the mountains.
I am trying to find hospitals in the 100-300 bed range or small hospitals have have a full time pedi unit. I would prefer to live in a town that is less than about 60,00 people. I also want to live near a resort community to make it easy to pursue my love of skiing, rafting, and other outdoor activities.
I have spent 15 years in Houston and even more than that in the desert and an ready for a change!
Thanks for any advice you may have.
~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
I am not sure about hospitals and stuff, although I am told PVH is a great hospital, but as far as towns, I personally am in LOVE with Fort Collins, it's bigger then what you ware wanting. I think we have 120 thousand, A lot of that is College kids I believe because we have CSU here, but I live on the other end of town and it's so nice and quiet and it feels like a small town. I have lived all over the country and this place is my favorite. All that stuff you are wanting to do is close bye as well. Estes Park which is a big touristy town has all that and is about an hour away. Anyway, Fort Collins has my vote for you LOL
Oh and I can say PVH has a great Ped unit. when I had a hysterectomy I was put up there on the Ped floor and one of my sons was hospitalized there as well. A friends son was in the hospital for 4 days and I can't say enough good things about the staff on that floor. All wonderful caring great people.
I had a child at NCMC and I was not impressed at all with my experience there, nothing comparable to my time at PVH.
Asia53
50 Posts
I am a pedi nurse looking to relocate to CO. I love my current job, but I need to fulfill a promise I made to my wife to move her to the mountains. I am trying to find hospitals in the 100-300 bed range or small hospitals have have a full time pedi unit. I would prefer to live in a town that is less than about 60,00 people. I also want to live near a resort community to make it easy to pursue my love of skiing, rafting, and other outdoor activities.
I hope you and wife really research her desire to live in the mountains. As a Colorado resident, I can't tell you how many people I've seen --- really, really want to live in the mountains. Then reality sets in---astronomical rents, even higher prices on houses, high gasoline price, high propane cost, much, much higher food costs. Bear in mind, everything for the mountain communities has to be trucked in. Nothing, nothing is just down the street, around the corner.
As to pedi units, well, not alot of kids in the mountains, remember, this is a "rich" person's playground. Most of the workforce for the resorts are bought in for the season, single, college kids--usually, 19 to 30 years old. (This season has been bad--layoffs. Not lack of snow---lack of patrons.) Plus stiff, stiff competition for jobs---this is where alot of people want to live. (For the life of me, I don't know why. )
Usually, mountain communities have regional hospitals, Kremmling, Carbondale, to name two, there's a few. Also have a look at communities near the mountains--Montrose, Grand Junction, etc ,(known as the Western Slope). Most people live on the Front Range, and commute to recreational activities. It's a matter of money, you know.
It's very hard to get hired into the Fort Collins hospital system--Poudre Valley Health System---once again, because everyone wants to live there.
Good luck to you and the wife!
You can still live in CO at in the Mtn's without actually being IN the mountains. My husband had a desire to move to the mountains and here to CO and here we are. We are not in the actual mountains but they are a short trip away, we are in the front range. So costs aren't super high here, everything is close by, shoot we have more places to eat and places to shop then I could possibly ever visit, yet we aren't like the big cities. We can hop in our car in a short trip and visit IN the mountains for the day, or week as well.
I suppose its not for everyone here, but I have lived and visited all over the United States, and CO is my favorite place so far.
Satori77, ADN
516 Posts
I like where I live, in Parker. It is south of Denver, relatively small, though has been getting bigger the last few years. A little more expensive than some areas as well. We have Parker Adventist Hospital, which is great. They have a children's hospital within it. In fact, you might want to look up The Children's Hospital...they have a large one in Denver/Aurora area (brought my son there and loved it), and some smaller ones all over the front range. Different specialties. Great reputation. Here is the website
http://www.thechildrenshospital.org/
In fact, you might want to look up The Children's Hospital...
They only hire BSN's.
My school has tried for years to get ped's clinicals for students. Absolutely, won't do ADN programs.
They only hire BSN's.My school has tried for years to get ped's clinicals for students. Absolutely, won't do ADN programs.
Yep, forgot to add that. One of the reasons I would eventually want to get my BSN, because I would love to work at Children's. Such a great place to work, been to several with my kids (most recently with my son), and have had wonderful experiences.