LPN thinking of moving either to Texas or Utah. What's it like?

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I have 2 years of experience in PEDS home health and have enjoyed it. I am thinking of moving away sometime later this year or early next year. I want to know what nurse to patient ratios are like in the facilities for each state.

I am in the process of waiting for a response from Indiana state's LPN to BSN distance program. I chose this one because I have a ton of college credits and felt it was easier to apply for this program. I'm not sure if I will able to get in but I'm certain the covid situation has disrupted things for awhile. Would Indiana also be a good place for an LPN?

I am looking to move away from the city and into a place where I won't be needing roommates.

I didn't enjoy working with dementia patients in my home health job so I won't be doing that. I spent a brief amount of time in the nursing home and it was tolerable mainly due to the fact I only had to hand them meds. I left my last facility because the ratio was 1:40. It was located in nyc (I don't live here now) so I don't know if that's why the ratio was high there. I am also open to working in rural hospitals that do use LPNs. I'm not sure what the pay is like though.

Thanks!

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Texas here! Well, left my last SNF around 2015 at 1:28 residents. Pay was $20/hour. I didn't care for that. Left a Louisiana SNF (2016) when I had 31 residents... Yeah... NOPE. Pay was $18.50/hour. The norm seems around 1:30. I had mixed halls of skilled residents with long-term for both facilities. Home health is constantly hiring. Our booming cities are San Antonio, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston (probably the best in medicine). Maybe avoid those and find a place outside of them if anything. There's plenty of rural towns and you can always travel to the city when you're in need of fun.

I love my Texas! Good luck and happy travels when you're ready! ?

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Yikes. So I see it's the same as in NYC. Apparently home health is the field to be in as an LPN. There's a few cons and I've had nightmare experiences but I enjoyed home health.

My idea is to work in city and live in the suburbs but there's also the commute factor. The cheapness of real estate vs here in Seattle is a huge draw for me. I also kinda miss that southern heat being a TN native.

From some people that used to live in Texas I hear it's boring. But then again I'm a pretty boring person LOL. Have the restrictions been harsh there?

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There are many options for an LVN in central Texas, but the traffic in the capitol city is absolutely horrible! Whether you're driving after the "lunch-rush" or in the middle of the night, you can expect aggressively dangerous behaviors on the roads. With all the over-crowding, it can be painfully slow in the morning. In 2000 the population was 820K. In 2019 it was 1,270K....I'm just sayin'...

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Yea large for a city of that size. But I did use to live in nyc and traffic was ugly everywhere and multiple times a day.

I think whenever this lets up I might be willing to take traffic. There's cons everywhere you go. I'll check out central Texas. The appeal to me are the spacious apartments and the spa castle (I'm hoping that will reopen. Are there any other similar spas?) My credit is around 630 and I haven't rented an apartment previously. But I am getting tired of having roommates. I'm seeing really low deposits of like $200.

The biggest challenge will be vehicle maintainence. I haven't owned one but I am looking to get an older used one to keep costs low.

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Specializes in Hospital/ER, Rural Health.

“Texas” is a very broad category. I worked in a SNF where I had 8 pts. It was nice. I moved to a small town and work at a hospital where I’m in the ER and we see maybe 4 a night and there’s usually 3-6 pts on the floor. I know that is not the norm for the rest of the state. My ex classmates in Dallas are always complaining they are overworked.

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Thanks! This was helpful. I didn't want to specify a town or area because I don't know which would be a good fit. Where did you manage to find a place with a low nurse to patient ratio?

Also, is an LVN salary high enough not to need roommates? I am a pretty frugal person but I would like my own place eventually.

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Specializes in Hospice.

I just got laid off from a hospice job, but I was making over 33/hr with a gas stipend in South Texas. I have been a nurse for 27 yrs.

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Sorry to hear. I hope things work out eventually.

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