Moving to Chicago

Trauma Columnist · Feb 16, 2008

Will move to the IL forum to get you some Chicago-specific answers.

NurseRatched67 · Feb 16, 2008

Please help! I am looking to move to Chicago from MI in the next few months. I have already applied for endorsement there and decided to live in the Lakeview/Lincoln Park area. My problem is that I have been researching jobs, but the hospitals don't really give too much info. I have narrowed potential hospitals down to Northwesten, Rush, and UIC. I would love to go into Critical Care. I have previous tele exp. for 2 yrs. Does anyone know anything about these hospitals? What is their salary? Do they have good benefits? Do any of them offer Critical Care Internships? Are they adequately staffed? Is it best to apply to a specific job or do they have nurse recruiters that are helpful? Any information would greatly help. Thanks!!!

Hi, I live on the north side of Chicago, just north of the Lakeview area. The two area's you mention are different in their proximity to the downtown area. Lincoln Park will be closer to downtown then Lakeview. Both areas are nice and have good transportation north and to downtown.

Northwestern is downtown and would be easy to get too from either area you are interested in. Rush and UIC are a bit more challenging and would take you way more time to get to on public transportation. Both of those hospitals are not exactly in the greatest of neighborhoods as well.

You have a few more options then those three hospitals...if you are looking for major hospitals then you have Illinois Masonic and St. Joseph's close by, Evanston Hospital and St. Francis just north and community hospitals like Swedish Covenant, Thorek and Mercy close by as well. If you are an ER nurse who loves the adreneline rush, you also have Cook County and Mt. Sinai hospitals south of the city. (Both of those see alot of action!)

All the hospitals here have pretty standard and decent benefits, but the salary ranges are big. UIC's nurses are unionized, with better pay, but they are going through some rough times right now with staffing ratio's. Salaries are varied throughout the city and depending on your years of experience.

Big question is "will you have a car?". Northwestern is better off being accessed by train, as you will have to pay to park in a remote lot with a shuttle. Most folks working at NW take public transportation.

If you have a car, you can also consider a few more close in suburban hospitals that you may find better different pay levels and shifts.

As for Critical Care - Mt. Sinai, Cook County, NW, Illinois Masonic and Evanston are all Level 1 trauma ER's. I'm not really sure about the others in terms of levels. You will probably find more critical care positions at these types of hospitals.

If you are a childrens nurse, then Children's Memorial Hospital is in Lincoln Park and is world reknown.

Hope this helps...let me know if you need anything else!