Moving to Dallas soon! Need advice!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, OR.

Hey everyone,

I'm new here to allnurses, but have been reading the boards for quite some time now. Anyway, to make this short and sweet, me and my fiance are moving to Dallas soon. So I was wondering if any of you DFW area people know the good places to work and not to work? Im interested in Childrens Hospital and Parkland. But I only have 7months pediatric experience (I'm a fairly new nurse) and on their website you need 2 years! Anyway, my other experience is in the OR, so far going on 5 months of that. Any advice on good areas to live, work, etc?

Thanks!

Audrey

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Specializes in Mother-Baby, Rehab, Hospice, Memory Care.

You may also look at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth. It looks like they are accepting applications for nurse residency program.

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Specializes in L&D,surgery,med/surg,ER,alzheimers.

I am not real familiar with the area but I do know that the Arlington area has some beautiful places to live. Hills and creeks in the neighborhoods. Houses all different levels.

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Specializes in LTC.

I don't currently live in Dallas, but lived there for 8 years and recently moved a few years ago. I loved Dallas and miss it often! I wasn't a nurse there, but I did deliver my daughter at the Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton. I loved that hospital, the staff and doctors seemed great!

I'm so jealous btw! There are tons of opportunities there, and may find myself back in that area after I finish school and get some experience under my belt :) Good luck to you!

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Specializes in trauma, jail health.

I work for Parkland and have done so since 07'. I just graduated in May of last year and had a contract with Parkland and they didnt have anything open at the time so I got stuck at the jail. Whatever you do dont even consider that, its horrible. Parkland has a 24 hr level 1 trauma operating room with a residency if you dont have enough experience. They actually have several residencies for the various ICU's, ER, OR, L&D etc. Although I have to warn you hundreds of people apply for these positions and they only hire anywhere from 2 -12 usually. They have been cutting hours and positionlike crazy the last year too and havent really had many positions for new RN's since I graduated. It's good place to get experience if you can get a job there. Childrens is nice but youd probably have to do one of thier internships or something since you dont have enough to go straight in. Cook's in Fort Worth pays better from what I hear and has better benefits and they are hiring if you are willing to live closer to the midcities or Fort Worth. Baylor is a good hospital with a good reputation but usually only serves blue collar type patients and is a bit more "posh" if you will. So it's a bit different type pt population. Depends on what your going for. There are many big hospitals in Dallas that you could look into but Parkland and Baylor are probably the biggest and are the only level 1 trauma centers. I lived in Arlington for 4 years. Its decent except for the traffic especially with the new stadium but has pretty good housing prices. Arlington Memorial is there too and is a decent smaller hospital....although the year I did clinicals there I got pretty bored. Dallas is huge and in general the cheapest places to live are in south dallas but beware they are many parts considered the "ghetto" in oakcliff and can have high crime rates (I seem to see a lot of inmates from there:rolleyes:); but you can find decent neighborhoods here and there throughout. I live in dowtown Dallas which has a good range of options from cheap to very nice but is a bit more expensive in general. Oaklawn is a bit more upscale and is also frequently called the "gayborhood" especilally around cedar springs; they have great food there (but then again Dallas in general has lots of great food). A lot of people like living in places like Carollton and Irving and Frisco and other midcities. All in all DFW has a ton of options. Just do your research before you jump to make decisions!

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Sounds like you have many options and opportunities waiting! Good Luck to you!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, OR.

Wow! Thank you so much for this response! And everyone for your responses! I'm looking at houses right now on a website, and Irving is mostly where we're looking, sort of the Las Colinas area, but not the expensive part.

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To KW_TX:

I am relocating to the DFW area from Detroit, MI. Ive been an ER nurse for 5 years. I am also considering Parkland, Presby, and Arlington Memorial. What is the pay range for a nurse with my experience. I am focusing my housing on SW Arlington and Cedar Hill ( lake Ridge area), what are these areas like to live in. Are there any other trauma centers in Fort Worth that wont be too far of a drive from any of these 2 cities? I greatly appreciate any info you or others can provide?

thank you

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@ KW-TS Do you still work at Parkland? 2 yrs ICU LTACH and 1 yr corrections nursing experience. Applied to various positions at Parkland but no response.

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Call HR

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You may also look at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth. It looks like they are accepting applications for nurse residency program.

The Cook residency program only hires new grads. They will not hire experienced RNs.

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OP, I know Baylor Dallas is hiring.

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