moving to NY next May...

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Jun 3, 2010

:wavey: Hello everyone!

I am currently in nursing school working on my BSN in Ohio - I will graduate this December. My SO is in the army and will be moving to Fort Drum next May (and of course I will be following him there!). I currently work in a hospital as a nurse tech on a renal, plastic & reconstructive surgery (med-surg) floor and now I'm trying to transfer to the SICU to get some more critical care experience. I LOVED my critical care rotation in nursing school and I would love to work in the ICU.

At my hospital, you can keep your NT job after you pass the NCLEX if you are hired as an RN there. I know my hospital will not hire me for a few months knowing that I will be moving, so I'm basically going to lose my NT job once I pass the NCLEX (how crappy, I should be getting a new job not losing one!)

Fort Drum seems pretty remote from hospitals aside from a troop medical clinic which is on base. There are other urgent care clinics in the Watertown area (10-12mi distance) and for hospitals, the closet seems to be Carthage Area Hospital (15mi). River Hospital is 32mi from Fort Drum and I don't know if I want to commute that distance. There are also hospitals in Syracuse but Syracuse is 80mi from Fort Drum :nono:

Can anyone tell me about those hospitals? Or what is it like working as an RN in an urgent care clinic? Has anyone here worked on base at a troop clinic and if so what was it like? Even though I still have about a year before I move to NY, I have been searching for jobs online in NY and so far all I see are positions for "experienced" RNs - how can I get my experience if I will only be a new grad?

What is the pay like for RN's in NY? In Ohio the average is $25-$26/hr.

Finally, is there a critical care nurse residency program located somewhere in NY (since I have such a fascination with critical care)?

Thanks everyone!