Moving to Oahu

[sweetdreamerRN]

Hi I am a telemetry step down nurse with one year experience. I am in the process of getting my HI RN license. I have a RN, BSN. My family and I are planning on moving to (around) Honolulu in April. How tough is the job market there for RNs with experience? I have a few things that could help me stand out and am able to use a cardio-thoracic surgeon as a reference due to being on his "heart team". It's a crazy idea, us moving to Hawaii, but I want so much for this to work out for us. Can anyone give me some hope? Do they discriminate against mainland applicants? That is one thing I'm worried about. I live in Kansas, so when they see that address on my resume they will probably laugh!

[Keseratops]

One suggestion I would give is to go through a travel agency. They pay for your license and airfare, then you can just stay there anyway. You would be able to make connections, and explore what hospitals you may want to work at. You have that golden 1 year of experience, so I would hope it would be easier for you. Best of luck!

[oahufish]

As all the previous folks have stated on the HI Board the job market is not great here. If your husband has a great job...meaning $100k yr+ or you have close family connections then maybe consider a move here. Unless you have multiple years experience in a specialized area like ICU, OR, Cath Lab it's going to be very hard finding a job that pays well enough to enjoy life here.

If you have children you'll have to pay for daycare which is very expensive or put them in a school system which is rated one of the worst in the Nation. I would not recommend moving here with school age children unless you have family already here as a support system or are in the Military and living on base or post where you have the support of other families in the same situation.

You might want to get more experience in your home area or a larger city in your region, then if after your children are out of High School and you still have the desire to move here see about getting a Travel position.

I've been here 20+ years, and can't complain about the weather or job at my local hospital, both are great. I'll also tell you that here are many many challenges to living out here so far away from family support. It's an expensive trip back to the Midwest to see family and friends and the culture here is so very different. In the years I've been here I've seen 100's of friends come and go...and the majority end up going back after 3 years!!!