MOVING to Seattle from NOR CA, NEED HELP

patwil73 · Jul 1, 2009

Hello everyone,
I just got my license in CA as a LVN, and I am pursing my RN. My husband lost his job due to the economy and we are talking about relocating to washington. I have a FEW questions- please any help will be sooo great!
1) Are there jobs for LVN's in seattle?
2) How do I transfer my license?
3) Are there alot of nursing programs in the seattle area for LVN to RN and are they competitive? Are there any online ways of doing this there also?
4) How much do LVN's make in wa?
5)Where are nice areas to live- close to schools, and hospitals in seattle area?
6) Do you enjoy seattle?
Im just really concerned about getting my RN, and continuing my nursing degree- im really sad to leave cali because all of my family is here-but theres just no jobs and everyone is laying off, this is so scary. Is seattles economy doing ok?
Thank you again everyone! :heartbeat

Hello, I'll try to answer as many as I can.

1) Yes, but they are usually LTC or office work. Most hospitals around here are almost all RN.

2) Contact http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/Nursing/forms.htm and see what they say. Your state might have reciprocity (meaning your license will transfer to washington with only a small fee)

3) Yes, lots of community colleges in the area. Some online learning process. Some hospitals also provide money for the education if you can get hired on. Very competitive in the BSN programs. Moderately to highly competitive in the ADN programs (just shop around and find their wait list)

4) Unsure maybe $15-$20+ depending on experience.

5) Seattle is expensive to live in. Most of the closely surrounding area is also expensive to live in (Bellevue, Redmond, etc). I would suggest moving to Pierce County. It is located just south of seattle and is generally less expensive to live in. The biggest city is Tacoma. From their you have St. Peters Hospital in Olympia (30 miles south), Good Sam in Puyallup (10 miles east), St Claire in Lakewood, St Joseph in Tacoma, Tacoma General, Allenmore, Auburn, Valley, St Francis, Swedish (first hill, cherry, and ballard), Madigan, the VA, Highline, Harborview, Virginia all within 30 minutes or so from Tacoma. Of course there are a whole load of LTC facilities to choose from also.

5a) Puyallup generally is rated as having good schools and a lot of new suburbs on the south end.

6) Yes. The area is very pretty, people are generally nice, a lot to do both indoors and out. It is a pretty good place to live.

Hope this helps

Pat