North GA jobs/pay questions (not a new grad)

[AprilRNurse]

I'm looking into the possiblity of relocating back to north GA. I grew up there but moved 8 years ago. Can anyone give me any information about rural hospitals in North GA? Are any of them good? I know rural hospitals sometimes get a bad reputation, but I'm looking for nurses opinions on where would be a good place to get my foot in the door.

Also, I'm comming from MN- so I know it'll be a paycut- but I'm curious about what to expect. MN is union, so I don't have any experience in negotiating, and I don't want to sell myself short and accept whatever is offered. Is negotiating pay still acceptable in this economy- and what is reasonable for a RN with 3 years experience in medsurg and CCU? (I floated between units) I'm also working part time in home health with a peds pt with long term trach/vent/feeding tube.

I never really thought about negotiating, until a coworker asked me what I was making in the home health position, and was shocked when I told her. She said I should have negotiated, that I was worth alot more.

Any insight would be helpful!

[AprilRNurse]

Anyone??

[Mandylpn]

I was going to reply but noted you are an RN and I am an LPN, the salary difference will be vast. You are right to expect the pay difference between "north and south", I was shocked myself. I'm not sure if the pay is greatly lower here for RN's or not. But I recently worked in LTC here and was making $5.00 less per hour than my previous position up north. I wish you luck. RN's have a better leverage on jobs here, JMHO.