Nursing in Austin

[selby08]

I am a nurse with three years experience (most in pediatric med-surg, some in pediatric oncology). My husband will likely be attending grad school at UT Austin starting next year and I was wondering about the job prospects and salaries in Austin. I have looked into Dell Children's but other than that know pretty much nothing about hospitals or nursing/salaries in Austin.

How is it finding a job? Do you work mostly 12 hour shifts or eight hours? What could I expect to make? Anyone know anything about working at Dell Children's?

For a little background- I have a BSN as well as my CPN (Pediatric certification). We are currently located in Orange County, CA.

I am also thinking about going back to school- any information on graduate programs in Austin?

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

For experienced nurses, I think the prospects are good. I know Seton and St. David's have new grad residency programs and I have heard great things about both. I have heard that Austin pays less than other cities, though :/ I don't know how true that is because I do not live in Austin, so maybe someone else can verify that. If you or your husband is interested in critical care, the Austin area only looks for experienced nurses with a critical care background, unless you happen to get into a critical care internship as a new grad. One of my coworkers came from Austin for that reason (wanted to do critical care but can't because he didn't have the experience).