Nursing in the South East.

westieluv · Jun 2, 2011

Gosh, it's funny how different one's experience can be when they live in roughly the same part of the country!

I am an RN who lives 20 min. outside of Ann Arbor. Hourly wages in this area are some of the highest in the country, and there are so many quaint, incredibly safe, small towns with excellent school systems around here (Saline, Chelsea, Dexter, Brighton...just to name a few) that I can't even imagine where you're coming from. I am in the process of leaving a job in Ann Arbor for a job in Monroe that pays $34/hr. base with an almost $2 shift differential. I doubt that I could ever match that in the Southeast, and I don't even have to deal with 6-7 months of sweltering heat, bugs, and humidity. We thought for a short while last year that we were possibly going to have to relocate to the Atlanta area for my dh's job, and when I researched nursing jobs in that area, wages as a rule were much lower than here. There are also tons of people trying to relocate to the Southeast from extremely expensive places like NY and New Jersey because of the lower COL, so the market for RNs is kind of glutted there right now. Ditto the Southwest. We did have to relocate to Phoenix a couple of years ago temporarily for my dh's job, and talk about no nursing jobs! All of the hospitals were on hiring freezes and the place was overrun with people who had moved there for the weather and just assumed that there would be plenty of jobs to go around.

I realize it's probably a moot point, since people who post things like this have already made up their mind that they just HAVE to get out of Michigan, but have you considered any areas closer to Ann Arbor and farther from Detroit? Maybe take a drive through some of the outlying communities in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties? IDK, I just can't imagine trying to find better opportunities in nursing when you have so many great hospital systems and family friendly towns right here. The economy here is starting to make a comeback, and if there is one field that has been the least affected by the economy over the past couple of years, it would have to be nursing. Besides, the economy isn't necessarily better in the Southeast. There are a lot of relocation forums on the web that will attest to that.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :)

WendiRN80 · Jun 3, 2011

Sounds like you have had a good experience here in Michigan. Being born and raised here, I have just about had it. I don't know if you have been following the cuts the government is making to the school system (state wide), but things are getting cut in about every direction. Not to mention the seasonal depression seems to get worse and worse every year that goes by (maybe that 7 months of Winter has something to do with it). I just want good schools and nice weather. And I live 15 minutes from Flint, the city ranked #1 in crime currently and the city that has already beat its homicide record for the year. I don't know what the right answer is, I just know I am beyond fed up.

That being said, I make GREAT money here, we are able to provide very well for our children and have fairly nice things. I just wanted to go somewhere where I would make similar and have all the things I have desired for my family and environment. I just received a recruitment card from Beaumont today, but I just do not think that is going to cut it for me. Maybe I don't appreciate what I have here.

I am debating about looking into travel nursing assignments. There are some companies that find you permanent assignments and they still pay well. I found a hospital today in South Carolina that pays up to $40 an hour for floats. Not the most desirable position, but worth the money and atmosphere.

We were supposed to be going to Virginia in two weeks. The hospital was paying for our airfare, hotel for 3 nights, and rental car just for us to come interview. If we accepted the job, they would pay $6,000 for relocation. They even have a program where if you used their university and signed a two year commitment, you got your Masters degree tuition free. All those incentives were awesome. Then I found out they pay $22 an hour. I actually am heartbroken, as I have had my heart set on Virginia for about 10 years, and this seemed like an excellent chance for us.

westieluv · Jun 3, 2011

I know, and I can understand where you're coming from on a lot of this, because I'm no fan of winters in Michigan either. Gosh, I can't even imagine having seven months of it, here in the Ann Arbor area we only get about four months of true winter. However, I guess because I have seen life from the other side, so to speak, when we lived in Arizona, a supposedly "desirable" state, it made me appreciate Michigan so very much. We lived in a place with almost constant sunshine, palm trees, and swimming pools, and yet...IDK, I guess you would have to experience it for yourself. What I found out rather quickly was that things that I took for granted, like living near family, having four distinct seasons, low COL, and friendly, down to earth people, more than trumped the warmer weather and other things that people from Michigan dream about.

I do hope that you find something that pays well down South. I know I could never work for $22/hr. at this point in my career either, but that seems to be par for the course across much of the Southeast, just as wages for other careers tend to be lower there too. There was recently a discussion on another forum here on AN in which people from around the country were comparing hourly wages, and I was appalled at what RNs in Florida make. In some places, it's only $18-20/hr.!!! And apparently when the snowbirds leave, the hospital census drops, and the nurses get called off more often than not. This was also something that I saw happening in Phoenix. It's amazing the difference that a couple of thousand elderly people coming to your town for the winter months makes in hospital census figures and how dead things get when they leave.

Well, good luck with whatever you decide to do. Virginia is a nice state, I don't blame you for wanting to move there. Maybe you could check some of the larger cities around the South, like Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, and Dallas/Ft. Worth and see what wages look like there. I had heard about Michigan cutting funding to public schools to try to get a handle on spending, but other states are doing the exact same thing. There is a really helpful relocation forum, City-Data.com, where you can go to ask these types of questions about various places. I have been following a lot of the discussions over there on public education, teacher jobs, etc. and it seems that most states are in the same boat as Michigan with teachers getting laid off and funding being cut to public schools because of this horrible economy that has affected the entire country. South Carolina is one state that seems to be particularly hard hit and has traditionally low rated public schools. Not that you're interested in the Southwest, but Arizona is also in a pickle and has low rated public education. You just have to ask a lot of questions and really do your homework, so to speak.

Again, good luck. Michigan wages will probably be pretty hard to beat.

WendiRN80 · Jun 3, 2011

Thanks a ton for the information. My friend moved to Arizona with her husband (who is a doc) and told me the school systems there were the worst in the country. It's not that I think our schools are horrible, its that the morale and environment stinks. With the cuts coming, the teachers will not be happy, and will care less about our childrens future. I can't even tell you how much this whole thing has burdened me. I wonder if our wages are so much better here because this state is not desirable by most or if it has something to do with so much union in this state. Either way, it sure is looking like it will be hard to make this wage elsewhere. Which really sucks since, as most, we pretty much spend what we make.