NY-Presbyterian RNs here?

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 10, 2015

My last travel assignment was at Columbia, was there for 6 months and stayed with family 3 subway stops north of the hospital. Housing is fairly reasonable for Manhattan north of the facility. A 1BR can run you about $1500 avg. Check out the northern part of Washington Heights and the Inwood neighborhoods for great options and an excellent commute. Anywhere close to Fort Tryon Park seem to be great locations and there are TONS of residents there with dogs and cats, so finding housing with your pets should not be an issue.

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nycmaybe · May 10, 2015

Thanks so much. I had been eyeing those areas, along with Fort Lee and Edgewater (realizing this would be a completely different world there) - I guess in my head I had been thinking I could line up a broker/agent to take me to look at a few places while I was there to really get a sense of what these places are like in person. It is also good to know that it isn't a total lost cause looking for housing with pets - it strikes me that everyone seems to be wanting to live in Brooklyn these days so I have picked a good time. :)

Speaking of picking a good time - having been there on a travel assignment and having housing covered with family - you live a charmed life! I take it since you were there for 6 months you liked the hospital?

Thanks again!!!

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 10, 2015

The hospital is pretty good I'd say. The doctors are well-trained and respect nurses, that I can say with confidence. My particular unit was decent and I was happy to extend my contract for another 3 months. The bonus of course was spending time living with family I hardly get to see otherwise. There are some units there that are particularly horrible to work in, specifically the general medicine units which consistently have higher than normal patient-nurse ratios. I floated to these a couple of times and did not like the environments. But if you're in a specialty like cardiac like I was or perhaps critical care, it's better care I thought. Some of their equipment is surprisingly outdated but I think they are making an effort to upgrade slowly. The pay is pretty good for nurses so that's a plus. I was born at that hospital so I thought it was a privilege to start my travel career there.

Getting a realtor is definitely a good idea if you are unfamiliar with the areas surrounding the hospital but if you are up for it you'll do quite well finding apartments on your own too.

nycmaybe · May 10, 2015

What a great experience - starting your travel where you started in the world. I love it!

I appreciate your perspective on the place. I realize no hospital is perfect and no hospital has 100% perfect departments. I have definitely specialized, so all is good there.

And it is good to know that with some time and effort I probably could get some housing together on my own - thankfully I'm not looking farther south in the really desirable areas.

Thanks again!

MurseJJ · May 10, 2015

I'm wondering, do you think $1500 is doable on Columbia's salary? I'm a student that works there as an NA, and of course hope to stay on as an RN next year, so I'm just wondering about that.

Thanks for the info.

nycmaybe · May 10, 2015

I do, but then again I am not a new grad. I actually was pleasantly surprised to not be seeing 1 BRs at 3k. That said, I know from what looking I've done that the general requirement is for an annual income (gross, I'd assume, not net) of 40x the monthly rent, so $1500/mo. would 60k/year...which I would consider to be low for a city like NYC. But that's just me...

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 10, 2015

Yes, I think it's doable @ $1500. You won't be able to live a life of luxury but you can be comfortable if you are smart with your budgeting. Lots of people that didn't grow up in NYC think the cost of living is outrageous but if you manage your money well it's quite doable. This is coming from someone who was born and raised in NYC.

Your best bet also is to not have a car if you can help it. That can add a lot of cost and frustration, particularly with the headache of alternate side of the street parking. The subway system is not perfect but it serves its purpose. If you can live within 2 miles of the hospital, that would be great. I was working there several months ago when a huge blizzard shut down the subway and I just walked it home after work (1.5 miles). It was a little bit of a pain but it was better than sleeping at the hospital which was offered and from what I heard definitely not optimal if you were going to work 12 hours when you woke up, if you actually got sleep. Subway service was resumed when I woke up so no problem getting back to work.

I noticed some nurses were opposed to living near the hospital because they sensed it was dangerous and inconvenient to their social life needs. I disagree. Take a walk around the neighborhoods north of the hospital (west of Broadway specifically) all the way up to the northern tip of the island and you'll find quite livable places. In fact, I loved having Fort Tryon Park in my backyard, it's the next best thing to Central Park being nearby.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 10, 2015

BTW, my nurse manager did tell me before I left that if I ever wanted a staff position later on to give her a call. Not sure yet if I would as I still want to travel for at least another year, bit nice to have that backup plan.

nycmaybe · May 10, 2015

Definitely nice to have that as a backup plan, not to mention a good resource to use if you should ever end up needing another reference (though I would suspect you have no problem with getting good references).

I have read my fair share of concern about areas by the hospital, but I also know that I need to see these areas for myself. There always is the uniqueness of someone's upbringing and/or comfort level creating their perspective on general neighborhood safety, not to mention the fact that areas change! For example - the Whole Foods that is being built in Harlem.

I know personally I wouldn't want to live right by the hospital just because it would always remind me of work, but outside of that I would like to think I'm open.

And perhaps I misunderstood the question about $1500/mo in rent - is that considered to be on the high side for someone working as an RN at NYP? I thought I had done a decent amount of research on RN pay there and thought it was a given that RNs make more than 60k/year. Am I misguided?

Lastly, I'm pro public transportation. I'd love to not have a car, even outside of the extra cost of it, it really is just a hassle.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · May 10, 2015

NYP nurses definitely make much more than that. They make at least $80k/year and I think that estimate is conservative. Even one extra shift a month in overtime will yield you about $9k more a year! NYP nurses are well paid, no question about that.

nycmaybe · May 10, 2015

Good to know - that is what I had uncovered in my research but was then thrown off about the question of getting by on a $1500/mo apartment since I have experience making that much money and paying that much (if not more) for a place and not really feeling the pinch.