Olympia

I live nearby and will be graduating soon as well although from another state. Nursing schools in WA are so difficult to get into. So the area is very nice. The cost of living will be more than what you are use to. There is Lacey which is nearby and includes a great deal of military members from Ft. lewis. It is a diverse area and has an average crime stat. The area around Evergreen state college I like and again is diverse. An average home to buy will go for around 250, 000 to get a decent one that requires no fix up right away. You can buy less expensive homes but you will want to fix them up. Yelm is a good area and prices are going up. Dupont is great too. People are moving out to McCleary about 25 mins away from Oly not a bad drive little traffic and you can buy a brand new home for alot of monies. Capital Medical center is a uinion hospital that has seen its share of nurse issues in the past. Some units are better than others. Look for longevity, but not too long. St Petes is a bigger hospital so more choices. Tacoma is not that far away you can commute 30 mins and find several hospitals depending on where you live (Yelm). Hope this helps.

Here are 2 of the larger RN employeers in Olympia, WA.

I have lived here for 3 years and enjoy it - there is a wide variance on the feel / type of town within olympia. I live in Tumwater - a smaller older location which is adjacent to Olympia. The yelm and dupont area is just outside of Fort Lewis (army) and McChord (air force). Therefore if you wanted to look at working at a federal capacity at Madigan (MAMC) hospital that is an option. Also about 20min from Olympia is the Veterans Affairs hospital (american lake VA) and that is another fine federal job.

....I'm looking to sell my home - keep me in mind! lol

Capital Medical Center

St Peter Jobs

St. Peter Hospital does not use CNA's -- it is all primary nursing and the nurse-to-patient ratio can be overwhelming on some floors. Morale is terrible. There are many nurses who live in the Olympia area and commute to Tacoma hospitals. Check out Franciscan Healthcare, particularly St. Joseph Medical Center or if you like a smaller hospital (and less of a commute), check out St. Claire Hospital in Lakewood. Muticare is also in Tacoma and as someone already mentioned, there is Madigan in the Fort Lewis area.

St. Peter Hospital does not use CNA's -- it is all primary nursing and the nurse-to-patient ratio can be overwhelming on some floors. Morale is terrible. There are many nurses who live in the Olympia area and commute to Tacoma hospitals. Check out Franciscan Healthcare, particularly St. Joseph Medical Center or if you like a smaller hospital (and less of a commute), check out St. Claire Hospital in Lakewood. Muticare is also in Tacoma and as someone already mentioned, there is Madigan in the Fort Lewis area.

I am trying to get Washington State nurses interested in dumping WSNA and SEIU as their unions, and bringing in the NNOC from the California Nurses Association.

As I have written previously, WSNA is worthless, and SEIU is a recket. Neither has gotten nurses in Washington State anything, in terms of better pay, staffing ratios, benefits, etc. You get the picture. Why are we wasting our time with these worthless organizations, when there are better unions out there? Is everyone afraid to vote in a union that will actually be pro active and militant to accomplish needed changes?

Anyone who is interested, PM me and lets talk about it. I live in Spokane, but I am in the reserves at McChord AFB in Tacoma and drive over once a month. We could get together when I am there for the weekend, and I could always arrange to either come a day early, or stay until Monday, to get together.

Let rock Washington!!

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington