Looking to move to Portland from Cleveland Ohio.

[neurogirl77]

Hello! I live and Work in Cleveland Ohio right now and I am looking to relocate to Portland. I am an RN with 14 years experience. Wondering what are the best hospital systems to work for and what an average starting pay would be out there. I'm hoping to not have a problem finding a job considering I have been working at the Cleveland Clinic which is the 2nd best hospital in the country. Thought that might look good on my resume. What do you all think?

[Cvepo]

You will be fine with getting a job with that much experience. I had 3 years at a no name place in Buffalo, NY and had no issues getting a job. The big systems are OHSU, Providence, Legacy, and Kaiser. They all seem to do pretty well in relation to each other. OHSU is your large teaching hospital, so if that's what you're into, good. I am going to be working at OHSU this August.

With regards to pay, my OHSU job paid me for the 3 years experience I came in with. So I started at a Step 4 on the pay scale. With 14 years, you're looking at a decent salary. If you really, really want the specifics, the Oregon Nurses Association website has some of the union contracts posted as pdfs and you can find the pay scale in those.