Possibly moving to NJ. Question on SALARIES

MikeyBSN · May 29, 2006

i currently reside in nevada i work in general IMC and i currently make about $31 and hour. (5 yr experience, night shift)
i don't really care for nv (no family) and i have family in the east coast and i have a friend in sicklerville,nj.
i was wondering how much i'm looking at in pay. i also would like to know how it's like to work in nj, patient to nurse ratio, are there 12 hour shifts, how much do we pay the union?
I'm a single mother of 3, and i'm sure the cost of living in las vegas is different then a city in Jersey.....so what's the cost of living?? I'm currently selling my 1600sqft house for about 299k and i think i might be able to aford a 400k house in jersey. Where should I live?
PLEASE GET BACK TO ME SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D

Hi, I am a NJ native and I currently work in an ER here. My base pay is 31/hr right out of school, which is on the higher side here for new grads. A new grad makes between 26-32 here, I'm not sure about experience. The good thing is there are a lot of jobs in the area and oppertunity of per deim work. The cost of living in NJ is astranomical, so be prepared. I'm glad you have 400 for a house because you're going to need every cent of it. As for location, I'm partial to North East Jersey myself. The further north and east you go the more expensive it is to live, but we have higher salaries. Good luck.

NJNursing, ASN, RN · Jun 5, 2006

I'm a new grad and I'll be maing $29 an hour. Not sure what the seasoned nurses start at. I live in central jersey - the REAL central jersey. Down in burlington county. I'm an hour to NYC, half hour to Philly. Housing down here is still relatively reasonable and to commute to a metro area is also reasonable. If you're looking for a big, gianormous home then you're going to pay upwards of $300,000. I live in a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom townhouse that is about 1,700 sq feet and a house across from me is for sale for $189,000 and the taxes are only about $3200 a year. It's small town, but it's still close enough to the city. There's new McMansions being built in town that start at 2700 sq ft and they're also starting about $350,000 and god knows how much the taxes will be. If you go up north (which I don't recommend) it's more people per square mile, hustle, bustle, a poop load of traffic and emissions, overcrowding and inflated prices. So really, it's just a matter of preference.

Our nurse/patient ratios are 1:6 except in ICU which is 1:2 or 3. Yes, there's 12 hour shifts. Many hospitals are doing away with the 8's. Sickerville is a nice place to live. It's down further in south jersey than where I live, but it's not too far away from Philly (if you're looking for a metro hospital) or Camden or other local hospitals. NJ most certainly does NOT have a shortage of hospitals. From where I live there are at least 12-15 hospitals within a half hour drive from me.