Possibly relocating to Spokane, advice about where to apply

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I am a new grad, scheduled to take my NCLEX August 28th, and possibly move the Spokane area shortly thereafter. I previously lived in Spokane, so I know the area some, but I am seeking advice as to what hospital(s) to apply to. It seems that there are a lot of great hospitals in the area, but I am looking for some advice from those who are working in them. Send me your thoughts! I have looked at Holy Family, Shriner's, Sacred Heart, and Deaconess, am I missing any? What would you advise? Help me please!

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Funny, I am currently working in Spokane, and looking to go over to Seattle! I just graduated in May myself. There's also Valley Hospital and Lincoln if you want more west. I did my clinicals at Shriners, Valley, Holy Family and Sacred Heart. It all depends on what you want. Holy Family is of course a little smaller, while Sacred Heart gets more ED. Shriners is a great hospital for Peds. Deac and Valley just got bought out, so I'm not sure how things are going to change for them. Looking for a house over here? ;)

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Thanks for the advice! I only have applied to Sacred Heart so far, and I have two interviews, one for float, and one for the nephrology floor. I am excited for you to be moving here, I don't know if you have lived here before but it is wonderful here, aside from the days where you think the rain will never end. My goal in Spokane is to only be there for about 2 years, and then come back to where I love. We are looking to rent houses over there because of the short time we will be there we didn't think it was wise to buy, especially in this real estate market. If you need any help on anything over here, let me know! Thanks again for the advice!

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I'm looking to rent out my house actually. Possibly interested?

Yeah, I'm from the Seattle area, just came out here to go to Gonzaga's nursing school. I don't know about you, but I don't know how comfortable I would be just starting out as a float nurse. You might hear rumors that it's difficult to get a nursing job out here due to all of the nursing schools. I personally didn't have any problem at all and I don't know of anyone I went to school with having a problem either. Something to definately ask in your interview though, which no one told me about, is find out how often they have 'low census days'. I don't think Sacred Heart has many of them, but it's still worth asking. That's when you get laid off for the day due to not enough patients. I'm only working 6 days this pay period, if I'm lucky, due to that.

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If you can send me more info on the house, how much you want to rent it for etc., I will pass it along to the other half too and see what he thinks as well. Haven't picked anywhere to rent yet, so obviously keeping an open mind. We are actually moving because he got accepted to grad school at Gonzaga. I have heard rumors that it is difficult to get a job in Spokane, but applied to Sacred heart and within 4 days had two job interviews. I am very nervous about the float as well, and thought about asking questions in my interview about how new grads fair in a float position. Ideally, I would like the nephrology floor. I need to put some more apps in, but I have been busily studying for my NCLEX. Thanks for the advice about the census question, I have heard of that before, but like you, didn't think it would be a problem at Sacred Heart. Any other tips is great, especially tips with the interview too. Thanks for all your help, look forward to hearing from you.

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The house is in Reardan. Reardan is west of Spokane on Highway 2. Since you're from here, I'm sure you know traffic certainly isn't a problem. It takes me about 30-35 minutes to get to GU and about 20-25 to get to Sacred Heart. It's on I think 1/16 of an acre. It's fully fenced with a white picket fence. I think it's 1600 square feet of living space. It's a 4 bedroom, although the 2 bedrooms upstairs don't have closets. It has a wrap around front porch, gas heat, unfinished but huge basement, 2 seperate 1 car garages, 2 skylights, a hot tub, a place for a garden, a laundry room, oh, and it was built in 1909. I love my cute little house. If I hire a property management firm, I was going to charge $1100, but if done privately, I would charge probably just $950. Like all old houses, it only has 1 bathroom, but it does have a tub/shower in there.

I found GU to be a really good school. I especially was impressed with the instructors. They have a nice gym that's included in the tuition too. It better be since they charge so much!

Also, Kaplan all the way for studying for your NCLEX. I just took mine in June, and Kaplan really worked well for me. AND, if you get all of the questions, don't freak out and have a melt down like I did. I still passed. That's what matters, not how many questions you do it in.

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Alright thanks for the info. If you have pics, you could privately email them to me. I will forward all that information to the other half as well. Sounds right in our price range, and what we are looking for too. I will send you a private message on here, with my email so if you have some pics you can send them to me that way. The hitch is when would it be available, because we need something for September 1st. Chat with you soon.

If you are on myspace, I have that too, just search by my name. Sorry

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