Real Life in NYC

U.S.A. New York

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I have some questions for all the NYC nurses out there, as I wish to relocate there someday (i.e., approx 2 years or so):

1. Do you love living in NYC? Why or why not?

2. Any hospitals there with magnet status?

3. Which hospitals there have the best reputations (in terms of quality of care, treatment of nurses and staff)?

4. What's your average annual salary and is it enough to live on in expensive NYC? I'm single, young, no kids, so trying to support a family would not be an issue for me.

5. Oh and I guess while I'm at it, to any of the single NYC RNs out there, how is the dating scene in the City?

6. Is travel nursing the best way to get to NYC, in the first place?

PS- The reason that I'm waiting approx 2 years to relocate is because I am a recent grad (Spring '05) and feel like I need to chalk up some more experience. I'm currently an RN in Oregon, working med-surg/tele at a major teaching hospital.

Thanks!!!!!! Your inputs will be greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't wait for travel nursing, esp since you already know people there. YOu're still in school and then after school, you'd have to work AT LEAST 2 yrs before a travel agency would take you on. Seriously, I keep hearing that over and over. The good reputable agencies require AT least 2 yrs RN experience before they will take you on. Just thinking to think about.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
However, she told me to stay away from a couple hospitals.. can't remember the names now, except that they both started with Bs... Beth Israel? and Bellevue.

BI on the lower East side (there are several divisions of BI in that area), some travelers have difficulty with. There are some great things and great people there, but the management and structure is terrible. Imagine having to bring your own paper (for copies) and toilet paper (BRs run out on the weekend and it takes several phone calls and practically an act of congress to get one stinking roll from the lockup) to work. Paper MARs that are handwritten and are used for a week, before being rewritten. Imagine a tube system that neither goes to the pharmacy or the lab (WHAT GOOD IS IT!!!!), and people keeping tubes in the refrigerator because it is the only way that they won't get swiped and that you can have one in an emergency. I think I actually counted five THE ENTIRE 13 WEEKS THAT I WAS THERE. That is about one every 2-3 weeks.

My favorite was the rule that Blood Cultures be drawn and ABX started on a neutropenic fever patient within 1 hour. It is a great rule but difficult if not impossible in this facility. You receive the patient, get them settled, have to draw and send the labs (no phlebotomist), start the IV ( no IV team), admit the patient, get the allergies to pharmacy, the orders to pharmacy (no tube system for either of these on the floor that I was on). Some units have a fax but it requires a security code that only"special" people have access to...and they are rarely working. Then you have to leave the floor, to go to the pharmacy and wait in a line of other nurses for your ABX. Then pharmacy tells you that the ABX needs ID approval, so you have to go back upstairs, hunt down the MD/intern, get the order changed or ID approval, and then you go back downstairs, just to wait in line AGAIN. And you still have 5-8 other patients receiving blood, chemo, etc. while you are enduring this garbage.

The ancillary personnel frequently were lazy, did shoddy work. There were some great ones but there were some that I would not have wished on my worst enemy. I had one that literally had a cell phone bead in her ear while doing vitals and care...for 90 straight minutes. And the manager did nothing about it.

During the winter, there is frequent mandated OT (not required of travelers but helped out anyway). They would literally call the unit 15 minutes before shift ended, to mandate you stay 8 more hours.

You get the idea. This and many other chores were made incredibly difficult.

While I am sure that there were better units in the facility, I heard many of these same complaints from other travelers on other units.

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you would know me!! lol...well sorta! Part of me wants to go before my fiencee finishes his degree...he could be here for a few more years and im so tired of living in ohio! Thats why I was thinking of travel nursing where I could do a shorter assignments while he was still in ohio. We will see!

hey you'd know me too...i'll be there in august.:rolleyes:

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Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.
I wouldn't wait for travel nursing, esp since you already know people there. YOu're still in school and then after school, you'd have to work AT LEAST 2 yrs before a travel agency would take you on. Seriously, I keep hearing that over and over. The good reputable agencies require AT least 2 yrs RN experience before they will take you on. Just thinking to think about.

Very true! But I cant move until my fiencee is done with school. The only school in our state that offers his major is OSU. He'll be atleast 2 years before he graduates, so two more years on good ol Ohio. Although after a year or so I may just go and he can come when hes finished!:)

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Specializes in NICU.

'Kay, I'm young, single, and in nrsg school in NYC. My take is this: NY Hosp (Cornell) seems to be the best I've seen in clinicals so far, but there are obviously a lot of places I haven't been. I'm paying 1400 for a sizable 1BR in Washington Heights (181st st). It's kind of lonely here if you're not naturally an outgoing person. It's easy to get lost in the crowd. And I'm sure nursing school is unique in that it has the male/female ratio of a frickin convent, but trying to date here is...not so fun.

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Goodness, you guys make me wish I was younger and could afford to move back to the city. I miss it so much. The teaching hospitals are beyond any I've worked at here in Florida. The night life is beyond anything, filled with fun and so many different things to do. Don't miss the Chinese New Year or the celebration in Little Italy, or any of the other special events, which you can find out about in the New Yorker Magazine. And you have your pick of museums and the world famous Bronx Zoo. I really miss the Big Apple. Enjoy

Grannynurse:balloons:

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Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.

I want to move to NYC so bad I wanna burst!!! I dont know if I can wait 2 yrs for my fiencee to be done with school! Am I crazy to think I could move there and do a long distance with him???????? I am not really interested in dating anyone else but him and i am secure enough in our relationship that the distance wouldnt bother me...and i completely trust him. All my friends are in NYC and its always been a dream of mine! What do you guys think????

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Elizabells,

I'm with you on the dating scene, sister! I'm a native new yorker but left came back, left and came back (since april) and well lost a lot of friends with so much moving. Most of the nurses I work with are a lot older and so hanging out after work and hitting the bars is not a possibility. But I guess that's a different part of what I wanted to say. I'm 29 cute and relatively outgoing. I don't have a problem getting dates anywhere else, I have that Pocahantas-exotic look going for me, but in NYC it's a definitely different story. There are way too many good looking model types here. I'm usually pretty outgoing but like you said here if I feel lost in the crowd. And the male to female ratio is outrageous, the odds are statistically against us.

I think we should start our own forum for young single nurses in NYC. We could talk about being the youngest on your unit and having fellow nurses "mother" us. Swap tips on hitting on incoming residents in July. Just think of the possibilities!:clown:

P/S

You pay for 1400 for a one bdr in Washinton Heights???!!! I live in Astoria and pay the same for a 2bdr with a tiny den and it's in 2family house in a nice neighborhood. I lived in the Heights this summer and hated it, 176st. It was in a big pre-war building meaning I had upstairs neighbors that thought they could get closer to Jesus by doing carpentry at 2am. At least you don't have to deal with a roommate and that might be enough right there!

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I want to move to NYC so bad I wanna burst!!! I dont know if I can wait 2 yrs for my fiencee to be done with school! Am I crazy to think I could move there and do a long distance with him???????? I am not really interested in dating anyone else but him and i am secure enough in our relationship that the distance wouldnt bother me...and i completely trust him. All my friends are in NYC and its always been a dream of mine! What do you guys think????

I'd say do it! Well at least after you finish the program. Once you do apply for a NY license instead of an Ohio one. Especially if you have friends here. They can help you or you can room with some one until you start getting paid. Oh and the long distance thing don't worry about it. Like I mentioned in the above post - single women in NYC have it statistically against them when it comes to dating. Makes for great eye candy without much risk. Are your friends also nurses? It's great to have nurse-friends near you your first year. I'm actually thinking of leaving and going back upstate, that's where all my friends are, but encourage anyone and everyone to come and give NYC a try. I lived all over and nothing compares to this city. All an added plus most of the hospitals here have unions for their nurses. I'm currently a traveler so don't belong anymore but boy do I miss it. I was with NYSNA and the benefits kicked in after the first of the month. None of the 30-60days waiting crap like at some other places.

Anyway good look with your studies and your decision!

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Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.
I'd say do it! Well at least after you finish the program. Once you do apply for a NY license instead of an Ohio one. Especially if you have friends here. They can help you or you can room with some one until you start getting paid. Oh and the long distance thing don't worry about it. Like I mentioned in the above post - single women in NYC have it statistically against them when it comes to dating. Makes for great eye candy without much risk. Are your friends also nurses? It's great to have nurse-friends near you your first year. I'm actually thinking of leaving and going back upstate, that's where all my friends are, but encourage anyone and everyone to come and give NYC a try. I lived all over and nothing compares to this city. All an added plus most of the hospitals here have unions for their nurses. I'm currently a traveler so don't belong anymore but boy do I miss it. I was with NYSNA and the benefits kicked in after the first of the month. None of the 30-60days waiting crap like at some other places.

Anyway good look with your studies and your decision!

Thanks!! none of my friends are nurses. im not sure how I went to ohio state and happened to make friends with all the girls who were from NY! So now all my friends are living in the city and im still stuck here in Ohio...which isnt so bad but ive lived here my entire life and im ready for a change!

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I had a long distance relationship for 1 year. I think it really depends on the people...it worked out for us (we had been together for 3 years prior so that helped.) There were definitely hard/sad times, but I had friends there to support me and I don't think I would have made it without them. So anyway, you really have to decide how strong your relationship is and what comes first. Good luck!

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Elizabells,

I'm with you on the dating scene, sister! I'm a native new yorker but left came back, left and came back (since april) and well lost a lot of friends with so much moving. Most of the nurses I work with are a lot older and so hanging out after work and hitting the bars is not a possibility. But I guess that's a different part of what I wanted to say. I'm 29 cute and relatively outgoing. I don't have a problem getting dates anywhere else, I have that Pocahantas-exotic look going for me, but in NYC it's a definitely different story. There are way too many good looking model types here. I'm usually pretty outgoing but like you said here if I feel lost in the crowd. And the male to female ratio is outrageous, the odds are statistically against us.

I think we should start our own forum for young single nurses in NYC. We could talk about being the youngest on your unit and having fellow nurses "mother" us. Swap tips on hitting on incoming residents in July. Just think of the possibilities!:clown:

P/S

You pay for 1400 for a one bdr in Washinton Heights???!!! I live in Astoria and pay the same for a 2bdr with a tiny den and it's in 2family house in a nice neighborhood. I lived in the Heights this summer and hated it, 176st. It was in a big pre-war building meaning I had upstairs neighbors that thought they could get closer to Jesus by doing carpentry at 2am. At least you don't have to deal with a roommate and that might be enough right there!

Yikes. Well, I am living in OR and don't like the dating scene here either. The men here are pretty passive. Portland, surprisingly, is one of the worst cities for singles. I heard that a couple times, once on the news and then another time on some forum or magazine survey (something like that). I'm sorry to hear that it's so hard in NYC. I was hoping for the opposite! So is it hard just to meet men in NY or to sustain a relationship? It seems like meeting men is the easy part. Sustaining an actual relationship is tough. UGH.

So are you glad to be back in NYC? I totally LOVE your idea about the single young nurses forum. I am 31, a new grad nurse since last summer, and working in the float pool. I actually dated a doctor for a short while and after the breakup, it was really awkward. He attended, so he was on my old floor every other month. UGH. Don't think I'd want to hit up on that again. I'm planning on going to NYC this March (with a possible move in the Fall) and am interested in all opinion of life in NYC, including the dating scene! Anyway, I'm just blabbing now...

Good luck!!!

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