Relocating? Any advice welcome!!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I have a very good friend in NOVA (Mclean to be exact) who is convinced that DH and I should relocate to their area. She talks about how nursing jobs are plentiful (as does her DH, he's a firefighter in NOVA and talks to nurses all the time, they talk about the shortage that exsists). I KNOW that living in NOVA is incredibly expensive so COL is a pretty big concern to us. Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect in this area? Mclean is pretty much off the map for us, LOL, but what is more reasonable in FFX?

DH is a police officer, I'm thinking HE'D need to secure his employment first and then work on mine?

I'm an ADN who is in the process of enrolling in a BSN program. Here, just being enrolled to be a BSN is a leg-up over ADN nurses, is this the case in NOVA?

I appreciate ANY thoughts, advice, help that can be provided =)

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Specializes in CTICU.

First off, what does DH and COL stand for? Lets start there first...

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DH = Dear Husband

COL = Cost of living

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!! My bad!!!

Idream was sweet enough to answer!! Thanks for that, Idream!!

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Around here, if you're an ADN with experience, you'll be fine. If you're pursuing your BSN, that will look good, but from what I've seen, it's not a requirement (many job ads will put BSN/ MSN preferred, but really, experience is more of what they're looking for). From my understanding, FFx Cty Sheriffs aren't paid too badly, but the county website would probably help more: Jobs - Fairfax County, Virginia. Personally, I don't think that RN wages around here are consistent with COL, but with 2 incomes, it's doable. Do you have kids/ are schools important? A great thing about this area is that the schools are really good (there's always an exception, but throughout the majority of the county, there are really great opportunities/ choices. We are only stationed here, so it's temporary, but in the 2 1/2 yrs we've lived in NoVA, I've realized it's a pretty nice place to live (but, again, not a place where RNs are compensated compared to similar COL areas elsewhere in the country, but that's not everything).

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

0402, thank you so much for your reply---very helpful!! Yes, we do have 2 elementary age kids and I know many schools in NOVA are very highly ranked. From the limited info I've seen, I agree, I don't think the wages are all that "great".

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
Around here if you're an ADN with experience, you'll be fine. If you're pursuing your BSN, that will look good, but from what I've seen, it's not a requirement (many job ads will put BSN/ MSN prefred, but really, .[/quote']

It might depend where you apply, buy my hospital will only hire BSN's, doesn't matter if you are a new grad or if you have experience. Other hospitals in the area value experience more however.

The COA for Fairfax County will depend where exactly you are. Obviously the closer in you live to Washington D.C. the more expensive it is. For a family of 4 I would expect to pay at least $1500/month in rent.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

ChristineN, can you share what hospital system you're with? What about being enrolled in a BSN program?

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
ChristineN can you share what hospital system you're with? What about being enrolled in a BSN program?[/quote']

I work for Georgetown Hospital in D.C. I also used to work for INOVA Fairfax they also had a BSN only policy. If you are currently in a BSN program I would talk to nurse recruitment.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

INOVA of course is the big one that I tend to see the most about, but it looked like the pay wasn't very competative?

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
INOVA of course is the big one that I tend to see the most about, but it looked like the pay wasn't very competative?

I agree their pay is not very competitive. I found that by driving into D.C. I was able to make $9/hr more. Most of the hospitals in D.C. have nurse's unions, and while the one I work at does not, I feel like the surrounding unions still help to drive up the salary some.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

what kind of commute are you talking about, ChristineN? Sorry to keep piling on the questions!!

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