Relocating to Nevada?

Hi there I'm a labour & delivery nurse from Ontario Canada, and was thinking of relocating my family to Nevada and just had a couple of questions....

1. What can I expect in terms of pay? I have 5 years experience in a level 3 labour & delivery unit.

2. What's the cost of living like in Nevada. Here in Ontario we pay 15% tax on anything we buy and housing starts in the $300 000 to buy.

3. What is nurse/patient ratio? Does anyone work in L&D so that I can get an idea of the work enviroment from you?

4. Should I contact a hospital directly or go through a agency?

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give.

You didn't specify what part of the state you were moving to. I live in Las Vegas, so I can give you a general idea.

1. Depending upon the hospital, I am betting you would start out between $23 - $26 an hour.

2. Las Vegas is becoming increasingly expensive to live in. You can find a decent home in a decent area for $300,000. We have no state income tax, only federal. The sales tax is 7.75%, but that only applies to non-food items. Food is sales tax free.

3. Nurse - patient ratios are pretty horriffic in the Las Vegas area. It depends upon the department, but we are one of the worst states in the U.S. for nurse-patient ratios. I am not sure on L&D, but on some of the floors, they are dealing with 1:9 ratios.

4. You should have no problem getting a job by contacting a hospital directly. I will list off the major hospitals here in the Las Vegas area.

-- University Medical Center (our only county hospital) - http://www.umcsn.com

-- Sunrise Hospital - http://www.sunrisehospital.com

-- St. Rose Hospital - http://www.strosecares.org

-- Valley Hospital - http://www.valleyhospital.net

...

Good luck with your search!