Relocation Advice?!

Nurses General Nursing

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Alright so I living in south Florida, specifically Miami and I've been searching for a job for 3 years with no success. I have gone as far as to drive 4 hours north to Orlando for an interview (because they refused to do a skype/phone interview), and still did not get a job. That was for an intro level RN position. I have been working as a school nurse for 5 years taking care of a large verity of patients in mostly self managed clinics. That isn't considered "real hospital experience" So no one here will even give me a chance...

So after 3 years and hundreds of denials I've finally applied out of state I have Hospitals actually show interest but one wants an answer while I'm still interview for another. The hospital that want's an answer is a small hospital in a very small town 2 hours south of San Antonio, Tx near the border. Its a very small hospital but I would see a large verity of patients. Most critical care cases will be sent off to larger hospitals. They offered me a job and honestly sound like they really need a Nurse

Second job is in Springfield Illinois, large well established teaching hospital that just opened up a new center so there are a lot of openings. The floor I applied for has 8 openings alone.

Both are 3/12 shifts, pay around $27/ hr and are willing to pay the same sign on/relocation bonus. My issue is that Texas want's an answer soon while I still have one more interview with Illinois. I have never lived on my own and have no family in either state so that alone is terrifying. I'm torn on what to do. I could say yes to Texas but I don't want to agree to a job just to possibly say 'sorry not interested' later. So I'm really not sure what to do... If I should jump on the offer I have or wait for a job which still has a high chance of being offered.

Specializes in Dialysis.

Indiana, although called a toilet by another poster on another thread, would welcome you with open arms. I've lived and traveled all over the world (military), and love my homestate. Are we NYC or LA? No, but we have our charms as well. And our state budget isn't in the shape of some others. Try some Indy hospitals

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Specializes in psych.

If you are going to do a big relocation, I suggest you not settle. You might as well settle for something lesser in your own area. That is a a small hospital in an area with questionable safety. It's not worth it. It also sounds like that job would be stressful and not give as much support as you will probably need due to you not having acute experience. If you relocate to another state, you might as well go to a safe, plain one. I've done some researching myself due to being in similar situation to yours, and some states people have suggested are Alabama, the Dakotas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana, Louisiana, and Illinois. I am also relocating soon with my own state from one end of the state to the other side.

I'm surprised that you said the Illinois hospital flies in people and pays for everything. I invested nearly $500 getting to my interview, luckily I got the job!

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Indiana, although called a toilet by another poster on another thread, would welcome you with open arms. I've lived and traveled all over the world (military), and love my homestate. Are we NYC or LA? No, but we have our charms as well. And our state budget isn't in the shape of some others. Try some Indy hospitals

I will keep that in mind while looking, thank you! I thing I did apply to one hospital in Indy, I'll keep looking to more opportunities though.

If you are going to do a big relocation, I suggest you not settle. You might as well settle for something lesser in your own area. That is a a small hospital in an area with questionable safety. It's not worth it. It also sounds like that job would be stressful and not give as much support as you will probably need due to you not having acute experience. If you relocate to another state, you might as well go to a safe, plain one. I've done some researching myself due to being in similar situation to yours, and some states people have suggested are Alabama, the Dakotas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana, Louisiana, and Illinois. I am also relocating soon with my own state from one end of the state to the other side.

I'm surprised that you said the Illinois hospital flies in people and pays for everything. I invested nearly $500 getting to my interview, luckily I got the job!

I was thinking something similar, If I'm going to move then I'm better off moving someplace safe rather than put my self at risk. Granted Spring field has a high crime rate but coming from Miami and comparing the numbers... It's about the same. Always kind of scary when you look at numbers from another state until look up the stat's on your own!

The offer to fly me up took me by surprise as well, I was really confused because I've never heard of it before, especially when the recruiter mentioned a tour of the town and meeting with a real estate agent to help with the transition. But he also said how they opened up a huge wing and a lot of nurses moved over or up. That and everything I'm reading is telling me how people are leaving Illinois faster than the population can be replaced because of the weather and there not being much employment. I just have to try and prove my worth in the interview so they actually make me an offer...

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Go to the Illinois state threads on here and check out that hospital. Anyone that desperate for help most likely is having other issues. I hope I'm wrong but this sounds like a not so good deal. Ask people in that area directly

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Go to the Illinois state threads on here and check out that hospital. Anyone that desperate for help most likely is having other issues. I hope I'm wrong but this sounds like a not so good deal. Ask people in that area directly

I kinda figured the same... I've been looking into the hospital, getting employee reviews and reviews in general about the hospital. Everything has been positive save for a few people commenting on favoritism. Something tells me it's understaffed especially because the floor apparently had 8 open positions for night shift alone. I'm not really sure on average how many positions are normally open. I'll look into the Illinois forum here though, thank you.

Edit: Yeah... I went to a hiring website and review are mixed. Most like the people but it has staffing problems. I have a feeling most places I apply to will be similar though.

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Geisinger in central PA is hiring. They had a hiring freeze for a couple of years and are now playing catch up. They have a man campus in Danville PA which has a lot of specialties and is a regional referral center. They also have some smaller hospitals in the area. They want a BSN within 2 years, but offer tuition assistance. UPMC has some smaller facilities in the west central and NW PA who take ADN's. I do not know too much about them. I have a relative who works for them in NW PA. It is rather boring her, but we are not very far from the beaches and Philly, NYC, Balt/DC depending what part of PA.

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Wow thats really helpful thank you! I know where to look next just in case.

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Update:

So the second interview was Monday, but for some reason every time they called they contacted someone else. It was really odd to say the least. But we rescheduled for the next day and I ended up calling them for the interview. Interview was fairly short only 15 minutes but the recruiter got back to me that they wanted to continue the process and fly me up for the final interview!

So far everything is looking good and there is a high chance I'll get an offer!

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Specializes in Critical care.
Geisinger in central PA is hiring. They had a hiring freeze for a couple of years and are now playing catch up. They have a man campus in Danville PA which has a lot of specialties and is a regional referral center. They also have some smaller hospitals in the area. They want a BSN within 2 years, but offer tuition assistance. UPMC has some smaller facilities in the west central and NW PA who take ADN's. I do not know too much about them. I have a relative who works for them in NW PA. It is rather boring her, but we are not very far from the beaches and Philly, NYC, Balt/DC depending what part of PA.

I know with Geisinger if you get hired you are given a date for when you need to have your BSN completed. They pay decent for the area, offer tuition assistance, and offer a uniform stipend (at least they used to). I've never worked for them, but I've heard good things and the system is massive and well known in the area.

I'm in southeast PA and used to live in the mid-west years ago. The weather can get bad here, but not nearly as bad as the mid-western winters! Plus, as pointed out we aren't far from the beach! The Jersey shore is actually nice- people who don't know it might make cracks about it (it's certainly no Florida beach), but there's a reason it is so popular :)

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I don't know which hospital it is in Springfield, but I moved there several years ago when I couldn't find a job in California, and it was really a terrific choice. I was welcomed warmly, although my background was different in many ways from other people there, and I made great friends. The hospital was an excellent one (I think they both are) and gave me much more support and training than the hospitals I'd hoped to work at in California had.

Not sure why Springfield would be reported as having a high crime rate unless they're counting every time a teenager spraypaints a farm fence, which is very possible. This is small-town central (though to the people in central/southern Illinois, it's a scary big city). Absolutely NOTHING like Miami in terms of crime (or anything else). When people hear Illinois they think "Chicago"--I know I did--and Springfield isn't that far away, and it IS the capital... but it might as well be a world away.

It's far from a perfect place, particularly in terms of race relations, and it doesn't have big city culture (though I was surprised by how many interesting concerts did come through town); and for a liberal like me, well, there was a lot to put up with. I also wasn't always able to find the kinds of foods I like to eat (either in the grocery stores or the restaurants). I stayed two years and moved on. It was like an extended field trip to another world.

And by the way... while I didn't get flown out there... I was skeptical about being offered a relocation bonus (nursing jobs were even harder to find at that time) and wondered why they would want to hire someone from out of state. I thought that must mean there was something wrong with the hospital. No, not at all--there just aren't that many people who want to live in Springfield. If I'd grown up there and gotten a BSN, frankly I would have been on the first bus to Chicago, too. But for two years, it was great.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Im going through the same process, let me know if you end up flying up there. I would love to hear how it goes.

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