Dear nurses and students. I am a new member at this site. It is my first day!
I will be graduating in 10 months-well, hopefully. I live in Central California in a dusty city with a very poor air quiality and summer temperatures so high that you need to wear a space suit just to get from the house to your car without turning into a beef jerky. Rains are so rare here that they are considered a city wide diaster. I desperately want to get out of this oven!
I like thunderstorms, trees, rivers, and recreational activities such as fishing and hiking. Cool weather ( at least below 100 F in the summer) and decent air quality are my top priorities. At the same time I don't want to be paid $ 17 an hour. Here they pay $24 an hour, $ 6000 sign on, and $3000 tuition assistance per year of college. Median home price here is 350,000- way too much for this piece of "paradise".
Do you know anything about Santa Maria, or Paso Robles ,CA? Maybe any other state?
You probably aren't interested in Texas then -- it's hot! But, we don't have a state income tax, homes are fairly affordable and there is a good job market.
I did my undergrad in Colorado Springs, CO... but my school was on the side of a mountain... and very secluded... and as pretty as it was (deer, bears, coyote, fox, etc. would roam the campus randomly, even when there were a lot of people walking around), I'm happy to not be at that particular school anymore. HOWEVER... the area was great... the people were generally nice, and there was usually something to do when I had free time. =)
There was a lot of rain in the summer... thunderstorms, particularly. Snow season starts early and ends late... but there was always a lot of sunshine in between. In fact, on any given day during that period of time, it could snow a lot in the morning, but by the afternoon, the snow would be melted... only to come back again in the evening. There were times when I was afraid the wind would carry me away because it was so strong (I'm only 5'2" and weigh under 100 lbs)... Once, when I walked out of a building, I walked into a strong gust of wind that blew me into the guys who were walking behind me. They walked with me to my dorm to make sure I wouldn't fly away. >
I did my combat survival (and evasion) training in Saylor Park (not too far away from the springs), and that area was gorgeous (despite being filled with a lot of trees that were knocked down by lightning... I only remember this because it sucked having to climb over them with a 35+ pound bag on my back trying to keep up on 5k hikes with guys much taller than me). I remember one night during evasion when a full moon lit the night sky, and a cloud of fog was passing in one direction while two layers of clouds were passing us overhead, and a lightning storm was dancing between those two clouds. It was absolutely gorgeous. I was hungry, tired, and cold... but my small group took a few minutes to stop, sit down, and admire the view... and it totally recharged me.
You'll find a lot of outdoor activities to do as you move northwards in Colorado... if you can live without a beautiful coastline and are into the outdoors (hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, etc.), then I highly recommend that you take it into consideration. If I had to choose somewhere outside of the West Coast and Hawaii to live, Colorado would be the #1 state on my list of options.
You should be a writer. What a wonderful description! I feel like I watched a documentary about Colorado. Sounds a lot like Russia where I lived most of my life. I miss it so-o-o much. I think Colorado would be a wonderful place to be.
You probably aren't interested in Texas then -- it's hot! But, we don't have a state income tax, homes are fairly affordable and there is a good job market.
Does Texas have thunderstorms? I've heard real estate market there is very good for the byers.
In Colorado the pay is a lot lower: $56,000 a year on average versus $70,000 on average for RN's in California. On the other hand, the cost of living is cheaper so maybe you can still come out ahead.
And there's no ratio law. To me, that's why I'll never leave California unless I'm ready to retire. If you go to any other state, they can give you as many patients as they want to. Read the new grad forum where they're getting eight patients or more. Or talk to travelers who've worked other states. They'll tell you they get a lot more patients in other states, which is why they come back to Cali where they can only give you five patients, tops.
Plus ... I can't stand snow. At first it's tolerable but, year after year, it really becomes a major pain. I'll never live in snow again. It tears up your car, you can't get out when you want to, you get power outages and, of course, the shoveling is never ending. I'll never forget a nine hour power outage where I was hauling firewood through ten feet of snow because the power went out and there wasn't any heat in the house.
Even when you have snow tires and four wheel drive, you can skid out on ice. My husband skidded on some black ice and went over a cliff, a tree was the only thing that saved him. That's when we had enough and moved.
After awhile, it doesn't matter how "pretty" an area is if things like snow drive you nuts.
:typing
Wow, I am glad your husband is alive! I can understand why you don't like snow. I almost died in car accidents twice because of icy conditions on the road. God is good!
I did not know that they can give you more than 5 patients in other states, it is a very useful piece of information! Thank you!
I did not know that they can give you more than 5 patients in other states, it is a very useful piece of information! Thank you!
I notice that a lot of students don't know about about California's ratio law. They tend to assume it's the same everywhere else, but it's not. California is the only state that has it. So, when people talk about moving that alone, IMHO, is a big consideration.
There are tons of jobs in Fresno, but who would want to live here. Plus Fresno is really still just a hick town with very little to do. The weather is horrible here most of the time. If it isn't over 100 degrees in the summer, than it is below 40 in the winter with 100% humidity because of the fog. All that moisture makes it feel colder than it is. We have 2 seasons...really hot and really cold. Our air quality is listed as either the worst or second to the worst in the nation. This area is an allergists dream come true...
Basically, Bakersfield is just a smaller version of Fresno. My advice...get the H--- out as soon as you can!
Have you ever thought of Georgia...it is a beautiful state and the cost of living is less than Ca...and salaries are respectable. Atlanta has a lot of nice Burbs, but traffic is horrendous (like LA). There are other areas too, but I've been to Atlanta and many places are really very nice. And people were so nice too (southern hospitality is alive and well).
cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN
4,106 Posts
No, I just guessed. I'm from southern AZ, so I can sympathize though! Your description is perfect.
I used to work for a hospital chain that has a hospital in Bakersfield, but I've neer been.