RN Looking to Move to Colorado...help please!!!

[KellyRN2013]

I am a RN looking to move to Colorado. I need your help. I hear the job market is pretty hard to get into. I was an LPN for 6 years and worked 5 of those years in OBGYN and 1 of this years in home health. I have been a RN for 2 years and I am currently the director of nursing at a 120-bed assisted living facility In VA. I am also about to finish school with my MSN in leadership and management. My question is how hard do you think it would be to find a DON position in Co? Also, what area of Colorado is a good place to raise a family that has a country setting but isn't too far from a city? I do have an interracial family. I am white, my husband is black, and my son is mixed. We are very country and we currently reside in the mountains of VA! Please advise!!!

[klone, MSN, RN]

If you're okay with working for a SNF or ALF, I don't think you should have ANY difficulty finding work. With your MSN and your experience, even an LTACH (we have Kindred hospitals here). While bedside entry level nursing positions are difficult to find, once you go above that into management, there is a lot less competition. I look at healthcare want ads on Craigslist once a week or so, and it always seems there are listings for DONs for SNFs and ALFs.

As far as "country like" areas that are close to the city, I would look north or east. If you go east of 225 or 470, it becomes very rural, but you would still be close to Aurora, in which there are a lot of hospitals and facilities. North, you might look in Brighton, or even the smaller communities near Longmont - Erie, Berthoud, Lafayette, etc. Once you get north of Westminster, it becomes a lot more rural.

Hope this helps!

[KellyRN2013]

Thank you so much for your insight. This really does help a lot :)