RN wanting to move to Oregon...need advice

[missbuggirl]

I am a critical care RN with 5+ years experience living in Texas and hating the weather. Our family is wanting to move to Oregon, preferably to an area that would actually have 4 seasons. We are a move natural family, love the outdoors, love to camp, homeschool our kids, vegetarian, green friendly, and overall nice people. We are looking for recomendations on where to move. My kids want snow. I don't want it to rain year around. I want us to fit in. I am coming from a level 1 trauma hospital critical care unit so I would want a job that would interest me and pay good. Any body out here have advice for me?

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Moved to Oregon Nursing for more response from out OR members.

Good luck with your move.

[bluesun1967]

I am a critical care RN with 5+ years experience living in Texas and hating the weather. Our family is wanting to move to Oregon, preferably to an area that would actually have 4 seasons. We are a move natural family, love the outdoors, love to camp, homeschool our kids, vegetarian, green friendly, and overall nice people. We are looking for recommendations on where to move. My kids want snow. I don't want it to rain year around. I want us to fit in. I am coming from a level 1 trauma hospital critical care unit so I would want a job that would interest me and pay good. Any body out here have advice for me?

I moved to Portland, Oregon from Fort Worth, Texas almost 15 years ago and I love it here....most of the time. (I'm on this site because I'm considering a nursing career.) I relate with your frustration with Texas weather! However, just be prepared for a lot of rain and/or dreary cloudy months here. We say here that we earn our gorgeous summers and falls because we put up with the winter and spring! It seems the darker days begin around Halloween and doesn't really clear out for any length of time until mid-June. The worst time is Nov through January...with some clearing here and there after that till you get into summer. But just make sure you are prepared for that!! July through October is dry and nice. But based on your description, you'd fit in well here. There is a huge community of homeschooling parents here and being vegetarian, green-friendly, etc...you'll love it!! The people here are nice. I am hearing that nursing jobs are hard to find here currently so, not to be negative, but my neighbor is an RN and I got that info from her. It seems it is bad enough that I am rethinking this career path because I have to stay here for the next several years because I have kids in school and don't want to uproot them.

Good luck to you!! If you have any other questions about the area, feel free to contact me.