S/O of NP wage thread re: tangible and intangible COL issues

#4 I won't work in a for profit environment. It just conflicts with my personal ethics. I don't have a problem with other providers who do, it just isn't for me.

You do know that non-profits fight just as hard to make money as anyone else. However, they benefit in the ways they can obtain monies and with the organized crime association known as the IRS. And for profits do make large donations sometimes, just not to me. But still, even the Vatican fights tooth and nail to make money

Yes, believe me I know they aren't utopias full of pollyanna do-gooders. I just chose to work in a place that puts all the proceeds back into the community and clinic.

I am not ethically opposed to money, earning it, spending it or hoarding it. I try to do all of those things to varying degrees, lol. I just wanted to work someplace that wasn't obligated to serve owners or stockholders interests and had a mission that is more closely aligned with my personal philosophy of health care.

I do NOT judge anyone who choose to work in a for profit system, but I have been a part of them in the past, and the corporate culture isn't a good fit for me. That's all.

Now, ZENman, are you going to answer the question? Considering your username, I'd expect you to have a lot to say on the subject.

I'm a PMHNP. We mostly listen. But your questions was, " So the rest of you, while you were job searching, care to share what your own limiting factors and goals were?"

I don't have any limiting factors and my goals are to work till I keel over dead.

You should definitely find a job that fits your interests, the lifestyle you want to live, and in an area where your pay can support the cost of living. I have always been drawn to critical care and the few times I left the field thinking that I needed a break from it, I ended up being miserably bored and was feeling the need to go back right away. I picked ACNP for that very reason. To me, having to work 12 hours for 3 days a week is sweeter than being at work 8 hours a day Monday to Friday. I did that and it tired me out more. The shifts and working weekends and holidays is a trade-off I am willing to take for the ability to spend longer periods where I don't have to work and can even plan out of town activities. I lived in the midwest for a long time though I was born in a foreign country. I liked the midwest a lot for the down-to-earth friendliness of the people and the affordability of housing. However, I hated winter and the extremes of climates. I have always wanted to move to California and as soon as my significant other was ready, I wasted no time applying for a job here. We actually thought we'd end up in LA but SF became our destination which came as a pleasant surprise 'cause I now realize I would have hated living in LA. I make so much more money in SF than when I was in the midwest (six figure salaries are not uncommon here, even for RN's) but the cost of living is high. I don't mind the cost of living for the chance to work in an academic medical center in a city where I am close to everything I need for leisure and recreation, not to mention the diversity of cultures where I live and work. It's a city with a large young adult demographic and all the problems of a major US city. The politics of the city challenged me and that is a lot to say from someone who thought he was liberal! But for now I can tolerate it all. I never was drawn to a suburban environment and definitely will not thrive in a rural setting either.