ST Petersburg Tampa Hospitals

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Hello fellow nurses!

I am wanting to relocate to sunny Florida to LTD (Live the Dream) of the South.

Does anyone know which places are the best to work for such as pay and benefits? and ones to stay away from? I currently am and ER Nurse with my BSN 4 years Practice.

What is average pay? Shiff diff? Does anyone place help with student loans?

I currently work in a state with very LOW pay and just cant make it here! Student Loans are eating me alive.

Much appreciated with any info!

Midakern

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

What is your idea of low pay?

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Bayfront in St. Pete starts at $21 per hour, requires BSN. That's not good pay for the area.

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Florida is not well known for good salaries. When I moved here in 2007 my hourly rate as an RN from Maryland to Florida dropped by $11/hour. When the DON here in Florida quoted my starting hourly rate I almost laughed at her. So don't expect big pay in Florida it hasn't changed much since 2007. Employment here for nurses can also be very seasonal. In the Fall and Spring jobs are more plentiful because of the influx of snowbirds. In the summer jobs are more scarce.

Insofar as living the dream in Florida don't be fooled by that notion as well. The greatest amenity to living in Florida is not much cold weather and lots of sunshine and that's about it. We live in the Tampa Bay area and we are going to move to somewhere less crowded like Ocala. Tampa Bay is overly crowded, and will continue to be so. Just driving 15 minutes home from work is a nightmare. We've been here for 7 years and enough is enough.

Summers here are brutal and hot. You essentially go from air conditioning to air conditioning. You don't spend much time outdoors in the summertime here. On the brighter side Fall and Spring here can be delightful so it's not all bad.

If I had to do all over again I'm not so sure I would have moved to Florida but alas I am getting too old for major changes in my life and I've been here long enough that living in winter weather doesn't fit too well anymore. It seems the longer you live in Florida the less likely you are to re-adapt to cold weather.

All in all Florida is not too bad but not all that wonderful either. Depending on your age, personal likes, and family requirements might be a deciding factor(s) of where to live in Florida. If you like a lot of action then Tampa Bay is for you. If you love the beach here is for you. If you prefer a more laid back style of living I would suggest Ocala, St. Augustine, or Gainesville (college town).

We Floridians laugh and make jokes about how we have some of the craziest damn people in the country who become transients in Florida. If it's crazy, weird, or horrible, chances are it happened in Florida. The episodes of the show Cops where you see Florida police on wild chases after criminals and fools are not made up.

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My friend just acquired a job at Bayfront in St. Pete with a starting salary of $25/hour with shift differentials. Says it's a nice hospital and friendly community. $21/hr is the starting pay for RN residents and would be ridiculous and insulting to a fully fledged nurse...

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I lived in Tampa several years ago and enjoyed living there. At the time I was not an RN but did work at St. Joseph's Hospital as a social worker. I thought the hospital was really great to their employees. If I was in the area I would definitely consider working for them again. I know several new RNs who work at Tampa General and enjoy working there. Not sure about the pay scale in Tampa I want to say possibly 25 base and above..

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