starting a new career at phoenix arizona

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hi. i am a new male nurse and got a job opportunity in phoenix arizona - they want me to work at st. joseph hospital at 24 dollars per hour... do you think that will be suitable for my everyday life?

i want to know more about phoenix arizona, its crime rates and standard of living. is transportation easily accessible? i would love to talk to someone who is living in phoenix arizona and is currently working. thanks.. Private Message me, please.

Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Well I dont know about BBQ's at the moment as the temp is 114 in Phoenix, may be a touch hot lol. I live in Anthem which is a fantastic family place, but I am unsure of how the rental prices compare, We pay $1200 per month for a two storey house aprox 2100 sq ft, but you get get rentals here now for $950-4 bed houses. To buy is getting cheeper you are looking to buy for $260,000 onwards. It is very close to JC Lincoln but not so close to the rest.

I would recommend Anthem but the others on here would recommend where they live too.

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Hi,

Welcome to the AZ board! I'm sure that you will get a lot of good input here!

I live in Gilbert which is a bedroom community about 15 miles outside of Phoenix. The schools are great and the students consistently score high on all of the standardized tests. There are tons of families here and loads of activities for the kids to do. I am only familiar with the Southeast valley so I can only speak for Gilbert, Chandler, and East Mesa. All of the communities are great although housing has gone up in the past few years. A nice 4 bedroom 2700 sq home would probably run you around 400,000 I'm originally from Boston and 400,000 is still considered a bargain!

I just started an extern position at Chandler Regional Hospital which is part of Catholic Healthcare West. They are doing some major hiring right now because they just opened a new hospital in Gilbert on Monday. They said they expect to hire at least 300-400 people in the next couple of months. I just finished orientation and I am very impressed with the organization. I haven't run into any disgruntled employees yet, everyone I have talked to there is really friendly and they seem to really enjoy their jobs. As for education, they have some really great programs, they have onsite training, access to an online RN-BSN program, tuition reimbursement, loan payback, a scholarship program where they pay full cost of tuition, books, supplies etc, plus you work 20/week while in school but the hospital pays you for 40! They also have an extern program where you work 36 hours/week while not in school and then you have to commit to at least 12 hours/month while school is in session........Most of the hospitals here have some great educational incentives here because of the nursing shortage, I know that Banner and the Scottsdale Healthcare system have pretty good tuition reimbursement programs as well. Also, college tuition is ALOT less expensive out here than back east. I am in an ADN program and the total cost of the two year program is less than 6000.00...Asu will cost less than 5000.00 (AZ residents) for full time tuition per year. I paid more than that for one semester at Boston University, and that was in the 1980's lol!

Here is a link to the Town of Gilbert's website which will give you some more information

http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/default.cfm

Also, the link to CRH, check out the videos ....

http://www.chandlerregional.org/intradoc-cgi/idc_cgi_isapi.dll?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=5001413

Good luck!

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Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.

Hi all!

Thought i'd give you and update:) My mother and my fiencee are now in AZ. They started their new jobs yesterday and they love it out there. I will be here until August 18th. I am lonely, lol, but I hope with preceptorship and the NCLEX things will go quick. So far they are having a hard time finding a 3-4 br house for less than 1400/mo but they are looking. Thus far they like the western part of Mesa and tempe. Their goal is to find a job near US Air's hub..which I think is near the airport. I will be coming out the first week of July (hot I know) and I can't wait!!

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Specializes in PICU.

Hey Bigbee,

Good luck on your treck to Arizona but I just wanted to comment on the education thing. As far as the AZ education, on a national level we rank very low. AZ has the highest drop out rate and is ranked like 49 out of 50 on overall education. Test scores might not be accurate if they honestly don't include failing students. I can't think of the exact number but something like 3000 students failed the AIMS test and are not graduating (and the AIMS is geared for grade 10 but taken by seniors to see if they can graduate). Also something to consider is that teachers are facing a HUGE challenge with non-English speaking classes and students. I have a lot of friends who, straight out of school, got almost entirely Spanish speaking classes...and NO my friends do NOT speak Spanish. Talk about crash course in teaching. I would be very selective about the neighborhood and of course it all comes down to parent involvement. Good luck! (hope I didn't burst your bubble)

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Specializes in NICU.

Oh man, we have a lousy education system! Yeah it's bad. They just now started standarized testing ..... but I won't even get started on all the problems with the AIMS. They are VERY behind and trying to catch up to other states, but they've just waited too long.

I went through the AZ school system and I did ok ..... ended up getting my BSN. But it's definitely not a great education system, like the previous poster says. I'd do some research and check into it more if you want a good education system to put your kids in.

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I'm from the Northeast originally, and I can say with confidence the schools are miserable out here. People tend to put more of a priority on their "toys" (jet skis, dune buggies, etc.) than education and it shows. But that is the price to pay for the weather, lifestyle, etc...

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Thanks for the info on the schools, now I am worried.

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Be afraid...very afraid!

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Specializes in NICU.
I'm from the Northeast originally, and I can say with confidence the schools are miserable out here. People tend to put more of a priority on their "toys" (jet skis, dune buggies, etc.) than education and it shows. But that is the price to pay for the weather, lifestyle, etc...

And that's exactly why people should move back east :p

jk (sorta)

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Specializes in NICU.
Thanks for the info on the schools, now I am worried.

Kay, you shouldn't worry too much. I went through the AZ education system and I don't think I turned out too badly! But I had parents that were VERY involved in my schooling, too. I think that if parents are involved and help out, then there won't be a problem. Your kids should be just fine. But it wouldn't hurt to research some stuff though. Good luck! I hope things are going well for you and the family :)

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The old AZ dilema - lousy schools or lousy weather? Strong parental support and library card will hopefully overcome the schooling deficit (noone reads here - libraries always have good books).

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Specializes in NICU.

We have some great libraries too. Well the Tempe Public Library is ..... always lots going on to get the kids involved, too. Check it out :)

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