stepdown nurse relocating to AZ

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Specializes in step down.

My family and I will be relocating to AZ sometime here in the next 6 months. The area we are looking to live near or in is Avondale. I have just recently started looking online at the different facilities around there but would appreciate any advice on who to apply to. I am a RN with 12 years experience. The hospital I currently work in is a Level 1 Trauma center and has a well known Heart Hospital attached. I currently work in a step down/progressive vent. pod and have been in there for the last 3 years. Before that I use to work in the float pool and worked on the numerous stepdown units within my hospital for 7 years. So any advice or suggestions I would surely appreciate.

And if anyone has any information to offer on the area in and around Avondale as far as what neighborhoods/schools to look for I would greatly appreciate it. :)

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Specializes in labor & delivery.

Catholic Health West has St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix; Banner Health has Banner Estrella-very close to Avondale and Banner Good Samaritan in Phoenix; Abrazo has West Valley Hospital in Goodyear, and County is near the airport. Jobs are hard to come by right now, but your experience will be a plus. Good luck to you!!

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Hi! I have lived in the West Valley my entire life and if I were you I would try and get in the Litchfield Elementary School District rather than Avondale Elementary. Of course there are variations from school to school, but Litchfield has a much better reputation, and there is no uniforms like Avondale. Not sure if you are set on Avondale, but I think Litchfield Park or Goodyear is just nicer overall and they are right next door. Although Garden Lakes is considered Avondale and its great there.

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Specializes in labor & delivery.

I agree with 2nd time.

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Specializes in step down.

Thank you both for replying to me. 2ndTime...we are not set on Avondale necessarily. My inlaws will be moving there in April and had already bought a house there so we were planning on trying to be close by but we don't need to be in the exact area. We have a 3 year old daughter so the school system is definitely a priority. I have also been reading that jobs are hard to come by. I am hoping my experience helps me in that area. We don't plan to move until I definitely have a job lined up. Was even considering taking a travel position near my mom in Muerrita, Ca and start applying to jobs there in AZ. We have alot of flexibility with time but definitely want to be settled by August.

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Tammyrn, maybe you should take a travel position, just to get your foot in the door at any facility in Arizona.

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Definitely concur that LP or Goodyear, particularly north of the freeway, are better choices. However, Avondale north of the freeway (Dysart and Indian School or Camelback) certainly are nice areas with all the shopping and restaurants nearby. Schools, however are better if you can stay in the LP schools, particularly Millennium High. Palm Valley is an expansive area in Goodyear (we used to live there) and pretty nice.

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Specializes in step down.

Thanks once again for those that have responded. I really don't know a thing about Arizona so the information is most certainly helpful. I am really considering looking at taking a travel nurse position either to Arizona or California to at least get me over to the west coast. I just have heard that if you were a traveler in certain hospitals they may not be able to hire you as a actual employee until a certain grace period goes by....not so sure about that though.

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Specializes in step down.

@military spouse and 2nd chance.....I have been looking at different ads on the internet for homes to rent. It seems like I am finding alot of homes in the range of 850-1000 that are like 3-4 bedrooms and seem like very nice homes...is this normal for the area you two are talking about? I currently live in Va and the house I live in and rent is like 1400/month and its 3 bedroom and no where near as nice as those I have found on the internet out there.

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@military spouse and 2nd chance.....I have been looking at different ads on the internet for homes to rent. It seems like I am finding alot of homes in the range of 850-1000 that are like 3-4 bedrooms and seem like very nice homes...is this normal for the area you two are talking about? I currently live in Va and the house I live in and rent is like 1400/month and its 3 bedroom and no where near as nice as those I have found on the internet out there.

I'm not too sure about rents, but if you want to give me cross streets or neighborhood names, I'll gladly tell you what I know. Are you in NoVa? The west valley is a bit like Leesburg and those area in that there are nice new houses, sidewalks, new shopping centers, Super Target, etc. The house we owned was in Palm Valley and I really liked it there. In fact, we're thinking of moving back.

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