Anything good about working in Texas?

U.S.A. Texas

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I'll be moving to Rice, Tx in 6-12 months. I'm a little uneasy about working in Tx from reading some of the threads. I'll be living near Corsicana, Waxahachie, and Ennis..any good places for an RN to work? How about Baylor in Dallas? Agencies? Travel Companies?

Any advice is appreciated.

FYI..I have several years ICU experience, a few years PACU and Float, 3 years case management experience, a little HH and Wound care and 5 years clinical instructor experience.

post here

thanks for any advice!!

The job market really depends on which area of Texas you are working in. My husband is an RN in the Houston area and there definitely appears to be a shortage of nurses here. When he applied for jobs this past June as a new graduate, he was offered a job at every single place he applied. All of these jobs offered very nice wages and most pay the employee's health benefits in full. The nursing shortage here is only projected to get worse. As for housing in the Houston suburbs, it appears to be a buyer's market right now.

What do you call a good pay rate? How much? What is a nurse to patient ratio at the hospital where your husband works?

I was born and raised in California and by no means jealous of ANYONE that still lives there. I got to Texas as fast as I can. In the podunk central valley town I was from crap box houses that are barely worth buying are going for 500K. The house I was born in (Santa Barbara) that my parents bought for 19,500 in 1965 just sold for 835K 4 months ago (3 bedroom starter home). The house I live in now (3 br on 2 acres) apraised at 110K would easily fetch upwards of 650K in many parts of cali.

Of course salaries in Cali are higher, but so are the headaches and the list goes on... I wouldn't trade my $34 an hour job here for ANYTHING in Cali.

I live in Modesto, CA area. Moved here in May 2007. The pay rate at my hospital is $34/hour. I rent my one bedroom for $650/month. If you want to buy a house here the price range from $200,000 to $500,000. Where do you live?

Specializes in Med Surg, Geri.

TILE Nurse: Texas Index Level of Effort, a rating system to determine payment reimbursement.

MDS Nurse: Minimum Data Sets, Resident assessment required for Medicare / Medicaid reimbursement.

Specializes in Critical Care.

"""I live in Modesto, CA area. Moved here in May 2007. The pay rate at my hospital is $34/hour. I rent my one bedroom for $650/month. If you want to buy a house here the price range from $200,000 to $500,000. Where do you live?"""

That's funny. I was referring to Modesto when I said "podunk Central Valley town.

I currently live in N. Texas. It's a lot like the San Jaquin Valley was 20 years ago. The town I live in reminds me a lot of the Modesto I grew up in and the cost of living here is what it was there when I left but the wages are much better.

When did you move to Texas? What is a nurse to patient ratio at your hospital? What is a pay rate for nurses at your hospital? I visited Texas (San Antonio) in February 2007. I can't say that I liked it. You lived in both states much longer then I. Could you list Pros and Cons for both of them?

OK- you guys are scaring me! I have been thinking about going back to work part-time, due to a severe injury. If the working conditions are so bad, the 'Group One' cutting so many nurses out for trivial things, the poor pay listed, I can see why there might be a shortage of nurses in Texas. I don't want to go back to work in a bad place. I have worked in both- the worst as civil employee- BIA- very bad! Drug addicted nurses, employees stealing everything from beds to stock items, a public hospital where my boss was in jail for attempted murder of her husband with a fireplace poker- the same hospital had a psychiatrist who was on trial for attacking a camper in a park. Of course I quit!! I let them know how disgusted I was with these two places! I am sure they wouldn't want me to work for them, as much as I would never consider working for them!! What do I do when I apply for a position- I can't lie about why I quit! I want to tell the truth. As far as the wages, the national average is supposed to be around $35/hr- Texas seems to be about 1/2 that! Possibly better in Houston area, but the crime/illegals is so bad that I am sure the hospitals need to offer more to entice nurses. I am so dissapointed reading the Texas posts! It seems that the BON/employers have you in their claws! What to do...???!!! Do I scrap considering nursing in Texas?? I don't want to be 'owned' by either a facility, or blackmailed by the Group One!! And I thought some other jobs were bad.....

Actually, California is the highest paying state in the US. Even in the Central Valley the pay rate is about $34/hr. States like Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma are among the lowest paying. Their start pay rate over there is around $17.00/hr :down: . Plus high nurse to patient ratios, whereas is California it's 1:5 mandated by the law.

Specializes in Critical Care.
When did you move to Texas? What is a nurse to patient ratio at your hospital? What is a pay rate for nurses at your hospital? I visited Texas (San Antonio) in February 2007. I can't say that I liked it. You lived in both states much longer then I. Could you list Pros and Cons for both of them?

I moved to TX in 1993. I did CNA/Med-Tech in Cali. Didn't get my RN until recently. Our N:P ratio is 1-2:1 ICU, 2-3:1 IICU (where I work), and 4-6:1 on all other floors for the most part. In our area hospitals claim their base rate for FT is 17-19/hr (no experience) but I don't know of anyone making that little. My first job paid $23.50 an hour and I'm currently making $34 (new grad PRN dedicated 40 hrs).

Don't ask me to say much of anything nice about Cali. It's a beautiful state and would love to live there if everyone else would leave. I don't like the life style, the politics, cost of living, population, etc. etc. etc.

I love Texas, I have always been a Texas Girl at heart. Couldn't get here fast enough. I know the state has its faults, but don't ask me to list them because for the most part, here in my little neck of the woods I have my head in the sand. Now, if you ask me about the politics of the state, that's a different opinion, but I just don't seem to be affected by them enough to care outside of the polls.

Cali is the only state that I've lived in that I had an opion of the state as a collective whole. Otherwise, every other state, my opinion varries from region to region.

As far as nursing goes. I'm too wet behind the ears to have an opinion of anything except for my current hospital, DaVita (former employer) and TPAPN (no I'm not a TPAPN nurse, but close (but that's a different drama...).

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Actually, California is the highest paying state in the US. Even in the Central Valley the pay rate is about $34/hr. States like Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma are among the lowest paying. They start pay rate over there is around $17.00/hr :down: . Plus high nurse to patient ratios, whereas is California it's 1:5 mandated by the law.
After cost-of-living adjustments are made, Texas ranks #1 in nursing pay rates according to the link I've provided. California ranks #44 in nursing pay after cost-of-living adjustments are made. My link is from December 2005, but much of the info still rings true today.

What is "cost of living"? The cost of food and gas is about 10 to 20 percent higher Cali then in Texas. If you compare housing cost in Modesto, CA and Laredo, TX there is no dramatic difference either. But if you look at the difference in the pay rate and workload it is very significant. The pay rate is twice less in TX the in Cali, with the 6-7 patients per nurse in TX, which equals to 16% to 32% workload increase without any extra pay (compare to 5 patients per nurse in Cali).

The cost of housing in Modesto the same as Laredo???? I did a quick google of MLS listings in both cities. I went for the lowest price house in Modesto and found it was $199,900, you get a 2 bedroom, 1 bath 1100 square foot home built in 1974 on a 3920 square foot lot. for 199,900 in Laredo you get a 4 bedroom, 3 full bath 2790 square foot home built in 2004 on a lot that is 6007 square feet. No way in the world could you say the housing costs are the same in Laredo Texas as it is in Modesto.

I went to a cost of living calculator website. I put in a salary of $50,000. a year for Laredo. I then compared it to Modesto. It would require a salary in Modesto of $77,727. a year to have the same cost of living standard. That is 45% difference. That is quite a bit of difference. Shows you that the cost of living is not just 10-20% different.

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