Thinking of Portland/Bangor

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Hi,

I'm working on the golden year of acute care experience right now. I'm hoping to move to Maine in December and looking for my final home. I'm tired of the rat-race and want to live somewhere laid back. I'm also thinking about travel nursing, and Maine is a compact state, so that's very attractive. How is it up there for nursing? Do you feel you make a good wage? Are homes and healthy food affordable on your wages? What advice can you give me?

I'm particularly interested in Bangor due to the proximity of U of Maine for my FNP. Anyone go there? Any advice?

Feel free to PM me. I'm going to visit this summer and could use some pointers.

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Specializes in Neurosciences, stepdown, acute rehab, LTC.

A few of my friends started at Maine Med right out of school and seem to like it there ... I know southern Maine tends to pay 24ish an hour hospital job? Not sure about Bangor .. I Hafta say I strongly prefer southern Maine for living .. I didn't like Bangor area at all.. Umaine is a good school though.. Housing is cheaper up there too, it's a little more tight cost of living Portland and south but still very doable

edit : even better check New Hampshire options too! It's also a compact state and pretty awesome

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What didn't you like about Bangor?

I looked at NH in the past. They seem to do a lot of 8 hr day/32 hr week shifts, which I don't like. I'm a big fan of the 3 12's.

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I'm the total opposite, I would take Bangor over Portland ever day of the week and twice on Sundays. I'm NOT a city person, and Bangor is a very small city. It's a lot more family-oriented, though there are certainly singles. Portland is a much younger, funkier vibe. It all depends on what you are looking for. Housing in Bangor is more reasonable (even similar commuting distances--30 minutes out of Bangor much cheaper than 30 minutes out of Portland). That said, there's certainly wonderful things about Portland. It's got more restaurants, more people, probably more things to do overall. Boston is an easier day trip from Portland.

I'm sort of rambling, I grew up in the Bangor area but have never worked there as a nurse (well, I haven't worked anywhere as a nurse yet because I haven't graduated yet!) so I don't have any information about that. There are two medical hospital systems in Bangor as well as a psychiatric hospital. If you have any more specific questions feel free to ask!

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Specializes in NICU; Acute psych; pediatric psych.

I'm strongly considering Portland as well and am curious about the children's hospital there as I'm a NICU nurse. Anyone have any insight?

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