travel nursing and the quality of living

[tony]

I'd like to get to the point and offer the PROS and CONS of where I live and work as an RN, in the San Francisco Bay Area. After this can someone post some info relative to this about the cities and suburbs of

BOSTON and NEW YORK ? Thank You !

PROS: work: (#) Great salaries here about $28/hr benefitted and $30 to 40/hr unbenefitted. (#) Lots and lots of work available if you're flexible.

(#) Quality of care is good, in my opinion. Patient to staff ratio, good and fair in most places (#) 8hr shifts in most places, I would say. This could be a pro or con.

PROS Living: (#) Weather's good most of the time (But it does rain in the winter). (#) Great place if you want to express your gay sexuality.

And now for the CONS: Job related: Apart from the mostly 8hr shifts offered and the only-2wk-a-year vacation offered, nursing is nursing and its OK. The pt/nurse ratio tends to be a bit high in some of the med-surg units.

CONS: Living Related: (This is a biggie for me. Thats why I want to travel) (#) Sky high living costs (ie.rent) in the city of S.F. Unless you live in the east bay. (#) Overcrowding and overpopulation; try driving somewhere on the weekend or any time for that matter. Forget it! (#) Relationships and friendships tend to be a bit shallow and temporary. (But this is my opinion).

Have I left anything out? Any opinions or facts to share?

So, anyone please post any relative info to the above about the cities and suburbs of NEW YORK, BOSTON or any Northeast city.

Thank You and much appreciated!

Tony, RN-ICU.

[osiris7]

If your complaint is the cost of living--and in SF, that usually means the cost of housing, I would suggest working in SF bay area as a traveler! That way, your rent is already paid for. The costs of other things are not incredibly high (it isn't Alaska, after all). I worked in Berkeley as a traveler and I really enjoyed it.

Kal

[lel271]

I ran into your post while looking for something, and I just thought I'd comment. I'm an NYU nursing student in my last semester. I plan on moving out west because I'm simply not cut out for the city. It's amazing and has SO much to offer, but it's tough. I hate to be the bearrer of bad news, but all of the cons you mentioned are just as bad (actually worse, becasue I have spent quite a bit of time in SF) in new york city. Forget having a car...just forget it. NY and Jersey are no fault states, so someone can total your car, and "too bad for you," insurance is sky high, parking costs no cheaper than $175/mo (and that's in the ghetto in Brooklyn), trying to find parking is a crazy stressful endeavur in and of itself, and overcrowding...well, it's NYC...what can I say. A friend of mine is at a hospital in Long Island, and she likes it quite a bit. So, if you wanted to work at a hospital with a 1 1/2 commute, i'd check out White Plains or anywhere in Westchester Co., OR Long Island. A LITTLE less crowded...and a LITTLE less expensive. Best of luck!

[tinderbox]

Uhm. I'm sorry, I know that this is an old post, but why in the world would you even want to have a car in NYC??? It has the best transit system in the country (if not the world). I live in Queens, where you can have a car, but the ONLY time I drive it is to go to work, which is also in Queens. If I lived in Manhattan, I would chuck my car so fast and wouldn't look back.

[caliotter3]

There are pros and cons to living and working anywhere. Trying out several places as a traveler is an excellent idea, particularly if you are young and up to the energy needed for the traveling scene itself. You can find a place that suits you the best, or that you simply fall in love with, and make the decision to stay there. Each person knows what they like and what they are willing to put up with to stay at the place of their choice. I wish I could have stayed where I used to live. Unfortunately the lack of work caused me to have to move again. So, like it or not, I'm finding myself having to adjust. Since I can't find anything to like about where I currently live, I've dealt with the situation by delving into the rut called work. Works for me.