travler looking to move to south florida

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Hello,

I am a travler currently working in cali.. i have been here almost 8 months. I am looking to travel to mami or some where in the south fl area. i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the area.. the living.. coast of living.. and how the hosptials are.. if there are any that u recomend or any that i should stay away from.. also does anyone know the going rates for rns in that area... thanks alot

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Hello,

I am a travler currently working in cali.. i have been here almost 8 months. I am looking to travel to mami or some where in the south fl area. i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the area.. the living.. coast of living.. and how the hosptials are.. if there are any that u recomend or any that i should stay away from.. also does anyone know the going rates for rns in that area... thanks alot

The cost of living down south is HORRIBLE> That is why we moved further north in Florida, as are a lot of other people. Miami is very diverse with the very rich and the very poor. You don't have to but you should be comfortable speaking Spanish to work in most hospitals in the Miami area, as there is an enormous Spanish population.

Florida pay for nurses is actual low compared to the rest of the US. A staff RN in Miami, depending on your skills, certs, and specialty, is around 50-65,000 a year. I know Grad RN's make around 27 an hour. The pay is a lot lower but the jobs are many. So many people are moving to Florida the health care industry cannot keep up with it.

As far as cost of living, depends on the buying or renting situation. A decent 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in a fairly safe neighborhood will run you around 900-1000 per month plus utilities.

You have to go up north further to escape the high cost of living. I am on beach side and I can get cheaper rent here than down south.

Good luck.

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I live in Ft. Pierce but work at Martin Memorial in Stuart Florida. This is a very nice area especially if you like the beach, it is growing a lot as well. I used to teach at the community college in the ADN program and had taken students to every hospital in Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Indian River County. When I went back to bedside nursing Martin Memorial was the only place I would work at in this area. Indian River Memorial would be 2nd. I am non benefits at 29/hr with 36 /hr in season(dec-may) Now is a good time to buy a home here because there is an overabundance of new developments and the demand hasn't caught up. Miami is a very interesting and diverse place, I wouldn't consider moving there if you are not fluent in Spanish.

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Specializes in OB.

If you consider the Gulf Coast of FL, the areas of Ft. Myers and Sarasota are two of my favorites as a traveler. They are both rather pricey areas to live, but I've had good contracts at hospitals in both areas. I don't know what rates are for staff, but as a traveler I've made in the $30's in both areas (plus nice housing). Naples is also a beautiful area but even more expensive - I haven't worked there.

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Hello,

I am a travler currently working in cali.. i have been here almost 8 months. I am looking to travel to mami or some where in the south fl area. i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the area.. the living.. coast of living.. and how the hosptials are.. if there are any that u recomend or any that i should stay away from.. also does anyone know the going rates for rns in that area... thanks alot

If you want to go to Miami try to get into one of the Baptist Hospitals there, or if you're into peds try for Miami Childrens. If you're looking for a huge level 1 teaching hospital, then try for the University of Miami/Jackson. I wouldn't recommend any of the other hospitals in Dade County---not Mt. Sinai on Miami Beach, certainly not any of the Tenet hospitals, and the only HCA hospitals that's halfway decent are the ones in Kendall and Coral Gables.

If you decide on the Fort Lauderdale area, neither the North nor South Broward District Hospitals are using travelers now, but this could change when their busy season starts at the end of October. Except for the District hospitals and Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale, I would not recommend ANY of the others. Pretty much all the others are owned either by Tenet or HCA and none of them are great places to work. The Cleveland Clinic hospital in Weston seperated from Tenet some time ago, and I've heard its not so bad now. However, they do require that you wear all-white all the time, and if you're a smoker you cannot work there (even if you only smoke while you're off work). These things may not be issues for you, but just letting you know.

As far as the Boca/West Palm Beach area hospitals go. I would not recommend ANY of them---at all!

Now thats for travel assignments. If you're planning on moving permanently to the southeast Florida area. Do more research first. I've lived here most of my life and I'm telling you that this place isn't all sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops the way some people make it seem. It is EXPENSIVE to live here, and even though home prices have come down a bit they are still high. On top of that the property insurance and taxes are also very high. Crime is also on the increase all over the Tri-county area--even in areas where you hardly used to hear about criminal activity at all. Robberies, assault, and murder are on the rise, and the criminals are becoming more brazen. During the past year there have been more than just a few incidents of them getting into shootouts with the police, and just a couple weeks ago another cop was gunned down on the job in Fort Lauderdale. But, what can I tell you, we have a mayor here who is more concerned about running gay people out of town than he is about the crime situation!

As a staff nurse here you will be making mid to high 20s/hr. You can make more doing agency work, but there's not much of that available except during the busy winter season. The hospitals may offer big bonuses to go on staff, but the short of it is that whether you plan to buy or rent a home, it will be a challenge to keep up with the cost of living here unless you regularly do overtime. I feel that areas like Tampa and Jacksonville are generally better places to go to than south Florida, but that's just my opinion. The southwest coast is nice if you prefer a more laid back and less congested environment but that area is also very expensive.

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Be really wary of both Sarasota and of Naples. I have recently completed travel assignment at both of these hospitals. There is a LOT of tension among the nursing staff. Apparently the management teams of these institutions have decided that to remain solvent and show a profit they must short staff the nurses. The nurse / pt ratio is horrible in all units. including specialty areas. Naples nurses are currently in process of bringing in the Unions. I would anticipate that Sarasota is well on its way to becoming unionized.

I would assume that both of these hospitals will have a huge need for travelers this fall due to their core staff leaving. I would strongly advise any nurse looking at these hospitals to ask many questions before accepting an assignment at either Sarasota Memorial or at Naples Community Hospital.

A nice area for those looking for decent nurse/ pt ratio are either Lee Memorial Hospital in Lee county or at any of the Charlotte County hospitals.

Hospitals in Miami are always looking for Nurses and pay well, however Spanish is almost a requirement to feel comfortable on the job.

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Be really wary of both Sarasota and of Naples. I have recently completed travel assignment at both of these hospitals. There is a LOT of tension among the nursing staff. Apparently the management teams of these institutions have decided that to remain solvent and show a profit they must short staff the nurses. The nurse / pt ratio is horrible in all units. including specialty areas. Naples nurses are currently in process of bringing in the Unions. I would anticipate that Sarasota is well on its way to becoming unionized.

I would assume that both of these hospitals will have a huge need for travelers this fall due to their core staff leaving. I would strongly advise any nurse looking at these hospitals to ask many questions before accepting an assignment at either Sarasota Memorial or at Naples Community Hospital.

A nice area for those looking for decent nurse/ pt ratio are either Lee Memorial Hospital in Lee county or at any of the Charlotte County hospitals.

Hospitals in Miami are always looking for Nurses and pay well, however Spanish is almost a requirement to feel comfortable on the job.

Thank you so much for this perspective. I was recently talking to a recruiter who was REALLY trying to sell both these locations to me for my next travel assignment. Both are offering travel pay that is higher than they normally do, and now I know why? There's never smoke without fire.

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Specializes in Peds; Peds Oncology.

I'm a born and raised South Floridian...but I don't know if I would really recommend coming down here.

If you are moving to Florida for the beaches...I would think central florida or tampa.

To work in Dade County (Miami, south florida) you really need to speak Spanish. I live in Broward...I don't think you could pay me to move back to Dade county.

If you could let us know more of what area of nursing you are in and what kind of hospital you are looking for, maybe we could give you a little more info.

Good Luck!!

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.
If you consider the Gulf Coast of FL, the areas of Ft. Myers and Sarasota are two of my favorites as a traveler. They are both rather pricey areas to live, but I've had good contracts at hospitals in both areas. I don't know what rates are for staff, but as a traveler I've made in the $30's in both areas (plus nice housing). Naples is also a beautiful area but even more expensive - I haven't worked there.

Hi there :)

My husband and I would like to relocat to Florida and are currently having our home built :) I love Sarasota and would be interested in working there as we live about 30 mins from there. do you know if they take English Nurses? (as I am English) I am particularly interested in Oncology/Haematology and Palliative.

I would be really appreciative for any advice from you

Thanks

;)

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Specializes in OB.
Hi there :)

My husband and I would like to relocat to Florida and are currently having our home built :) I love Sarasota and would be interested in working there as we live about 30 mins from there. do you know if they take English Nurses? (as I am English) I am particularly interested in Oncology/Haematology and Palliative.

I would be really appreciative for any advice from you

Thanks

;)

I talked to one of the nurses here on my unit at Sarasota who is originally from England and she says yes, they do hire English nurses, once you have the FL license and whatever is now required for paperwork (she's been here quite a few years).

I'll be in the area here until I finish my contract in mid-Dec. Feel free to drop me a pm or post a note here if I can try to find out any more info for you.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.

Hi bagladyrn

Have PM'd you. :)

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Specializes in OB.
Hi bagladyrn

Have PM'd you. :)

Hi - got it and pm'd you back!

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