trying to escape pittsburgh

BelleKat, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2009

the jobs situation isn't very good in Fl,make sure you check out everything before you move. Florida is being hit by the recession really hard,even healthcare.

mskate · Jan 14, 2009

move back from where? florida? Why?

nope, i'm in socal at the moment. never worked in florida... st francis was a nursing school in pittsburgh that has since closed and been torn down. they built the new childrens hsopital there.

FLmomof5 · Jan 14, 2009

Yes, FL is being hit by the recession....but, it also depends on WHERE in FL you want to go. Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa.....most of the southern cities got hit hard. Real Estate escalated too fast so the market correction hit harder in the south than up in the north. Jax didn't get hit as hard.....still got hit, but I think it is still a 'doable' city here. :)

beachgirl01 · Jan 18, 2009

I can't help you with your question but I thought I'd say that I really love Pittsburgh too...I visited there for the first time in December and I loved it except for the cold, that nearly killed me, being from Texas, lol. I wanna go back.

parubu · Jan 19, 2009

I live in Jacksonville. I work at Shands Jacksonville. Jacksonville's hospitals (and what I hear is that all of FL's hospitals) census' are down. A good majority of us at Shands are being cancelled at least once or twice monthly. This has been going on for a couple of months now. As far as I know there has not been a GN program available at any of the local hospitals for the last 2 graduating classes (summer and winter 2008). If I were you, I would keep looking at the local hospital's websites to watch for these programs to be posted.

As far as salary, the base pay for new nurses being hired at shands is somewhere between $25 - $26 hourly. Additionally, if you work nights there is a shift diff somewhere around $4 and weekend diff around $6. Historically Shands has had the best shift diffs in town; but I don't know if that is still true. I work nights and had a fair amount of overtime in the early part of last year and I grossed $68,000.

The local facilities in town are Baptist medical Center, St. Vincent's, St. Luke's, Memorial medical center, Mayo, and Shands. Orange Park Medical center is near by as well. I also read on a post that Shands Gainesville is hiring for a GN program.

Hope this helps in your decision..

siby.siby · Jan 19, 2009

odd i want to go to school at u pitt..im going to school at wvwc and i want back to jacksonville because i am afraid that with the next 3 years still in school i have i will be in crazy debt!

RNin10 · Jan 25, 2009

I know that Shands is rumored to be the highest paying hospital, although I think Mayo comes in a close second. I have heard it is very hard to work at Shands. I work at a UF clinic on Shands campus and most of the nurses I meet from the hospital did not work there for their first job out of school. I worked at St. Vincents and I loved it, although they are next to last when it comes to pay (Baptist is lowest since St. Vincent's gave everyone a raise when they bought St Lukes.) I actually want to go back to St. Vincent's really bad. I am a medical assistant, so I did tech work and unit clerk work. I left because my current job is much more money, I am going to stick it out to make it a year (August) and then start applying again. I start nursing school (nights) in July so I need a more flexible schedule. St. Vincent's is old and still on paper -no EMR yet- but for some reason my heart is there!:redbeathe

Pompom · Jan 26, 2009

I left Pittsburgh about 2 yrs ago, I am in the Gainesville FL area now. One hospital here AGH is closing but Shands and the VA are still hiring. I don't know about the Jacksonville area. You could probably look up some hospitals on line then call the nurse recruiter. Good luck with your move. You won't be disappointed.

Go Steelers !!!