What State Should We Call 'Home'?

Nurses General Nursing

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DH and I are going to relocate to a permanent stomping ground possibly the latter half of January 2004. We are debating on which state to settle down in. I thought I'd seek advice from my Allnurses pals since so many of you have either travelled, lived, or may now reside in the areas we are looking at settling down in.

The four choices we have thus far are: Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, or North Carolina. While he was home on leave, we visited two of the four places, and like them both.

If you know of the job possibilities in these states for nurses (he's a nurse too), let me know. He already has his Bachelor's in Health Science Degree, and is currently pursuing his Masters Degree in hopes of one day managing a hospital (to show the powers that be how it's really done.) :D The man rocks bigtime!

I am planning a return to school to become a social worker UNLESS I find a hospital that treats its nurses like human beings and professionals to boot! :)

Any helpful hints/suggestions would be appreciated.

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

:chuckle You sly little fox you. Cheerful, sometimes you crack me up too.:D

I will always be partial to Central Va. I grew up there. I'd chack out the Charlottsville area. They have UVA medical center and another hospital. It is a beautifull city and near the mountains.

Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

awwwww.....come on up to New England!

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by suzy253

awwwww.....come on up to New England!

Oh suzy....I LOVE the New England states. The salary is much better in those neck of the woods too. I looked on http://www.salary.com to see what the going pay was in those states my DH has been talking about, and his choice of states doesn't pay enough (for my satisfaction anyway). But, when I look at the East Coast states, the pay is what I'm talking about being satisfied with compared to Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, and NC.

I was greatly disappointed in the pay that website showed from Ashville, NC. Actually, the top pay areas were Alaska and Maryland and some New York areas. Must be because they are expensive to live in.

We've already lived in Alaska before. It's just tooooooo far from the homeland for me. Otherwise, Alaska is pretty cool.

Next to Indiana is Ohio. The wages in Ohio aren't too bad. Median range compared to other places around it. The further south I looked, the lower the pay. Now, NC is NOT cheap by any means as far as cost of their apartment rentals there. We've lived there too. I know.

Guess I'll just have to hang that map, and land my DART on California :chuckle

Specializes in Medical/Surgical, PACU, ICU, and Psych.

hi cheerful! :) i'm a proud hoosier, and i think indiana would be the best choice! yes, the winters can be kinda bad, but it makes for a beautiful christmas! and fun for sledding!

are you looking for a big city atmosphere or smaller town? i'm from northwest indiana, right by lake michigan, and it is a great area cause you are so close to the beach; you can have a small town atmospere, yet you are really close to chicago (i've heard they pay really well in chicago). my neighbor who is a nurse takes the train into chicago every morning and says the hospital makes it well worth her while.

anywho, those are just my thoughts! good luck on making this big decision....and have fun with it :)

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

Hi JillianRose :)

BTW: Nice name! :cool:

Indiana is still on my list of possibilities. I'll check out that end of Indy and read up on it. Thanks for the tips.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Only problem with Charlottesville, VA is that the pay might be high but the cost of living is EXPENSIVE!

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by LPN2Be2004

Only problem with Charlottesville, VA is that the pay might be high but the cost of living is EXPENSIVE!

I hear ya LPN. I lived in VA before, and boy...it definitely IS expensive living for sure. :rolleyes: It's a beautiful state though, and I already have a license to work as a nurse there which is why it's on our list of potential "homes" to choose from. DH likes VA too. Virginia Beach area is my favorite. :)

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