What Virginia towns/cities do you recommend working in and why?

nursprl · Apr 21, 2006

Wow this is a hard question to answer. I lived and worked in several areas in Virginia, so let me give you my rundown.

Avoid relocating to Richmond. It has many hospitals to choose to work, but safety can be a major concern. Cost of living however is fairly reasonable. There are a lot of suburbs/subdivisions but you'd have to drive 2-3 hrs east or west to see a beach or mountains.

I currently live and work in Charlottesville, VA, as a traveler now, but lived here for 5 years before I left to do travel nursing. It's close to mountains, several ski resorts within a reasonable driving time. DC is about 2-3 hrs away, Richmond about 1 hr+. There are two hospitals in this town, one university/teaching and other private. It's also a college town, Univ. of VA. I would recommend living outside the city because cost of living within the city limits is out of this world I think. Driving into work takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on where you relocate. Not a bad place to work and live; it not perfect but I think it's reasonably safe.

One last option is northern Virginia (NOVA). Because it's fairly close to DC, cost of living here is $$$$$. Many people live outside and commute in DC, but even outside the limits, there are ranges. INOVA Health Systems has the majority of health care around the DC area. I haven't worked here, but from several friends it is fairly good. I know one of the hospitals is Magnet; not sure if the entire system is though.

I hope some of this helps. Let me know if you require anymore information. As you can tell, I can't give you any information on beach area or southern VA since those are the areas I don't know too much about. But the three I mentioned above I do know something.

Good Luck and Welcome to Virginia.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 21, 2006

Augusta County is beautiful. Augusta Medical Center has a pretty good reputation of treating their employees well, but housing in that area has tripled in cost over the past few years, since a lot of C'ville residents are deciding to commute from there . Appx. 10 miles from Skyline Drive/ Blue Rige Parkway.

Harrisonburg is pretty, alot of farm area in Rockingham County, BUT you can run into a language barrier there since there is a big Hispanic population in that area. Plus the entire town reeks of dog food, because of the numerous poultry plants in the area. I've heard it's not an easy smell to get used to, even years later. Not sure about Rockingham Memorial's reputation, but i did learn that they just got approved for open heart surgery. Appx 20 miles from Skyline Drive.

I'd avoid Richmond too, not the safest place to live.

Charlottesville is a very nice area, and decent place to work, but the cost of living is through the roof.

Charlottesville or Augusta County would be my choices.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 21, 2006

Oh, yes, and NOVA (Northern Virginia) isn't a cheap area to live either, and the traffic could have you stressed out even before you'd get to work.

APP · Apr 21, 2006

I live in Northern VA, close in to DC. VERY EXPENSIVE, and bad traffic. I like it, though (grew up in small rural town, been there, got the tee-shirt).

If I were you, I'd consider Winchester. Large enough to have amenities, close to the 'great outdoors' (Shanandoah valley, West Virginia), and has much more reasonable real estate prices. Close enough to DC for visits if the big city is your thing. Not sure how many hospitals it has, though.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 21, 2006

Winchester has one hospital, and a crappy rep for treatment of their employees

ToBeaRN · Apr 24, 2006

Hey all! I like Richmond. (no hard feelings)

I live about 12 miles outside of the city. Wouldn't live in the city personally. I live NE of city in small town called Mechanicsville. Housing is subdivisions. I think my house was reasonably priced according to a nursing salary. Anyway we do have some good hospitals. 5 HCA hospitals, Retreat, Henrico Dr. Forest, Henrico Dr. Parham, Chippenham and Johnston Willis. We have level 1 trauma university (Medical College of VA - MCV, I think they call it something else now) and we have Southside Regional (not sure who owns that and of course the catholic hospital such as St. Mary's, St. Francis and Memorial Regional (all owned by Bon Secour - sp?) Pay is less at MCV but you have the best of technology. I think Bon Secour and HCA pay is about the same. I like the way you are treated at HCA much better than BS. I have done clinical at Henrico Dr. Forest & Parham as well as St. Mary's. Starting a new job at Parham May 15th. Will be my first nursing related job. All excited.

Just my opinion. Of course we all have them. We here in Richmond aren't located by the mountains or beach but I don't like either. I prefer my back yard.

Good luck in your looking.

Christie;)

nursprl · Apr 25, 2006

I would avoid HCA hospitals at all costs. I would take Bon Secours over HCA any day. I've worked at one Bon Secours and one HCA in the past and Bon Secours won hands down.

tracy6fan · May 13, 2006

The Lynchburg to Roanoke corridor may be what you're looking for. Both are beautiful areas with the Blue Ridge Mountains for a backdrop, smaller towns (pop~100,000) and less congested than northern Va and tidewater. I'm pretty certain both have Magnet hospitals. Bedford is an even smaller town halfway between Roanoke and Lynchburg that would take around 30 minutes to get to the "big cities". Bedford is right at the foothills of the mountains with lots of rolling land. Absolutely gorgeous in my opinion!

I live in Atlanta now, and every time I go home to Lynchburg where I grew up, I breathe a sigh of contentment from the beauty.

Good luck in your search for a new place to call home.

HappyNurse2005, RN · May 21, 2006

I'm pretty certain both have Magnet hospitals

They both do. The Roanoke hospitals are bigger (Rke Memorial is being renovated, and will soon be the biggest hospital (in #of inpt beds) in the state, i hear.

Both cities do open hearts and nicu, rke does level 1 trauma, (i dont know if lynchburg does)

Lynchburg has a kick butt childrens museum (not related to working, but i really love that place!)

Cost of living is reasonable in Roanoke area, very reasonable actually. There is also a VA hospital and a HCA hospital (ugh) in ROanoke area.

This part of Virginia is great! You can easily go from our "big city" (roanoke is the big city, but thats small in comparision to richmond/norfolk) to rural one stoplight towns. Mountains, lakes, hiking-and great housing prices!

crazylilkelly · May 22, 2006

They both do. The Roanoke hospitals are bigger (Rke Memorial is being renovated, and will soon be the biggest hospital (in #of inpt beds) in the state, i hear.
Both cities do open hearts and nicu, rke does level 1 trauma, (i dont know if lynchburg does)
Lynchburg has a kick butt childrens museum (not related to working, but i really love that place!)
Cost of living is reasonable in Roanoke area, very reasonable actually. There is also a VA hospital and a HCA hospital (ugh) in ROanoke area.
This part of Virginia is great! You can easily go from our "big city" (roanoke is the big city, but thats small in comparision to richmond/norfolk) to rural one stoplight towns. Mountains, lakes, hiking-and great housing prices!

Hi, I was just wondering how the weather is in that area? Is it very humid in the summers (I hate that)? Are the winters SUPER cold?? Basically, I want to move somewhere w/ mild, comfortable weather but close to mountains & lakes or an ocean.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 22, 2006

Lynchburg area is also very nice.