My husband is being offered a position on the North side of Chicago (northfield) and we know NOTHING about IL. (currently live in St. Louis). So it looks like we are moving.
I'm hoping you all might be able to give me advice (please!).
I graduate in December - so he'll move before the kids and I. What are job prospects like for new nursing grads? Are some areas/suburbs/hospitals better places to be than others job-wise? We would like a community with a great school district, too. We're okay with a commute - just hopefully not longer than 30 or so minutes
I'm just feeling overwhelmed right now, and the accelerated program I'm in is so demanding. Yes, I feel like crying!
It's one of the Yuppiest of the Western burbs, focused on being a good place to raise younger children. It's also far enough from Chicago that heading there for the 'cool' places, or heading anywhere autonomously, really, is more or less out of the question.
Put yourself in a 16-yr-old's mindset and figure it out.
Here's a better way to think about it:
Picture in your mind the town someone would design to appeal to 30-somethings with young children.
Then pretend you're a 16-yr-old who has to live in such a place.
That's why.
I grew up in a suburb about 15 minutes away from Naperville (Downers Grove) and absolutely loved it. We'd go to downtown Naperville for edible cookie dough and ice cream, walk around the boardwalk, and go to the huge man-made lake/pool thats right in the middle of the town. I completely disagree with Kyle - the western suburbs (including Naperville) are a great place to raise kids - the public high schools are fantastic (Neuqua Valley, Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North/South, Naperville Central etc) and every suburb has a train station with Metra trains running hourly into the Chicago Loop. My friends and I would hop on on a Saturday morning during the summer, spend the day roller blading or going to the beach, and be back by 9pm. I'm not sure what sort of experience Kyle (thesquire) had, but it certainly was not the same as mine.
As for hospitals in the area, Bolingbrook Adventist is new and in dire need of competent nurses. Edwards and Good Samaritan are great, and Advocate (I know most about Christ because family members work there) really takes care of its nurses (in terms of benefits, opportunities, and retention).
Are some areas/suburbs/hospitals better places to be than others job-wise? We would like a community with a great school district, too. We're okay with a commute - just hopefully not longer than 30 or so minutes
Yes, I feel like crying!
IGiveTheShots
77 Posts
I grew up in a suburb about 15 minutes away from Naperville (Downers Grove) and absolutely loved it. We'd go to downtown Naperville for edible cookie dough and ice cream, walk around the boardwalk, and go to the huge man-made lake/pool thats right in the middle of the town. I completely disagree with Kyle - the western suburbs (including Naperville) are a great place to raise kids - the public high schools are fantastic (Neuqua Valley, Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North/South, Naperville Central etc) and every suburb has a train station with Metra trains running hourly into the Chicago Loop. My friends and I would hop on on a Saturday morning during the summer, spend the day roller blading or going to the beach, and be back by 9pm. I'm not sure what sort of experience Kyle (thesquire) had, but it certainly was not the same as mine.
As for hospitals in the area, Bolingbrook Adventist is new and in dire need of competent nurses. Edwards and Good Samaritan are great, and Advocate (I know most about Christ because family members work there) really takes care of its nurses (in terms of benefits, opportunities, and retention).