Hi,
I have relocated to South East Florida and am loving it!!
The best thing I ever did for both me and my family.
Better working conditions, lower taxes and cost of living, better qaulity of lifestyle
Kids outdoors all year long, more daylight hours, better health
much more career advancement potential
Florida has become a magnet for families in search of an ideal place to raise their children. Today, residents continue to be attracted by the area’s ambience.
With its warm weather, never-ending waterways and beautiful Atlantic beaches, is an ideal setting for people escaping the effects of long, cold northern winters. The relaxed atmosphere makes it perfect.
If there is anyone out there who is thinking of making a move like this let me know, I can Help
shawn at absolutglobalsearch dot com
Maybe you relocated there after the four consecutive hurricanes that left hundreds of thousands homeless and/or filing for welfare, homeowners claims.
Many retirees that moved there lost everything they had. I'd have a hard time recommending in good faith that anyone move to that state.
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.comAndrew,
Keep writing bad things about Florida!!! We don't need any more people here HAHA... Seriously the hurricanes weren't really that bad for all. I live in Orlando and hardly even lost power. Florida is a beautiful place to live but I think all regions of the country have their good and bad points I wonder if the original poster has ever been thru a Florida summer. She might not think it is so great... hot as hell comes to mind.
I don't think stating the obvious damage, hardship and heartache left after the hurricanes qualifies as "writing bad things about Florida."
My parents have a condo in Florida and I've spent a good deal of time there. They are now nervous as hell about keeping it.
All four of the hurricanes barely "missed" the area they have a place in. It's worth a lot more now by the virtue of it's intact. The question is when's another hurricane going to come through and trash it like the four hurricanes did to hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
Many retirees lost everything they had and now have no place to go.
Not exactly the sunny, ambient picture the original poster painted.
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.comI have seriously considered moving to Fla. It was my plan that come June I would but have now reconsidered and it has nothing to do with hurricanes.
Even with now income tax the payrate is still much lower then what I make now and housing prices much more. I live in the midwest where spring tornados are common and you can spend many hours in the basement.
There are just too many bad things I hear about Fla hospitals. I even took care of a little lady this past week who winters in Fla but couldn't get the care she needed there so drove 20 hours home where we had her in the hospital for almost a week...nothing big but she could get no care there and did need some.
I'll be in Fla to visit next week though,,, then again in June and July. And it's about as hot here in the summer in Fla and no ocean breezes.
Yeah, there were bad hurricanes in Florida and I'm sure there will be many more. I think you are overlooking the bad things that happen all over the country thats all. You have mud slides and wild fires out west, snow storms and tornadoes in the midwest, and even hurricaines up the east coast. If you live on the beach that is the chance you have to take. As for all of these people with no place to go, everyone that I know who lost their houses or had major roof damage got hotel rooms and rental houses to live in paid for by fema and their homeowners insurance. I don't know how they could have lost everything unless they didn't have homeowners insurance...Yes momentos and stuff that you can't replace would be bad to loose but you could loose those in a house fire anywhere in the US. I wasn't trying to offend you, I find your posts to be funny and insightful and enjoy reading them. For the lady who said it is just as hot in the midwest in the summer you are speaking out of ignorance. It starts getting into the mid to high 90's here in May and doesn't go down below the 90's until sometime in September, it only cools down to the high 70's-80's at night, and not all of us live next to the Ocean.
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butterflydog said:
It starts getting into the mid to high 90's here in May and doesn't go down below the 90's until sometime in September, it only cools down to the high 70's-80's at night, and not all of us live next to the Ocean.
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I don't believe I'd call me ignorant. I've lived in the mid-west my whole life but traveled all over the country. If I put in my mid-west city and compare record highs to Orlando there are many more over 100 temps in the summer here and our averages are really about the same. We just get colder in the winter. But in the summer we have 100% humidity the majority of the summer. I know not everyone lives on the ocean or gulf but in Orlando you are about 2 hours either way from the beach and do get more afternoon storms in the summer then here along with some breeze that comes with it because there's no breeze across the corn fields here...record high here 110 didn't see any like that in the summer in Orlando. That's one reason I can stand to go to Fla in July because it's just as hot here as there. Ignorance doesn't play any part of knowing that
Sorry ignorance was a bad choice of words. I am from the midwest too... and I can tell you Florida summers are hell. I hate them. I wish I could come back to the midwest every summer but alas I can't. I think the summers are worse in the midwest because not as many people have AC. Here we are so sick of mid 90's by October we could scream like you are when it snows in April...If you really are considering moving here let me know and I will give you the real lowdown. It really is a beautiful place to live and I wouldn't live anywhere else in the country. Where are you from in the midwest that it gets to 110, that is really hot!!!
Ohio River Valley...really southern Indiana (I work in KY) also 7 miles from IL so a bit more southern but still considered mid-west...enough to have frequent spring storms and tornado warnings and yes many days in summer over 100. We have more temp variation then Fla with lows in winter below 0 and summer highs above 100 with 2-5" rain per month average. I do spend a couple of months in Fla per year on average all over the state...I was mid-gulf coast over x-mas, Daytona next week, Panhandle in June and Palm Beach area in July then we'll see what else from there I do. I've been having real estate agents from the panhandle send me info but houses are more there. If/when we do move it will be closer to a military base as DH is retired USAF (lived in Homestead for awhile)but top out salaries for staff are about $5 less there then here from what I can tell and right now have decided I don't want to be on nights again with lower pay when I'm on the top now with days and lots of vacation time. True are averages here are less then averages there in summer but those cooler days we have bring down the over 100's. Are there lots of ozone alerts there in summer as there are here? I never pay attention to those when I'm there...Also say never again to Orlando and this year I mean it (ok maybe next year I'll take the kid to the parks again but someone will have to break my arm or something to make me do it)
I know I hate the theme parks too... funny that I live in Orlando huh!!! I make $25.75 per hr. I have been a nurse for over 12 yrs. I get $3.00 per hr. in clinical ladder but that is a pain in the butt. I know what you mean about nights did it for 10 yrs. (Changed over in July 2004) to days. I couldn't take it anymore but went from $60,000/yr to 50,000/yr. I am a single parent so that was a big toll on the budget. They pay 64% differential at my hospital for weekend nights so I do a few when they are short staffed. Good to talk to you...
they've just reinstated our clinical ladder so I'm doing that it's 7% more then base for clinical II and 3% for Clinical 1. Actually your pay is about the same as it is here for 10 years experience. Then we also have the weekend and shift diff, weekend option, if you work straight evenings or nights it's an extra $1/hr, charge pay, and on-call. Or ladder really is much better then it was in years past. We have several catagories and you get points in each one. Only 10% of nurses on any unit can get the ladder. You get points based on educations BSN or MSN, points if you are working on BSN or MSN, points if your certified or working on it, points for CEU's above required for state or certification, have to do minimum 1 inservice with points up to 3 inservices. Points for unit improvements, patient educations handouts, community service, years of service. Before it was a pain in the butt they wanted you to make copies of your charting to show how good you charted (ok chart really well for ladder stuff)writing care plans lots of busy work. Now its not so busy just credit for what you do. I do think the panhandle pay is lower that's where I've been looking just don't see it right now.
From what I have found the smaller area's seem to pay less. It also seems that the further south you go in Florida the pay seems to go up. I have friends in south Florida that make a few dollars more than me and a few in Jacksonville that make a few dollars less. (just an observation not really scientific) The beaches hospitals usually pay less too. Our clinical ladder is similar to yours, but any nurse can do it. We also have points for being a resource nurse in different subjects like Diabetes or pain or customer service. At our hospital they are so focused on customer service... it is crazy. I had to code a newborn in a labor room with 15 people (family in the room. We aren't allowed to limit the number of people that are in the room for deliveries for better customer service. You wouldn't believe some of the things they are doing in the name of customer service, it is just crazy.
we do limit 2 at a time to L&D rooms but today there were 6 in a room. I really don't mind 6 if they are there and helpful to the pt but I do mind just 2 if they are useless and in the way but it really is for safety sake and we use the HIPPA reason too with people standing out in the hall because they don't want to be in when pt's are getting checked and we're small so the rooms all go around the nurses station and you can hear what goes on. Those 6 weren't in my room though I was the c/s, recovery nurse today so I did that today..only 2 but by the time I got the first one in, IV, labs, cath, OR and recovery it was lunch time then another came in 35 weeks with back pain but once on the monitor had 2 minute spontanious dcels so had to do all the getting her ready moved her out of recovery at 1845 so pretty well took up my day.
Are you using the On-Q pain pump for incisional pain? We just started with it today don't see it really being worth much...I didn't have lots of incisional pain with my c/s I couldn't tell anyway with all the uterine pain (no duramorph just pca and old and out of shape did't help either) just looking for thoughts on it for c/s. I hear they help in joint surgery.
I agree about the number of people in the room, we are small too, 6 labor rooms, 2 triage, one antipartum. We seem to have family who come and then the pt. doesn't want them in the room for exams and pushing. So we have large groups of people sitting in the hall. Our Nurse manager says she wants to "make them feel at home" so she lets them sit in the halls and wonder around the unit. So much for privacy huh?? We have one doc who uses the on Q pump. I am not impressed, I still see the same number of pain pills being requested. This doc is so conviced it works he sends c/s home at 48 hrs with a script for anaprox !!! I think that is mean. I really like fentanyl epidurals for post c/s like a walking epidural. Awesome relif, they get up and walk and can be pain free for first few days, also less gas. But of course anesthesia doesn't like them because they have to manage them. I was in a lot of pain after my c/s I really felt like I was hit by a mack truck. But after the first couple days I felt a lot better. Its been a loooonnnnggg time tho. It is so funny how similar our units are and so far away, it really is a small world.
That Q pump ended up being a pain but the doc plans on using it again on Wed for his 2 scheduled sections. The patients gown was wet all weekend and the steri strips and tegaderm wouldn't stick. The patient didn't seem impressed with her pain relief either. This same doc give out Lortab 10, Morphine and Phenergan etc to anyone who's pregnant and say they hurt. He doesn't see how much they hurt doesn't think I guess there should be any discomfot with pregnancy. We have 4 L&D & 2 observation rooms and OR & PACU.
