Nursing jobs (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: job market, move to, pollution)

[AZGOLFER]

Hi-

Does anyone know if there is a high demand for nurses in the Albuquerque area right now? Any idea what the pay is like? I'm currently a nurse in the Phoenix area, but I'm tired of all the crime, traffic, pollution etc..and I need a change....any information would be very helpful.

Thanks

[rybert]

If you want to work nights and earn weekend differential you could easily be over $100k. Check with the VA and St. Joseph's.

[berncohomes]

Originally Posted by rybert

If you want to work nights and earn weekend differential you could easily be over $100k. Check with the VA and St. Joseph's.

I would say that would be a good incentive to move to ABQ especially with the rapidly declining housing market over there.

[Towanda]

I am a registered nurse, and I am RETIRED .... but I still get offered nursing jobs in NM because the shortage is acute.

Of course that is in Santa Fe, but I would think the job market in ABQ would be even better.

[papillonailes]

Hello, I haven't been on City-Data for awhile, but here I am and I have relocated to Albuquerque - my dream of nearly 15 years - and I recently graduated from an LPN program in Seattle. I am looking for agency work to start out with, until I have a better idea where I might want to work permenantly.

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good nurse staffing agency to try. Also, I am submitting an application to Nursefinders, and was wondering if anyone had experience with them? I had done a little agency work in Seattle, and soon realized that some are definitely better than others. What would qualify as "better" for me would include fairness of pay, benefits, reliability (ie: do they frequently cancel jobs that they assign you to), reputation with clients (ie: various hospitals, etc. they staff for), quality of they nurses they hire (ie: do they hire anyone off the street, do they hold their staff accountable, do they do background checks, etc.)

I appreciate any feedback anyone has. I will probably look for something as a nurse's aide until I get my license, which should be in no more than a couple months. I just don't want to wait that long to start working, naturally.

Thank you again!