RN's in Atlanta & Northern Atlanta moving help (Marietta, Alpharetta: good schools, university)

[Anniem]

I am a RN looking to move to the northern atlanta area this spring. I need information on the best hospitals to work for, schools for my teen-age daughter, and housing for my family. The Woodstock area has been suggested along with the Cumming area. Can anyone give me some information? It would be greatly appreciated.
Anniem

[applejuice]

Woodstock is a great area. Housing and taxes are very affordable. I am not so familiar with the hospitals nearby...but try Northside hospital in Canton and Kennestone in Marietta. I believe these are the nearest hospitals to Woodstock.


Schools are good (per Georgia standard)

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by Anniem

I am a RN looking to move to the northern atlanta area this spring. I need information on the best hospitals to work for, schools for my teen-age daughter, and housing for my family. The Woodstock area has been suggested along with the Cumming area. Can anyone give me some information? It would be greatly appreciated.
Anniem

I am graduating from nursing school in May. Our instructors know a lot of people at hospitals in the Atlanta area, or have worked there themselves. They keep us up to the minute on who's paying what, and who's doing what. Northside Hospital has three campuses, Northside Atlanta, Northside Cherokee (that's in Woodstock, the "Cherokee" means Cherokee county) and Northside Hospital in Cumming. Northside is a good hospital and pays well. However, I've seen that Northside can be very exclusive and snooty, as if it's a previlege for you to work there. It can be hard to get hired if you don't know someone. The main campus in Atlanta, is in a very upscale area called Dunwoody. Then there's Grady Hospital, which is a county hospital. Need I say more? Grady is good for learning if you need to do an internship or are a student, as they are the only level 3 trauma facility in Atlanta. They are understaffed, don't pay well, and as with all county hospitals, there's never enough money in the budget for anything. I'll be doing an OB rotation there in two weeks.

Then there's the ever-prestigous Emory University Hospital in Decatur, Ga. They are a great hospital, I've personally had care there. They were also one of the one's that didn't want to pay because they felt having the "Emory" name on your resume was compensation. And they had perks like if you worked full time, you could take classes there for free. Well, I've heard they had to up the pay for their nurses because they began leaving a few years ago to get more money elsewhere, so I think it's a little better now. Then you have Childrens Hospital of Atlanta and St. Joseph's Hospital. I don't know much about Childrens, but St. Josesph's is tough to get into simply because they have very little turnover, from what I hear, their nurses don't quit, if that tells you anything. Both of those hospitals are in Atlanta proper.

Please don't work at Kennestone as the other poster suggested. Kennestone, along with several other hospitals, (none that I've mention so far) are part of the WellStar Health System. They pay the lowest of anybody other than Grady. They're a Hospital of perks, as if that pays the bills!! And let's see, what else? Oh, Gwinnett Medical Center, and Emory has another hospital that branched from them call Emory-Crawford Long in Downtown Atlanta. Then there's Atlanta Medical Center, DeKalb Medical Center, and Norh Fulton Hospital in Alpharetta, which is a hop and a skip from Cumming. Don't know too much about those though. Although I'd stay clear of Dekalb Medical Center. Oh, yeah, and Piedmont Hospital, in the prestigous Buckhead community in Atlanta as well. Piedmont is o.k., haven't heard any horror stories yet. There are just too many hospitals to name. That's two things we're not short on here are schools and hospitals.

Cumming is in Forsyth County, and has a racially charged history. Up until the late 80's, they had band any blacks from living there. I hear that's changing, but I don't know to what extent. Woodstock is nice, affordable housing, good schools. But the traffic! Oh Lord! It's a grid-locked area for traffic in the morning and evening. Unless you plan on working in Woodstock, I don't know if I would cheer you on to move there. Anyway, Good Luck.

[skotsr]

Anniem ,

[URL="http://www.city-data.com/forum/members/jeweloflight-30778.html"][/URL]jeweloflight is correct about these locations & well explained
please take my advice do not move to cumming, believe me i know
i lived there from age 5 to 19 & you heard right about people being snotty / high oh mighty , they cant even stand them own selves much
less be able to except anyone else. well enough said

[tammyg1161]

I am also a RN looking to relocate. My husband has cerebral palsy and we moved from Detroit to Dallas last March to help with accessibility. Not a good choice really crappy... many areas have no sidewalks and the areas that do are hit and miss as to whether they are handicap accessible. Do you know what area would be good to look at for accessibility issues and do you know how Piedmont hospital is. Thanks!

[roxyrn]

My advice is to start applying now for your Georgia RN license if you haven't already. You need a variety of things (employment verification, transcripts, license documentation) sent in sealed envelopes as well as a notarized application with passport photo and finger-printing for background check to be done in GA. The application and info is online at the Georgia Board of Nursing website.

[Cydney C.]

I worked as an RN in Atlanta for 16 yrs. I started out in a little hospital in Paulding County and the hospital was called Paulding Hospital. While working there we were bought out by Promina, then Wellstar. I made decent money. It is also a very nice place to live. Or it used to be. I also worked at Grady in the trauma unit and flew at what used to be Baptist Hospital on Lifeflight. The pay is bad, but the experience is immeasurable. I loved working at Grady, it was an experience I'll never forget. The hospitals in Atlanta pay peanuts compared to what I've made in Nashville. I think I left Georgia in 2000, and I had topped out at $18.50/hr. I got hired at Vdy and started st $25.00/hr. I left nursing in 04 due to illness, but I was making $38.75/hr when I left. I don't think Atl pays anywhere near that, even now. If you want great experience, live in burbs and work at Grady. If not, definitely work in Woodstock and live there too. Dallas and Hiram are close and are nice slightly rural areas to live and are a fairly close commute. Good luck with your choice!!!!!