Nursing in Spokane? (South Hill: living, versus, shop)

[schisler4]

I currently live in Anchorage, Alaska and the weather is starting to get to me in a bad way. Our summer last year was nonexistent and our winters have been weird lately. I am in the process of getting my BS in Nursing and I might be going on to become a CNM. I am thinking about Spokane because my dad loves it there and I am a big family person. My boyfriend also wants to go somewhere that has snow and snowmobiling.

I have read a couple of older forums on the nursing environment and I haven't heard anything good about it. Can anyone tell me some information about the best hospital to work at and the pay rate?

Also, how big is snowmobiling in Spokane? Are there any lakes and mountains for more skilled snowmobilers?

[fearnofish]

Originally Posted by schisler4

Also, how big is snowmobiling in Spokane? Are there any lakes and mountains for more skilled snowmobilers?

I can not answer your question about nursing but I can speak for this one.

Snowmobiling is big in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area. Most of the snowmobile trails are in the mountains and they range from nice flatlands to whatever you can think of. Once you get in the area just go to a snowmobile shop and start asking around. We used to snowmobile in the CDA National Forest all the time using the Fernan Saddle as our starting point.
As for lakes are looking for fishing? If so the CDA would be great for you. We have Lake Coeur d'Alene which is 30 some miles long, Fernan Lake, Hauser Lake, Hayden Lake, Twin Lakes, Avondale, Lake Pend Oreille which is 30-40 miles long and over 1500 feet deep and has a Navy Submarine testing base on it. All these lakes as well as some other little ones are within half a hour or so of each other. It is a fishermans paradise. For any info on that I'd highly suggest Fins and Feathers (208)667-9304. Hope I helped a little bit atleast.

[fracpilot]

My wife and I moved to Spokane about 6 months ago. We love it. I am from Alaska and she is from Colorado. Very similar overall weather patterns but drier overall here and a more pronounced summer versus Alaska...My wife is a 10 year ICU nurse and most of the hospitals in the area were offering between 28 to 46 an hour depending upon several factors such as exp, schedule, specialization and such. You have sacred heart which is the biggest that never even called my wife until 4 months after she applied and were very rude. Holy Family and Deaconess are the next two biggest and I believe both are hiring and seem like good places to work so far. In CDA you have Kootenai which was by far the lowest paying and want all their nurses to float to several different units which some love and some hate. I have no idea about CNM in the area. In general the nursing market is as good in spokane as anywhere else in the country. good luck

[kaimik]

The three big hospitals in the area are Holy Family on the north side (where my hubby works), or Sacred heart and Deaconess just off the freeway that runs east/west through Spokane. I'm not sure the exact status now, but Deaconess was having significant financial problems and was purchased by Community Health Partners. Haven't heard the latest news, but I'd guess that they're still going through significant changes. That's about all the info I know!

You might want to research what area of town you'd like to live in, and choose your hospital acccordingly. Holy Family works well for those on the northside - we wouldn't want to do a north/south commute on Division. And Sacred Heart/Deaconess would work well for living on the South Hill or locations east or west just off the freeway.

Good luck!