Any advice on seeking a job in the Texas medical field? (West: homes, contractors)

[Anders15]

How is the health field like in Texas? What is it like being a LPN (Of course soon to be RN) in Texas? I am in Virginia right now, where business is booming for the medical field but I am tired of the lifestyle here. I know standard of living is lower in Texas but just how in demand is a LPN right now?

I was hoping to move where a VA Medical facility was located but none are hiring. Is there a real need for LPNs right now in Texas? I would rather work at a hospital but I really don't have a preference. I don't really know the Texas areas well so I'll move where ever a job is open first and cope with location later. No where can be worse than here. Anyone here with any experience in the medical field in Texas? What are the "medical cities"..ya know the cities that deal with medical work more than all the other Texas cities? Any advice on the matter would be appreciated.



**Also on another note would my VA Medical license carry over to Texas? How does that work when moving to a different state? Do I have to retake a test or am I fine?

[NOTAM]

LVN's are used alot in MTF's (military treatment facilities) e.g. military posts/bases and VA facilities.
in the civilian world, they are being phased out little by little in acute care settings, so all ya got left really is correctional health (prisons) and LTC (long term care aka nursing homes).

If you are licensed to practice in the U.S., regardless of the state, you do not have to pay for a TX LVN/RN license IF you work on a federal installation.

Make sure you put your RESUMIX up on USAJOBS.COM and CPOL and have a search agent continually searching for federal jobs. There are plenty out here.

[NOTAM]

by the way, if you work in one of the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice faciliities (prisons), you would be an employee of either Texas Tech University for prisons on the West Texas regions or UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch) for prisons on the East and Central regions. This means that you would have tuition benefits, if you are interested in an advanced degree from a fine intitution. not a bad gig.
but of course federal jobs (GS/NSPS) cant be beat.
i do know that the contractors here on post use alot of LVNs and the website shows quite a few openings, last time I looked. at least that would be a foot in the door in case there are no civil service openings