Best city 4 a LPN? (Seattle, Spokane: real estate market, oceanfront, chapel)

[Anders15]

Hi i was wondering if off the top of anyone's head do you know where a good city for a LPN to look for a job? Still studying to be a RN but I am not sure where the "medical cities" are in Washington. Like what Durham is to NC. I don't care if it is Seattle or a smaller town.. just not trailer parks. Again im not asking anyone to look for a job for me just usually where is the best city to look at. Thanks!

[Ira500]

It would have to be Seattle, home to UW Medical Center, Harborview Hospital, Swedish Hospital, Swedish Ballard, Swedish Providence, Group Health Hospital, Virginia Mason Hospital, and a bunch of other facilities.
Nearby cities have hospitals and medical clinics as well, including but not limited to Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton, Auburn, and Burien.

[StealthRabbit]

SEA and Spokane are the major Medical places in WA.

or try the west sound for more 'affordable' digs w/o the 'traffic'

Check into Harrison Hospital, Bremerton. Care centers in Silverdale, WA State Veterans home in Retsil (Port Orchard).

If you want to go south, you can check out Vancouver, WA. In addition to lots of Vancouver facilities (2 hospitals, many medical groups, VA care center...), you have access to Portland med jobs (+ 9% OR income tax...).
and lots of nursing schools... WSU, Clark College, OHSU, Concordia, Linfield, and many others.

[Anders15]

Thank you both!

[Dendrite]

Ron:

As Ira said, if you're looking for the WA version of the "research triangle" with its three major universities (Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill) and affilitated medical school/university hospitals- Seattle is your only equivalent option.

If solid private or community hospitals are acceptable, then you have multiple options as suggested above.

[NCWmark]

That is true, if you want to expand your possibilities to private practices and community hospitals, then there are nursing jobs available in many areas across the state. I know for a fact that the health industry is in need of nurses in areas that are seen as retirement destinations because the age of the population is both growing and older. That alone opens up the possibility for a number of oceanfront localities as well as communities on the east side of the mountains.

[Anders15]

I was just wondering, because everyone wants to be in Seattle and that is where the hospitals are ..does it hurt the nursing homes farther from Seattle? The homes all the way on the western coast or way north do you guys think there is a real need for them over there because of this? Again just wondering in general not asking for anything specific.

[StealthRabbit]

because everyone wants to be in Seattle

I don't know anyone who wants to be in Seattle, tho I know several who are there that wouldn't think of leaving.

The Care Centers in more remote towns are often the ones with the lowest cost of care and sometimes the most compassionate care. (Lower wages . facility, and housing costs. Care is given by folks who desire to live in the community and care for folks they have known for years, often their own teachers / grocers / mechanics...).

Many folks choose to live in more remote towns due to better 'quality of life' (for their tastes). Caregivers will work for less wages, and cost of property is often considerably less, (depending on Real estate market) especially permitting!!! (no $100k traffic studies). Second homes owned by the wealthy really kill the cost structure of a desirable rural locale. Those homes sit vacant, thus no wages are spent, no subsistence groceries / goods / services bought, and the property values skyrocket forcing locals to move due to high taxes (mine went from $800 / yr to $12,000/ yr due to 'speculators, not residents'). When the second homes are occupied, the users often bring a trunk full of Costco or Walmart goods in vehicles 1/2 full of gas (enough to get them back to Walmart). Tough on rural economies.

Healthy communities can serve a good model for "aging-in-place' or NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities) whether they be in Seattle, Twisp, Kettle Falls, or Waitsburg. The consolidation of care into hubs can bring efficiencies, but quality of life desires can trump factory style health care. We might need to consider less "specialty care" and more "holistic care" for elderly. But now with our new assisted suicide law, if they get too expensive to fix, we can let them get 'terminal' and then 'off' them, saving lots of time, money, grief, and space. Talk about efficiency!