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Old 12-27-2013, 03:48 PM
 
4 posts, read 31,211 times
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I'm finishing up my nursing degree (RN) and I currently live in Iowa. One of my options to live is Colorado. I plan on going to school to finish up and get my BSN. I am looking for a city that has a school with a good nursing program, a nice hospital within the area, reasonable living expenses, and I want to be close to the mountains, and a nice amount of things to do. I would love to hear your opinions!!
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Old 12-27-2013, 10:38 PM
 
Location: CO/UT/AZ/NM Catch me if you can!
6,926 posts, read 6,931,897 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by niki789 View Post
I'm finishing up my nursing degree (RN) and I currently live in Iowa. One of my options to live is Colorado. I plan on going to school to finish up and get my BSN. I am looking for a city that has a school with a good nursing program, a nice hospital within the area, reasonable living expenses, and I want to be close to the mountains, and a nice amount of things to do. I would love to hear your opinions!!
And I'm sure you'll hear some of them. Did you notice the other thread here about a nurse who wants to move to Colorado? You might check out the replies there as well as to your own thread.

I'd suggest Colorado Springs. Living expenses there are quite reasonable; it has two excellent hospitals - Memorial and Penrose; there are nice views of the mountains from most parts of town; and it has four schools that offer nursing programs. I believe the best is Beth-El College of Nursing & Health Sciences at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. It offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in nursing. I had a friend who got her nursing degree there and she really liked their program. Once you graduate, the pay for a job in nursing in Colorado Springs will probably be somewhat lower than what you would get elsewhere, but other than that I think you'll find it worth your while to check Colorado Springs out. Good luck!
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Old 12-28-2013, 12:16 AM
 
4 posts, read 31,211 times
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Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler View Post
And I'm sure you'll hear some of them. Did you notice the other thread here about a nurse who wants to move to Colorado? You might check out the replies there as well as to your own thread.

I'd suggest Colorado Springs. Living expenses there are quite reasonable; it has two excellent hospitals - Memorial and Penrose; there are nice views of the mountains from most parts of town; and it has four schools that offer nursing programs. I believe the best is Beth-El College of Nursing & Health Sciences at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. It offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in nursing. I had a friend who got her nursing degree there and she really liked their program. Once you graduate, the pay for a job in nursing in Colorado Springs will probably be somewhat lower than what you would get elsewhere, but other than that I think you'll find it worth your while to check Colorado Springs out. Good luck!
Thank you so much! That helped a ton!
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Old 12-28-2013, 12:24 PM
 
9,377 posts, read 8,345,252 times
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I agree with Rambler, CO Springs or even Parker (Parker Adventist Hospital is great). I am someone who also moved from Iowa to Colorado.........Des Moines to Denver to be specific. While I was very thankful to have made the move, it was a bit of sticker shock at the high cost of everything there from housing to utilities. I was in the city of Denver not the 'burbs so that made things a bit pricier. Just be sure and visit and get a feel before you decide on anything and I'd recommend renting at first so you're not tied to an area that you may not like in a year.
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Old 12-30-2013, 06:45 AM
 
51 posts, read 81,467 times
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Originally Posted by Florida2014 View Post
Just be sure and visit and get a feel before you decide on anything and I'd recommend renting at first so you're not tied to an area that you may not like in a year.
This is good advice. One person's perception of a "best place" could be totally different than yours.
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Old 12-30-2013, 10:41 AM
 
3,490 posts, read 6,096,821 times
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If you move from Iowa to Colorado and decide you don't like it, you'll be suffering from a severe lack of ability to analyze things

I moved from the expensive parts of Iowa to Colorado Springs. I had sticker shock occasionally--in that I was loving how much cheaper things were here. Nursing pay is reasonable. Entry pay is about 25/hour. In Iowa, in most places it's around 22/hour. Sometimes under 21. That easily covers any increases in costs, and you get to be near the mountains instead of suffering in the horrid cold of the Midwest. While we were in Iowa, all but one year the average high in the winters was in the mid twenties. (One year it was mid to high 30s) In Colorado Springs, the average high is 42 to 44. There are extreme deviations from there, with days over 60 and some under 20, but the average is still dramatically higher.

So pay to cost of living favors Colorado. Weather favors Colorado. I wish you the best of luck

PS. If you really just wanted high pay to COL, you'd be going to Seattle. The CoL is higher, but entry nursing jobs (BSN required) are paying 35 to 38$/hour with no state income tax. The problem is that it rains all the time and there is not enough asphalt per car for you to drive anywhere without a traffic jam. Of course, that's why they have to pay nurses so much to move there. Housing and property taxes are high, but in the overall picture, it does extremely well on pay to COL.
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Old 12-30-2013, 07:41 PM
 
211 posts, read 519,135 times
Reputation: 220
Quote:
Originally Posted by niki789 View Post
I'm finishing up my nursing degree (RN) and I currently live in Iowa. One of my options to live is Colorado. I plan on going to school to finish up and get my BSN. I am looking for a city that has a school with a good nursing program, a nice hospital within the area, reasonable living expenses, and I want to be close to the mountains, and a nice amount of things to do. I would love to hear your opinions!!
I think that Colorado Springs and Boulder are definitely worth looking at. They are both pretty safe cities in comparison to other big Colorado cities, and they are both in close proximity to the mountains. Colorado Springs is more on the pricey side though, so is Boulder but they both have affordable areas too. Boulder has many nice hospitals, and so does Colorado Springs. Both cities have lots to do. Colorado Springs and Boulder are known for being very vibrant and artsy, especially for younger people! Hope you make the best pick for yourself.
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Old 12-30-2013, 11:13 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by niki789 View Post
One of my options to live is Colorado. ... I would love to hear your opinions!!
BTDT...I lived in IA once and COlorado for 25+ yrs... Consider your OTHER options , especially INCOME TAX FREE states (career yrs are well served by being in a TAX FREE STATE. I left CO at age 28 partly for that reason / benefit).

Get on with VA for PAID BSN and advancements.


Look at Sheridan, WY and Sturgis, SD, (Rapid / Spearfish will have many schooling options and VERY close to mtns) as well as WA, and AK. All these can be much closer to the Mtns than many places in CO. CO Springs would be the likely best choice if possible. Denver is a prairie jungle. YMMV
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Old 01-01-2014, 07:39 AM
 
3,490 posts, read 6,096,821 times
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Politely disagree with Stealth Rabbit. I did tons of research on the entire country and I would never even remotely consider Wyoming or SD. They are a major major drop off in quality of life due to the awful weather and lack of things to do.
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Old 01-01-2014, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,991,883 times
Reputation: 9586
One persons concept of awful weather can be another persons weather heaven.
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