[nursechick]

My husband and I are planning on moving from FL to the North Haven/Hamden/Wallingford area in the spring. He is a truck driver and will have a job waiting for him when he gets there.

I am wondering if there are any RN's on this forum who could give me some insight into the current demand for RN's in the New Haven area? I will have 1 1/2 years of nursing experience when I move, so I am still a fairly new nurse. I have looked at Yale New Haven Hospital's website and while they do have some jobs available, I by no means get the feeling that there is a high demand right now.

I am also interested in employment outside the hospital. What are some other large employers in the area? Are there any large private practice offices I should look into?

I'm curious to hear from someone in the field as to what the typical nurse salary looks like up there? I've heard $25/hr, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I make $20 here in FL as a brand new grad....so I would hope that the hourly wage is quite a bit more up there...given the higher cost of living.

I can't wait to hear back from you guys! Thanks for your help. My husband and I are soo looking forward to this move

[poodlecamper]

Hi----Although I no longer work due to health, I still get mail solicitations for open houses and positions in the local hospitals. It's good that you have experience, since from what I've heard, the area employers are not interested in those without any.
I'll go out on a limb and say the pay is higher than $20/starting---I'll check with my niece, who has been at St. Raphael's for a couple of years.

I think you should have a pretty easy time finding a job. There are many hospitals in the area, and especially in the New Haven area there are large private practices of specialists. Always visiting nurse positions also.
Have you applied for your CT license yet? What type of experience do you have? Working in the New Haven area would be a great experience----you have some of the top doctors in the world.
Do you have family here/ Sorry for being so nosy. Best wishes!

[willow wind]

I'm not a nurse but I can give a quick overview of some things just from what friends in that field tell me. One friend ,very, very experienced with a master's degree's, makes over $95,000, as a trauma specialist. For newer nurses like yourself, nursing salaries can be all over the place. If you look closely at the Yale website, you'll see there are all categories of nurse compensation- from full time with benefits, full time, no benefits, per diems, etc.

And then you have to add in the differentials which change the wage structure- weekends, nights, 12 hour days, but not five days a week, etc. Some of it will depend on your degree level. Are you an RN or an RN with a bachelor's degree ? Obviously the greater the educational attainment, the greater the salary and the greater chance of snagging a job.

I also would not limit yourself to just looking at Yale- New Haven. If you choose to live in the Wallingford area it would put you within easy commute of New Britain Hospital in New Britain, Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington ( huge place). Possibly even Hartford Hospital in Hartford. Or the various branches of Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Also there are many satellite clinics of those hospitals in the area. In addition most, most doctors at those hospitals who have admitting privileges also have their own private practices, sometimes, multi office private practices.

There are also privately run community health care centers, lots of nursing homes, convalescent homes, rehabilitation centers, life care facilities, psychiatric hospitals in the region. And of course, there is always private duty nursing and nursing in a correctional facility.

My understanding is that there is actually a shortage of nurses in CT. Good luck- I'm sure you'll find a job.

One more thing- transfer your license before you seriously look for a job. CT is reciprocal with FL so it's an easy paperwork transfer but no one will even consider you unless you have that CT license in hand. They want you ready and able to start, not waiting on shuffling papers around.

[Stylo]

Between the Bridgeport and New Haven areas, I think you should be well covered. I have several friends that work at St. Vincent's in Bridgeport and Yale New Haven. Yale is the largest in the state with a huge network of specialty offices and doctors in the area. There's also Bridgeport Hospital, Griffin (Derby), Milford Hospital, St. Raphael's (which has been bought out by Yale), Shoreline Medical Center (Guilford, also Yale), etc.

I know an RN that works private duty in the area and does very well at about $45/hour.

[nursechick]

Originally Posted by poodlecamper

Hi----Although I no longer work due to health, I still get mail solicitations for open houses and positions in the local hospitals. It's good that you have experience, since from what I've heard, the area employers are not interested in those without any.
I'll go out on a limb and say the pay is higher than $20/starting---I'll check with my niece, who has been at St. Raphael's for a couple of years.

I think you should have a pretty easy time finding a job. There are many hospitals in the area, and especially in the New Haven area there are large private practices of specialists. Always visiting nurse positions also.
Have you applied for your CT license yet? What type of experience do you have? Working in the New Haven area would be a great experience----you have some of the top doctors in the world.
Do you have family here/ Sorry for being so nosy. Best wishes!

Hi poodlecamper!

Nice to meet you, and thanks for your quick reply .

That would be great if you would check with your niece. Is she a nurse at St. Raphael's?

My experience is on a Progressive Care Unit (PCU). Which is a step down unit from the ICU. Nurse to patient ratio is typically 1:4 (or on a bad day 1:5) and all patients require cardiac monitoring.

Yeah, I think I'd like to look into private practice too. 12 hr shifts are nice, but every other weekend & holidays...not so nice. Think you could give me some names of the big private practice specialists? Hospitals are easy to find online....but I've been having trouble figuring out what private practices are in the area.

You're not being nosy at all! I'm happy to share. My husband is from East Haven and he does have a brother in North Haven. CT is just beautiful and he can't wait to come back "home". I'm originally from Canada....and the bottom line is....Florida weather is not for us! We miss being able to enjoy 4 seasons, and we both can't wait to call New England home.

[nursechick]

Originally Posted by willow wind

I'm not a nurse but I can give a quick overview of some things just from what friends in that field tell me. One friend ,very, very experienced with a master's degree's, makes over $95,000, as a trauma specialist. For newer nurses like yourself, nursing salaries can be all over the place. If you look closely at the Yale website, you'll see there are all categories of nurse compensation- from full time with benefits, full time, no benefits, per diems, etc.

And then you have to add in the differentials which change the wage structure- weekends, nights, 12 hour days, but not five days a week, etc. Some of it will depend on your degree level. Are you an RN or an RN with a bachelor's degree ? Obviously the greater the educational attainment, the greater the salary and the greater chance of snagging a job.

I also would not limit yourself to just looking at Yale- New Haven. If you choose to live in the Wallingford area it would put you within easy commute of New Britain Hospital in New Britain, Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington ( huge place). Possibly even Hartford Hospital in Hartford. Or the various branches of Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Also there are many satellite clinics of those hospitals in the area. In addition most, most doctors at those hospitals who have admitting privileges also have their own private practices, sometimes, multi office private practices.

There are also privately run community health care centers, lots of nursing homes, convalescent homes, rehabilitation centers, life care facilities, psychiatric hospitals in the region. And of course, there is always private duty nursing and nursing in a correctional facility.

My understanding is that there is actually a shortage of nurses in CT. Good luck- I'm sure you'll find a job.

One more thing- transfer your license before you seriously look for a job. CT is reciprocal with FL so it's an easy paperwork transfer but no one will even consider you unless you have that CT license in hand. They want you ready and able to start, not waiting on shuffling papers around.

Thanks for the tip on getting my CT license before I start to apply for jobs. That makes a lot of sense.

I don't have my BSN yet. But I do plan on obtaining it in the future. Probably not before I move to CT though.

I need to start putting a list together of those doctors who have private practices in addition to hospital privileges. I haven't had much luck searching that online though.

[AnonChick]

If either of you has health insurance that has state-specific networks, you could find a great list of hospital-privileged physicians through the insurance company. Usually it'll be right on the website - you log in, and supply the zip code and a mile radius you're willing to "go" (as a patient). Include hospital privileges as a criteria, any specialties on the filter, or exclude any if the filter provides exclusions, hit the "submit" button (or enter or OK keys) and boom - out pops a list of physicians with hospital privileges in a specified radius around 06511 (Generic New Haven zip code), who do -not- specialize in pediatrics, but -do- accept cardiac patients, and do -not- work out of a kidney dialysis center (as an example of filtering).

[Comp625]

Many of my friends (in their 20's who are newly graduating nurses) are employed by Stamford Hospital. They've all spent at least a few years there and some have since moved onto other local employers but were glad they had the Stamford Hospital experience.

For example, one friend works at one of the Visiting Nurse & Hospice organizations in Fairfield County. She's a Registered Nurse and has her Master's Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

There may also be opportunities for nurses at the VA in West Haven.

In central and upper Connecticut, the Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) is a huge employer for nurses, doctors, and other folks with healthcare experience. Some of its hospital affiliates were already mentioned previously, so I'll list a few others not mentioned: Manchester Memorial and Rockville General. New London Hospital is another huge one serving the folks in southeastern CT - my best friend's dad is now Chief Surgeon there and has worked for several decades.

With some patience in a down economy, there are many CT-based nursing opportunities that can be had and/or may pop up in the near future. You just have to keep your hopes up.

[Stylo]

Forgot about the VA. The general area around New Haven and Bridgeport is rife with hospitals. Which is expected given #1 Yale's presence and #2 they're the two most populated cities in the state.

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Forgot about the VA. The general area around New Haven and Bridgeport is rife with hospitals. Which is expected given #1 Yale's presence and #2 they're the two most populated cities in the state.

Why forget the VA? My friend wife is a nurse there and loves it. In fact, he just got laid off and has an opportunity there as an operational excellence leader for surprisingly big $$$. I think they're underrated...