UTEP's Nursing School/RN demand in El Paso? (Fort Bliss: buying, cabin)

[TexasTiger14]

I was just wondering if anyone is familiar with UTEP's nursing school and the FastTrack BSN program in particular? Also, does anyone know what the market is like for nursing school grads in El Paso currently? I've read a few articles about RN's being in demand but I was wondering if anyone has a first hand report regarding RN's finding jobs locally.

My wife and I are flying out to El Paso this Friday and spending MLK weekend in a cabin we rented up in Ruidoso. After we learned a month ago that Fort Bliss would be my first duty station my wife has been looking at programs offered by UTEP and is very interested in getting a second Bachelors in Nursing through this FastTrack program. We're going to stop by the school and take a tour before we head up to Ruidoso as well.

[mistabinks]

This is something I know first hand about. The local hospitals are still offering a signing a bonus and then incentive pay if you stay with them for so many years. Hiring very much depends on the census however. The hospitals will sometimes suspend hiring when there are not a lot of patients. There is a new hospital that just opened up. That created a demand for more nurses but also took some of the "business" away from other hospitals.

The good news is the that hospitals are still in competition to hire nurses away from each other. Your wife shouldn't have a problem finding a job here. Especially with UTEP's support. Also, before others try to tell you otherwise, Spanish is not required to be an RN. It would probably be very helpful but it is not required.

[TexasTiger14]

Originally Posted by mistabinks

This is something I know first hand about. The local hospitals are still offering a signing a bonus and then incentive pay if you stay with them for so many years. Hiring very much depends on the census however. The hospitals will sometimes suspend hiring when there are not a lot of patients. There is a new hospital that just opened up. That created a demand for more nurses but also took some of the "business" away from other hospitals.

The good news is the that hospitals are still in competition to hire nurses away from each other. Your wife shouldn't have a problem finding a job here. Especially with UTEP's support. Also, before others try to tell you otherwise, Spanish is not required to be an RN. It would probably be very helpful but it is not required.

Awesome, thanks for the help. We know very little Spanish as it is, but will definitely do our best to brush up on it in the coming year. Now if I can convince her to use her signing bonus on buying her husband a new truck I'll be all set.....