RN salary in Tampa area (Sarasota, Wesley Chapel: apartment, rental, chapel)

[seain dublin]

Well your entitled to your opionion. I do know that FL allows a larger patient load in hospitals than CA does.

And many doctors who have had "issues" in other states come to FL to practice medicine.

Overall the healthcare here is not great.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by docbest74

PS hey Bucfan...how's the military? Aren't you due to be a civilian soon??

On 1 July I'll be a civilian. Looking forward to the new challenge.

I enjoyed reading your post - got a kick out of the flip-flop applicant comment. That's the new Gen Xer's dress code. I deal w/ that everyday.

Still deciding on what to do when I get to FLA. Will likely revamp my career a little w/ some additional credentials. Like you, money isn't a big deal as much as an interesting, reward, challenging job.

Hope you like your new management position. I'm done supervising - too much drama, too much babysitting.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

The medical care in Florida is not good, people can spin it anyway they like. Many leave the state when they need surgery.

FL allows a nurse to have almost double the patient load of CA, tell me that doesn't cause more medical mistakes. More patients to deal with and for less money.

While I think unions have gotten out of control in some industries that fact that FL has almost no unions allows for poor working conditions.

And someone can take a 40 hour one week course and they are a CNA.

As mentioned already, many Ca hospitals have unions and with a union contract in a medical facility comes nurse to patient ratios. If you think the ratios are so bad, you need to go to other states where there are no ratios and look at a nurses assignment on a medical floor. At our hospital the nurse to patient ratio was a big factor in bringing a union in.
As for the quality of care in Fl. I would have to disagree. There are hospitals in every state that are not the best, but to generalize that the healthcare is poor in the state is wrong. We are part of a large national hospital collaborative as well as many prestigious hospitals. There are many Fl hospitals who participate in the collaborative as well and they are right on track with everyone else.
I don't want to make CNA's sound like they are not important, but they can do very little medically. They are assistants that help the nurses do functions like linen changes, transfers, bed pans, vital signs and the like. They are a very important part of the team, but they are not responsible for patient care like medications and other nursing only functions. In many states an LPN(who is a nurse) can not perform the same functions that Rn's perform. I'm not sure if Fl is like this or not, but if it isn't it probably won't be long before they are. This seems to be a trend many facilities are leaning toward.

[Coming to Tampa soon]

Originally Posted by docbest74

I really found this whole post interesting. I have been nursing all over the US and honestly, I enjoy working in Florida. I have always found the pay to be competitive when comparing cost of living and whatnot. My wife (who is also a nurse) and I just moved back to Florida from spending almost a year working around NC. I took a few dollar pay cut, but my wife got a few dollar increase so it worked out. We do pay a little more for rent (while we build a house) but we are also in a brand new construction with about 500 more sq ft. So...seems worth it to me. Also, the nurse ratio thing?! I can only speak for myself of course, but I always have found the ratio to be the same. Mind you, I do only ICU/Open Heart. So maybe Medical is different.
Also, I just went into a hospital two weeks ago looking for some per diem work just for something different and ended up being interviewed for management position of two units. (and I haven't completed my BS yet...). They offered the job (very good pay) and I asked for an additional 8k a year. Start the new job in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to the challenge. So I think when it comes to complaints about pay and the way the hospital treats you, maybe you should look at the way you market yourself. As I was leaving that hospital after my interview I seen a nurse filling out an app in flip flops and cut off shorts. Ok people, there is a nursing shortage but you still have to be professional. I have found that I have always average a higher wage and better "perks" because I believe I market myself well and I have a true passion for the profession. It is not just a paycheck for me.
When my wife interviewed at her current job we spent about an hour talking about the best way to approach questions and questions that she should ask. After her interview they expressed how impress they were by her and brought her in on the salary of a two year nurse. She graduated nursing school 7 months ago. The money is there and the hospitals are willing to pay it but you have to show them you deserve it.

Ok...enough of my babble.....

PS hey Bucfan...how's the military? Aren't you due to be a civilian soon??

I will be in the area next week on vacation and I plan to move there at the beginning of the year. I have 2 job interviews while I am there. They both warned me of the low pay down there. The thing is, where I live in PA, we make less than they do in Florida. So it will be about a lateral move, but I actually will end up making more money. The cost of living is about the same, and there is not state tax on your income so I will be making even more in a sense. That is win-win to me.

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by Synergy1

I use to live in Pennsylvania outside of Philly. My neighbor's daughter is an RN with a grad school degree. She was making $90k a year. A good salary and as an operating room nurse she could have made more money....Funny but she could make more if she worked on the week ends and combined 2 shifts together but she was very happy with her $90k.

Now we live in Florida and my neighbor is an RN in a Port Saint Lucie hospital mainly working in the recovery room. She makes no where the amount as those in Philly make and it is a darn shame.

Maybe the Floridian people who need nursing do not get the same kind of sickness as the ones up North seem to be sick.... Credentials for a lot of jobs in FLorida are usually expected to be higher than the same job requires in the Northern areas. I have a Master's degree and did many months of FEMA. Applied for a lessor job in Florida and I was requested to get a PhD to do the lesser job which included jockeying around trucks and trailers. I would complete my PhD but in Florida the focus was on paying the least amount of salary for the most amount of work. Seemed fair but a PhD to drive a truck? NAH....I retired early instead..


.

An RN with a masters degree would be a Nurse Practitioner.

[BucFan]

Not all Master's prepared nurses are Nurse Practitioners. That's a special program. As is the nurse anesthetist program. You can also be a clinical nurse specialist (CNS), or have masters in nursing administration or public health nurse. However, to be a nurse practitioner, you do need to earn a Masters Degree and sit for an exam. Takes a lot of work - normally NPs are very well trained as are nurse anesthetists.

[seain dublin]

I know what a CNA does, and you can become one in FL with a 40 hour class. They also get paid next to nothing here and have to do many tasks that someone with a weak stomach couldn't do.

Many here go into that job because it is steady work. Having spent way too much time in hospitals due to a family member who was seriously ill, I can tell you many have no busiess dealing with sick people.

Sorry, it is a know fact that many doctors come here after losing the right to practice in other states, I am not saying there aren't good doctors here, but you have to be very careful.

FL ranks near the bottom of the 50 states when it comes to healthcare.

[wiltznucs]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

FL ranks near the bottom of the 50 states when it comes to healthcare.

Oh really, and how does your beloved CA fair? According to this nationally published list FL is number 44 which is certainly nothing to be proud of, however, California ranks in at number 40. Both states not even in the top 75%.. It would appear CA's ratios and vastly superior MD's arent making as great an impact as you make it out.

And The Best State For Health Care Is ... - CBS News

California stands alone in its ratios, and dont get me wrong I too believe more RN's is a great thing. But as someone who works in the Administrative end of things I can assure you nationally imposed RN ratios will prove so costly that many rural and socioeconomically challenged facilities will be forced to close. I'm sure many patients would rather have care from a facility with a different staffing plan as opposed to no care at all. The eminent healthcare reform will not improve this as payments from Medicare and Medicaid will go down significantly. You dont have to be a mathmatician to figure that when hospital income goes down and expenses go up, things dont end well.

That is unless your willing to take a pay cut?

Lastly, one thing I'm certain of is that Nursing Unions like any other union exist to do one thing and one thing only, and that is to collect your hardearned money. If the downfall of the American automotive industry has taught us anything, its that unions have no business in an area as critical as healthcare.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by wiltznucs

Lastly, one thing I'm certain of is that Nursing Unions like any other union exist to do one thing and one thing only, and that is to collect your hardearned money.

You lose all credibility when you post this - as you seem not to understand what unions accomplish.

Patient safety sounds like it means nothing to you as an administrator. I hope not all feel the same way as you do.

[wiltznucs]

Originally Posted by BucFan

You lose all credibility when you post this - as you seem not to understand what unions accomplish.

Patient safety sounds like it means nothing to you as an administrator. I hope not all feel the same way as you do.

Your welcome to your opinion, I think its a bit absurd of you to make judgement of my character based on the points of my post. Its at least a bit of a leap on your part, when in the same post you quote I clearly indicated my preference for more RN's. You know nothing of me, nor the nationally recognized organization for which I work. I'll also go out on a limb and say that I have greater knowledge of unions, union pressure tactics, and the infighting within the healthcare unions than most. I'm also well read on the "Employee Free Choice Act" which I submit to you if passed eliminates your choice at all.

I'm of the humble opinion many of those things the unions claim to created for healthcare could have been accomplished by the voluntary professional organizations, if the organization had their act together. Its unfortunate but true that most people would rather pay someone to act on their behalf than do the work themselves.

The healthcare system is broke, the one resounding notion across America is that healthcare is too expensive. The position of the union's is to increase wages and create positions for which in many cases there is no one available to fill. Thus increasing costs even further??? And who benefits?

Patients...? Thats arguable...
The Employee? Maybe, but it should be noted that nearly as many facilities have voted the Union's out as new sites have been created. In fact union activity is at its lowest level in decades.
The Union? Absolutely.. with more employees and a higher wage structure the Union lines its pockets even further.

Patient safety means everything to me and all other caring healthcare workers. I think its all to easy to throw "patient safety" around as a justification for any expense or initiative, and agree that often its the only way to accomplish a goal. Alas, its been proven time and again that patient safety goals can be accomplished using existing resources and without Union oversight. Its no coincidence that almost all of America's Top 100 facilities are non-union.