re: States ranked lower than Louisiana in cost of living

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How’s the nursing life out there? I’ve read that the pay is really solid.

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Nursing pay out west in general is pretty good. Get a few years experience and you can easily make 75-80k a year on up(even more if you love overtime). California pays the best(but of course they have a higher COL along the coastal areas). I think TX pays their nurses very well also.

Once you get some experience as a nurse...look for companies that will pay huge bonuses to work there. These companies help find nurses for hospitals. The hospital I work at...I got the job there with a 20K bonus once I have been there a year(I've now been there 10 years). I quit being a travelnurse to take that job in 2007 to set down roots in the PHX area. I STILL get offers from this company (and a few others) to relocate to various parts of the country for bonuses ranging from 20-40K with additional relocation costs paid for. The states for these have varied over the years(Nevada, Texas, California, the midwest...basically all over...except I've never gotten one for Southern states).

Just something to consider in the future