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The current situation - Justinwrites - 11-17-2011
Hi, we're currently still mainlanders but we have an opportunity to do some travel nursing and it sounds like that may lead us to the islands. I'm hoping Hilo, specifically. We hope to take advantage of travel nursing as an opportunity to find a different place to call home. We're currently in Kansas...
I've seen many posts about how terrible things had been economically and how hard it was, and how much worse it got, to live in Hawaii. Each island seems to compete for it share of hardship, perceived or otherwise. But all of those were from 2008. I read now that Hawaii, by the numbers, has one of the better economies in the country. So can I get an update? Is nursing still in the dumps?
And thank you in advance for your time.
Justin
RE: The current situation - macuu222 - 11-17-2011
The healthcare industry here needs more providers. It's still very hard to find a doctor here. Most just go to the "clinic" and see whoever for whatever ailment they have. Most clinics operate on a sliding scale depending on income so they are very popular and can take up to a month to see a doctor unless you "walk in" and wait sometimes all day.
The good news is that the healthcare industry here is always hiring. They can't seem to get enough people for the jobs available. With regard to living here...it's still pretty much like it was in 2008.
RE: The current situation - dayna - 11-17-2011
I have a dear friend that just graduated nursing school. She currently has a job that pays $35/hour here in Alaska. She found pay in Hawaii averaged at about half that. But I have no idea what you currently make in your state so that could be either better or worse. And I'm not sure which field of nursing she was researching.
Dayna
www.AvianNation.com
RE: The current situation - Justinwrites - 11-17-2011
That's tough to hear. A lot of the info I find from back then suggests massive nursing lay-offs due to closures and such. Anyone have any news on that front? EDIT TO ADD: My wife has 13 years experience ranging from geriatric to medsurge with a stroke specialty. She makes about 26/hr before differentials and OT. Both of which are critical. But Travel nurses get paid a little differently we hear.
From what I can find the nursing positions pay a little better than here, and certainly sounds like enough for a family of 3 to survive on. I'm actually astounded at how inexpensive Hilo prices seem to be. Beef and all is cheaper than here... and I live smelling distance from a ranch.
Honestly we're sort of hoping to fall in love when we get there. We don't need much, just enough quiet time to be family... but we want a whole lot more time outside than we get here. In the summer it's 100+ with 90% humidity, in the winter its pretty darn close to 0 (winchills into the -20's sometimes) with sleet, freezing rain, and snow. As it stands now we get only about 6 months of windows-open weather and I hate that.
I'm a stay at home dad, homeschooling my son now. I have two useless degrees and no idea what I'll do with myself when I'm not even that anymore. But I've never seen a body of water bigger than Lake Michigan, so we're going to set out on this adventure. I really want Hawaii to just awesome.
Have I hit all the mainlander staples yet? You guys have the most awesome patience, thanks for letting another mainlander rant and wander.
RE: The current situation - jackson - 11-17-2011
Moving from Kansas to Hilo would be about as equivalent as moving from Shanghai to Patagonia. There's no common point of reference. I won't be the only one to tell you to do a whole lot more research and visiting before taking the plunge. The fact you can homeschool is a plus and the yonger your kids probably the better. It's an amazing place to live if it suits you, but it doesn't suit everyone.
RE: The current situation - Justinwrites - 11-17-2011
Yeah, I get that. #1 reason I jumped on the only forum in the region that really looked active. I'm going to need more practice with this sites search feature apparently. But I'm trying to reconcile all the info from 2008 against slightly less dated statistics and articles we see that all ultimately want you to invest either in a house or business.
Like I said, stage one is hopefully a position there as a travel nurse which will give us 2 or 3 months to feel it out. I think that will be huge. The position requires us to keep our house in KS for tax purposes, and they pay a housing stipend on top of the wage. I expect we'll travel like that for a year before we finally decide. But I'm honestly hard pressed to find anyplace that looks as good on paper. But that's why I'm here, I want to meet some people, make some contacts so maybe I can some real-people experience before we get there.
My son is on the very high-functioning end of the Asperger's spectrum, just noticeable enough that the rural school kids here are a little hard to handle. So that's another concern we have, already hearing that kids can be kind of rough on newcomers (mahilini?). So that'll be another challenge for us while we're there, to see if we can find a niche environment where he can make friends.
RE: The current situation - missydog1 - 11-17-2011
A lot about Hawai'i is awesome, but someone who has zero experience in mingling with THIS culture, as a mainlander from Kansas, is going to have a huge learning curve.
IMHO, too many people are moving here thinking of good weather. You will trade the weather issues for a bunch of other issues you have never dealt with at home. This is no utopia.
Your wife will only get hired it NO local girl or guy is there for the job, same with you. That's how it works here. After you have been here maybe five years, you move up the ladder a little.
I realize I am being harsh, but the repercussions from moving your family and not making it could be with you the rest of your life, and I want you to start thinking about the worst case. I have seen people very qualified for jobs get rejected again and again with the polite found someone else to fill the position.
That said, I don't know what travel nursing entails, but if you come here and go to the offices and the hospital, you will see that most staff is local, apart from the doctors. If you are a doctor, you are needed, but the cost of running a practice keeps new ones away. Many people here have insurance that pays the doctors very little reimbursement.
My grandson has a variety of special needs, and he is in a great school on the west side, but there are still kids who say mean things, like "freak" and so on.
If you moved to the west side, you would not run into the non-local issue as much, but you wouldn't find it nearly as affordable. Catch-22. Live where it's cheaper, get paid much less. That is why people commute 4-6 hours a day to the other side.
"And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends ~ Phil Ochs
RE: The current situation - Justinwrites - 11-17-2011
I appreciate that. I'm from a pretty diverse background, the only white student in the school kind of thing, living in primarily Asian and African (as in immigrants) segments of Kansas City. So I'm pretty fast to adapt to cultures. I only say that so you know I'm not some hick with a piece of straw in my mouth and wide eyed optimism.[
]And my understanding of Travel Nursing is that it involves a multiweek contract that can be re-upped one or two times. So yeah, we're not diving in without a way out.
But you're saying then that the Kona side is a little more welcoming? We don't really have a lot of say, I don't think, in which area or even island the contract is for but Hilo sounded like our speed. We'd prefer to be semi-rural just because we like the quiet after years growing up in the city. I can't imagine anyone commuting 4 hours, even out here where you might have 60 miles each way.
I'm confused now too, because I kept reading how open the Puna region was.
RE: The current situation - dayna - 11-17-2011
I don't currently live in Puna. However we have property, go there two to three times a year and plan to relocate there in 3.5 years when our daughter graduates from high school.
All the people we've interacted with have been polite and friendly. People on this forum rock.
I do see a bit of "local vs non local" type behavior. I see that here where I live in Alaska too so I'm used to being an "outsider" since I was not born and raised in the town I'm living in.
Hawaii in general is not a "quick fix" type of move. We plan on making the BI our home for the rest of our lives so we are building relationships now, working on our property now, slowly bringing items from home with us each trip.
Being from Kansas you might see some of the forecasts and think that the weather is grande. One word of caution, in Puna, it rains. It rains a lot. I'm from a cold rainforest so moving to a warm rainforest is a GREAT adjustment for me. I'm used to the rain. Some people find it depressing.
I found the Kona side to look like the surface of Mars. I would not want to work there nor commute. I will go there for the Costco though!
You might find Hawaii to be your perfect lifestyle fit, or you might not. I cannot stress enough to PLEASE go there first and visit before making any sort of commitment. Hawaii is not for everyone.
Dayna
www.AvianNation.com
RE: The current situation - punafish - 11-17-2011
KathyH's advice is valid. But it doesn't match my experience, probably because we sought out like-minded folks and immediately got plugged into a wonderful local charter school here in Puna called Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science (I volunteered to help with their Total Quality Management program, sat on the board, got to know the teachers, and eventually made friends through my son's friends--not to mention my wife now teaches there.) Note that when we moved here my son was 16, a tough age indeed. He's now 22, a student at UHH. What he had going for him is that he kind of looks "local" (half Japanese, half Caucasian) and he's a very confident person. It didn't hurt that he's a talented hip-hop dancer.
So as far as school is concerned, if you aren't doing home-schooling, HAAS is a great option (although it's in Puna not Hilo). The kids and teachers there are so welcoming and helpful. And I can't think of a better place for a special-needs kid to attend.
That said, lack of jobs is really the toughest nut to crack. If you can somehow find employment--or bring your own job with you--you might be able to make it work.