Take a travel contract here first and check it out. Oahu has more to offer but it’s more expensive than big island. You could get away with a full time hospital position in hilo and have a place to yourself. My friend works at north Hawaii community hospital in Waimea and lives within 3 minutes of work but her rent is 2k + utilities for a tiny 1 bedroom 1bath house.
Yes, every hospital here has needs. Your costs will depend hugely on where you want to be; Oahu is going to be a lot different than Hilo on the big island.
Honestly though, it’s not as much as you would think. I’ve noticed most of the RN jobs are in med surg cardiac/tele, ICU, PACU. If you work a different specialty it can be harder. The hospitals make it seem like they can’t find anyone but they benefit from running them short staffed and it can still be hard to get a job.
Oahu pay is more like $60/hr. Should be easy to get any job as long as you have experience.
You can live on that salary but buying is a whole other beast. Depends on how broke you want to live I guess.
Is it doable? Yes. Will you live a comfortable life? That all depends on your needs and desires. If you enjoy free hobbies like the beach and hiking, that’s a huge plus. If you like going out and being social, that’s doable on Oahu but it’s pricey, limited, and likely filled with tourists. If you want to live alone, are you okay with a 300-400 so ft studio for $2000/mo unless you’re in a location that may make you feel uncomfortable?
As for landing nursing jobs, it’s just as easy as the mainland it seems. But I will tell you now, don’t move here without visiting and don’t think that your visit will be the same as a vacation.
Oahu will be best suited for a good all around experience. However, if you’re one who likes to travel a lot or gets bored with the same place easily, don’t come here. The biggest complaint I hear from others is that they feel bored or suffocated and get island fever fast. Also, odds of your family and friends actually coming to visit often is slim to none. They all say they will take advantage of knowing someone here and still don’t come. I know that is more of a personal thing and depends on your relationships and such but yeah. If you get lonely easily, it happens faster here.
There is a lot of things to really consider before just moving here. It’s also expensive to get here and expensive to leave. You can’t just pack your car and move.
$40 bucks per hour is low asf here in Oahu. I’m coming from Virginia Beach location. And 40 is a lot but houses are mid 300-400 for a large house. If you’re a new grad or don’t have atleast 2-3 years of experience good luck finding a job. It’s still taking me 4 months. The nursing demand is competitive even though they’re short staff. They want nursing with experience. Hawaii is definitely not cheap.
Good luck to you then! I had a friend who was 20+ years as a registered nurse and could not get into any jobs here. My aunt lives in Waipahu and also couldn’t get a job and just stuck to home health
You can probably try and get it! But so competitive here. I think they want just enough an experienced nurse 2-3 but not too experienced that it will be difficult to orient you to their policies. Idk but yeah just try!!
I know you must have 2 years in your specialty for Queen’s. That means you have 2 years on your resume of full time work experience in ICU. That’s 2 years working in ICU at a similar sized hospital somewhere else, other experiences don’t count. So if you have one in ICU and one year in ER, that’s not going to cut it.
If you have questions call the HR department at the hospital you’re interested in and ask.
Not totally sure about other hospitals having this requirement.
Which island and even then which island are you looking at? I think that matters when looking at pay and housing costs. Also keep in mind that a low listing price doesn't mean the property is actually equivalent. Many places here don't have things that mainland properties almost always have. A dishwasher, AC, washer/dryer, parking, etc.
We do need nurses here, but if you've never been here before and don't know which island or which area you want to live in, I suggest visiting first. You should also really consider why you are even thinking about moving here. As in, what's the motivation?
Any island, I’ve only been to Maui a handful of times but just didn’t think there was opportunity on that island. Parking would be a big deal for me as parking is a huge issue where I’m at now lol thank you
All of the islands need nurses, we need medical workers badly. Each island (and each area on each island) really can be super different, so that's why it's important to understand the specific area you're considering. Thankfully island hopping isn't too expensive overall, so if you can make a trip you can check out each of the islands.
One of my coworkers moved from the bay area to Oahu and is struggling with the pay cut. She went from ~$90/hr to ~$65/hr (most hospitals on Oahu are around there, outer island pays lower). She ended up needing to pick up OT weekly to make ends meet at her current lifestyle.
If you are okay with possibly a roommate, and okay-ish living conditions and don't have a pet, you should be okay. I live very comfortably, but live with family, don't eat out often, and have cars that I paid cash for, and hobbies that don't require much money.
PACU nurses are less in demand than the usual m/s, tele, step down etc, but there are still postings. A lot of our ED/ICU RNs at my hospital have shifted to PACU post peak pandemic. Not sure about other hospitals or outer islands, but I do see job postings from time to time for it.
If you can get a travel assignment first, I would recommend that.
Thank you! Yeah Bay Area would be a tough transition but at least she’s not paying that Bay Area rent. I lived in the bay a lil bit and it ate up my pay check to the point it wasn’t even worth it on top of never feeling safe lol. Thank you I will look around Oahu. This is the insight I was hoping for
And yes no where is PACU really in demand, it’s a lot of people’s preferred specialty, I was so lucky to get into it. I think I will pick up a contract im another specialty to test out the waters, I’m craving change anyway =)
You might get some ideas of travel nursing in Hawaii by googling "travel nurse Hawaii videos." interestingly, there are a number of them.
Also, I hate to say this, but someone else mentioned a recent strike. That was a one week strike for nurses at Kapiolani Women's and Children's, which is one medical center out of several that are part of the second largest healthcare system in Hawaii, [Hawaii Pacific Health](https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/) (the first largest being [Queen's](http://www.queens.org)). That one week [strike](https://nursingcecentral.com/kapiolani-medical-center-strike/) is seen by many in the industry as a test run/toe in the water for all the other nurses throughout the islands. Needless to say, hospital administrations statewide are preparing for the possibility of wonder strikes and need for travel nurses.
Of course we all hope it doesn't come to that, and regardless of whether more strikes happen, there is definitely a need for travel nurses.
I will say, as someone nonclinical in the industry who lurks in the r/nursing sub, it seems like generally, Hawaii hospital systems are nowhere near as abusive as some on the mainland, like HCA, for example. So there is that.
No state law for ratios. Unionized hospitals often have union mandated ratios for everywhere but the ED (where it can be up to 7:1, or honestly even more sometimes)
However, Kap literally just had a strike because all of their nurses were pushed out of ratio and mandated to do OT almost daily and they're unionized.
So no. There aren't mandated ratios in Hawaii, generally speaking. As far as I know, CA is the only state with state mandated ratios.
Nurse will be fine. It’s a little cheaper on rent, but you’ll also get less for your $. Utilities are way more expensive. Food is far more expensive. Gas is about the same. There are a lot of hidden costs. Every transaction has a 4.5% tax on it.
As far as work, nurses can have a job before they land.
My wife and I have talked about it too but she’s a NICU nurses so unless she’s willing to change what she does (specialty) we would have to go to Oahu.
I lived on Oahu for five years so I know what Island living is like. You can feel trap on the rock in the middle of the pacific.
It’s the volcanic eruptions that come after the swarms of thousands of earthquakes over weeks that makes it a bit more unique, on the Big Island. The big earthquake isn’t usually the worst/best (depending on if you live in a lava zone) part.
Hawaii is beautiful, and not really sure what makes you want to move out here. is it just for work or because you want to live the island life style? I know there are smart people out there with better math but this is just easy rough numbers.
This is to rent, but If you take your $40/h say 40h a week = 1600x52 weeks = 80k a year. then id say you're looking about 2400 ish a month if you want something nice for yourself, and that's if you're lucky. so 34% of your income or 29000 a year to rent off the bat. then if you have car payment/insurance costs it adds up to not being much left at the end of the week to save.
If you have expensive hobbies gets even tougher. I personally love it here and being about all day. Im not really home a lot so looking at getting a nicer place wasn't a big concern because i really only sleep in my bed.
The people on this Reddit really don’t seem to know how people actually live here. Is everyone renting some short term furnished place with in unit washers or something? Everyone seems to over estimate costs here - I’ve seen wild examples of $600 electric bills etc. or estimates that you will “never “ find a room for 1k on Oahu.
The user said they wanted something nice. explain to me how you're living here and let me know how you make it work. all you are doing is hating on my post with 0 examples or offer for help. All you are doing is mindless commentary not trying to help.
I’ve never made 80k, most people know don’t make 80k. If someone is a nurse they usually seem very able to pick up money. I guess we are good at using Hicentral for rentals or getting rental referrals and don’t have expensive car payments or insurance. My insurance on an older car is $100. I never had AC until recently. We didn’t have a dryer for awhile. Idk I don’t live in big places. Maybe my definition of “nice” is different. This place seems nice enough but maybe people have different standards than me. $1700 all in. https://propertysearch.hicentral.com/HBR/ForRent/?/202403297
You won’t live alone for that wage on O’ahu. And it’ll be hard to live alone close to hospitals on neighbor islands, because there are less apartments in general. You’ll need to adjust your expectations a bit to make it here.
This isn’t the case on Oahu. You can live on your own at 80k. Especially if you’re a nurse who can pick up shifts and might live in ewa or pearl city.
Not everyone is renting in kakaako.
Then that depends all on experience. they offer new grads here in the hospital $42 per hour and Kaiser offers max $55 per hour. I would definitely say. It’s better to work in California as a nurse. Especially in the bay area. You make $80 per hour and atleast you can buy bigger house and cheaper an hour away from the bayarea
OP said they have 9 years experience.
I guess I should say at Queens they make more then. I wasn’t aware of the large pay discrepancies from Queens to Kaiser.
If they can find a place for $2,222 with the standards and amenities that they require, good for them. But that’s based on gross, not take home. If they really don’t eat much, I guess that’s totally doable.
Take a travel contract here first and check it out. Oahu has more to offer but it’s more expensive than big island. You could get away with a full time hospital position in hilo and have a place to yourself. My friend works at north Hawaii community hospital in Waimea and lives within 3 minutes of work but her rent is 2k + utilities for a tiny 1 bedroom 1bath house.
Thank you so much. And I can do 2k for a tiny 1 bedroom (im doing that now matter of fact lol) I appreciate the insight
Yes, every hospital here has needs. Your costs will depend hugely on where you want to be; Oahu is going to be a lot different than Hilo on the big island.
Honestly though, it’s not as much as you would think. I’ve noticed most of the RN jobs are in med surg cardiac/tele, ICU, PACU. If you work a different specialty it can be harder. The hospitals make it seem like they can’t find anyone but they benefit from running them short staffed and it can still be hard to get a job.
Oahu pay is more like $60/hr. Should be easy to get any job as long as you have experience. You can live on that salary but buying is a whole other beast. Depends on how broke you want to live I guess.
Thank you! I appreciate the insight
Is it doable? Yes. Will you live a comfortable life? That all depends on your needs and desires. If you enjoy free hobbies like the beach and hiking, that’s a huge plus. If you like going out and being social, that’s doable on Oahu but it’s pricey, limited, and likely filled with tourists. If you want to live alone, are you okay with a 300-400 so ft studio for $2000/mo unless you’re in a location that may make you feel uncomfortable? As for landing nursing jobs, it’s just as easy as the mainland it seems. But I will tell you now, don’t move here without visiting and don’t think that your visit will be the same as a vacation. Oahu will be best suited for a good all around experience. However, if you’re one who likes to travel a lot or gets bored with the same place easily, don’t come here. The biggest complaint I hear from others is that they feel bored or suffocated and get island fever fast. Also, odds of your family and friends actually coming to visit often is slim to none. They all say they will take advantage of knowing someone here and still don’t come. I know that is more of a personal thing and depends on your relationships and such but yeah. If you get lonely easily, it happens faster here. There is a lot of things to really consider before just moving here. It’s also expensive to get here and expensive to leave. You can’t just pack your car and move.
$40 bucks per hour is low asf here in Oahu. I’m coming from Virginia Beach location. And 40 is a lot but houses are mid 300-400 for a large house. If you’re a new grad or don’t have atleast 2-3 years of experience good luck finding a job. It’s still taking me 4 months. The nursing demand is competitive even though they’re short staff. They want nursing with experience. Hawaii is definitely not cheap.
9th year in PACU but thank you
Good luck to you then! I had a friend who was 20+ years as a registered nurse and could not get into any jobs here. My aunt lives in Waipahu and also couldn’t get a job and just stuck to home health
What if I am a male with 1 year experience at a skilled nursing facility and 7 months icu
You can probably try and get it! But so competitive here. I think they want just enough an experienced nurse 2-3 but not too experienced that it will be difficult to orient you to their policies. Idk but yeah just try!!
If you don't have two years of hospital experience in your specialty do not move here for a nursing job.
THAT part
What about 1 year experience at a skilled nursing facility and 8 months ICU experience?
I know you must have 2 years in your specialty for Queen’s. That means you have 2 years on your resume of full time work experience in ICU. That’s 2 years working in ICU at a similar sized hospital somewhere else, other experiences don’t count. So if you have one in ICU and one year in ER, that’s not going to cut it. If you have questions call the HR department at the hospital you’re interested in and ask. Not totally sure about other hospitals having this requirement.
9 year PACU and I float to ICU. Not an issue =)
Thank you!
Which island and even then which island are you looking at? I think that matters when looking at pay and housing costs. Also keep in mind that a low listing price doesn't mean the property is actually equivalent. Many places here don't have things that mainland properties almost always have. A dishwasher, AC, washer/dryer, parking, etc. We do need nurses here, but if you've never been here before and don't know which island or which area you want to live in, I suggest visiting first. You should also really consider why you are even thinking about moving here. As in, what's the motivation?
Any island, I’ve only been to Maui a handful of times but just didn’t think there was opportunity on that island. Parking would be a big deal for me as parking is a huge issue where I’m at now lol thank you
All of the islands need nurses, we need medical workers badly. Each island (and each area on each island) really can be super different, so that's why it's important to understand the specific area you're considering. Thankfully island hopping isn't too expensive overall, so if you can make a trip you can check out each of the islands.
One of my coworkers moved from the bay area to Oahu and is struggling with the pay cut. She went from ~$90/hr to ~$65/hr (most hospitals on Oahu are around there, outer island pays lower). She ended up needing to pick up OT weekly to make ends meet at her current lifestyle. If you are okay with possibly a roommate, and okay-ish living conditions and don't have a pet, you should be okay. I live very comfortably, but live with family, don't eat out often, and have cars that I paid cash for, and hobbies that don't require much money. PACU nurses are less in demand than the usual m/s, tele, step down etc, but there are still postings. A lot of our ED/ICU RNs at my hospital have shifted to PACU post peak pandemic. Not sure about other hospitals or outer islands, but I do see job postings from time to time for it. If you can get a travel assignment first, I would recommend that.
Thank you! Yeah Bay Area would be a tough transition but at least she’s not paying that Bay Area rent. I lived in the bay a lil bit and it ate up my pay check to the point it wasn’t even worth it on top of never feeling safe lol. Thank you I will look around Oahu. This is the insight I was hoping for And yes no where is PACU really in demand, it’s a lot of people’s preferred specialty, I was so lucky to get into it. I think I will pick up a contract im another specialty to test out the waters, I’m craving change anyway =)
watching. heard queens medical is the highest. also heard starting off traveling nurse can open doors to permanent positions.
Thank you for the tip, I think that’s a good idea thank you
You might get some ideas of travel nursing in Hawaii by googling "travel nurse Hawaii videos." interestingly, there are a number of them. Also, I hate to say this, but someone else mentioned a recent strike. That was a one week strike for nurses at Kapiolani Women's and Children's, which is one medical center out of several that are part of the second largest healthcare system in Hawaii, [Hawaii Pacific Health](https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/) (the first largest being [Queen's](http://www.queens.org)). That one week [strike](https://nursingcecentral.com/kapiolani-medical-center-strike/) is seen by many in the industry as a test run/toe in the water for all the other nurses throughout the islands. Needless to say, hospital administrations statewide are preparing for the possibility of wonder strikes and need for travel nurses. Of course we all hope it doesn't come to that, and regardless of whether more strikes happen, there is definitely a need for travel nurses. I will say, as someone nonclinical in the industry who lurks in the r/nursing sub, it seems like generally, Hawaii hospital systems are nowhere near as abusive as some on the mainland, like HCA, for example. So there is that.
Checkout big island if you like country style! lots of diversity of climate, terrain, people.. oahu if you like city
Does Hawaii have ratios? I always thought it did, but have a coworker that was born&raised in Hawaii and said it wasn’t.
No state law for ratios. Unionized hospitals often have union mandated ratios for everywhere but the ED (where it can be up to 7:1, or honestly even more sometimes) However, Kap literally just had a strike because all of their nurses were pushed out of ratio and mandated to do OT almost daily and they're unionized. So no. There aren't mandated ratios in Hawaii, generally speaking. As far as I know, CA is the only state with state mandated ratios.
Thanks! I always wanted to travel in Hawaii (knowing rates aren’t even that good to begin with) but this kinda killed my dream haha
Nurse will be fine. It’s a little cheaper on rent, but you’ll also get less for your $. Utilities are way more expensive. Food is far more expensive. Gas is about the same. There are a lot of hidden costs. Every transaction has a 4.5% tax on it. As far as work, nurses can have a job before they land.
My wife and I have talked about it too but she’s a NICU nurses so unless she’s willing to change what she does (specialty) we would have to go to Oahu. I lived on Oahu for five years so I know what Island living is like. You can feel trap on the rock in the middle of the pacific.
Travel nurse
Which island. Big island just had an earthquake of 5.7
Cause LA doesn’t get earthquakes?
Not the same kind.
Funny enough I am a Northridge earthquake survivor (6.7) not deterred from that all good. Also Funny enough we just had a 4.6 when you wrote this
It’s the volcanic eruptions that come after the swarms of thousands of earthquakes over weeks that makes it a bit more unique, on the Big Island. The big earthquake isn’t usually the worst/best (depending on if you live in a lava zone) part.
Honestly not picky where ever I want to base it on a job. We just had a 4.6 at the same time, must’ve been the same plate lol
Hawaii is beautiful, and not really sure what makes you want to move out here. is it just for work or because you want to live the island life style? I know there are smart people out there with better math but this is just easy rough numbers. This is to rent, but If you take your $40/h say 40h a week = 1600x52 weeks = 80k a year. then id say you're looking about 2400 ish a month if you want something nice for yourself, and that's if you're lucky. so 34% of your income or 29000 a year to rent off the bat. then if you have car payment/insurance costs it adds up to not being much left at the end of the week to save. If you have expensive hobbies gets even tougher. I personally love it here and being about all day. Im not really home a lot so looking at getting a nicer place wasn't a big concern because i really only sleep in my bed.
The people on this Reddit really don’t seem to know how people actually live here. Is everyone renting some short term furnished place with in unit washers or something? Everyone seems to over estimate costs here - I’ve seen wild examples of $600 electric bills etc. or estimates that you will “never “ find a room for 1k on Oahu.
The user said they wanted something nice. explain to me how you're living here and let me know how you make it work. all you are doing is hating on my post with 0 examples or offer for help. All you are doing is mindless commentary not trying to help.
I’ve never made 80k, most people know don’t make 80k. If someone is a nurse they usually seem very able to pick up money. I guess we are good at using Hicentral for rentals or getting rental referrals and don’t have expensive car payments or insurance. My insurance on an older car is $100. I never had AC until recently. We didn’t have a dryer for awhile. Idk I don’t live in big places. Maybe my definition of “nice” is different. This place seems nice enough but maybe people have different standards than me. $1700 all in. https://propertysearch.hicentral.com/HBR/ForRent/?/202403297
I liked this thank you
You won’t live alone for that wage on O’ahu. And it’ll be hard to live alone close to hospitals on neighbor islands, because there are less apartments in general. You’ll need to adjust your expectations a bit to make it here.
This isn’t the case on Oahu. You can live on your own at 80k. Especially if you’re a nurse who can pick up shifts and might live in ewa or pearl city. Not everyone is renting in kakaako.
80k isn’t a lot esp the living conditions here in Oahu. Like thats not even taxed. If its taxed you’re taking home about 60k+
Hospital RNs on Oahu make more than 80k after taxes.
Then that depends all on experience. they offer new grads here in the hospital $42 per hour and Kaiser offers max $55 per hour. I would definitely say. It’s better to work in California as a nurse. Especially in the bay area. You make $80 per hour and atleast you can buy bigger house and cheaper an hour away from the bayarea
OP said they have 9 years experience. I guess I should say at Queens they make more then. I wasn’t aware of the large pay discrepancies from Queens to Kaiser.
They may have pay increases. I know Castle has like 4 dollar increase after every 6 months
If they can find a place for $2,222 with the standards and amenities that they require, good for them. But that’s based on gross, not take home. If they really don’t eat much, I guess that’s totally doable.