Often called the City of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, couldn’t be a better place to look for a job as a nurse or nursing professional. Durham is part of the famous Research Triangle that comprises Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Home to more than 300 medical facilities, and once the hub of minority-owned businesses that made up Black Wall Street, this metro area has so much to offer. If you are looking for nursing jobs in Durham, read on to learn more about what Bull City has to show you, both on and off the clock.
Fast Facts About Nursing Jobs in Durham, NC
- Is North Carolina a compact state? Yes.
- What is the RN salary in Durham? The average salary for RN jobs in North Carolina is $77,420 compared to the national average RN salary of $89,010.
- Where can I find information about RN licensing requirements in North Carolina? Get the latest information on licensure in Durham by visiting the NC Board of Nursing website.
More About Nursing Jobs in Durham
The fourth largest city in North Carolina, Durham is located in the northeast corner of the state and is the midway point between Miami and Chicago. If you’re considering looking for jobs, you’ll have opportunities for full-time, part-time, contract, and per diem positions with the many types of medical centers, long-term care facilities, biotech companies, and start-ups that call Durham home.
Your nursing resume showing cultural competency skills will be especially valued in a diverse city like Durham. The city makeup is 36% Black, 13% of Hispanic ethnicity, and 1% Native American. Any multilingual skills will be valuable as well since the city’s residents speak a variety of languages. For instance, 11% of Durham residents are native Spanish speakers; about 1% speak Chinese; and just under .8% speak African languages.
The age demographics are similar to other urban centers of this size. If you enjoy working with an older patient group, just over 12% of residents are 65 years old or more, and if you prefer serving a younger patient population, about 38% of the population is between the ages of 20 and 54. Women outnumber men 52.2% to 47.8%.
If your family is like many others in Durham, you might be looking for daycare or afterschool activities for your kids while you are working. In addition to the many privately run childcare options, the city government offers childcare assistance, Head Start, and even provides help searching for the right program for your family. If you’d like to find daycare for your four-legged family members, that is easy to locate in Durham as well.
Working in Durham, NC
The demand for nursing jobs in Durham may be due in part to the fact that the largest employer in Durham is Duke University and Medical Center. Also among the area’s main industries is agri-business, energy, environment and engineering, life sciences, manufacturing, and tourism.
There are many other big medical centers besides Duke that increase the availability of jobs for nurses and nursing professionals in the area. Some of the top-ranked hospitals include:
- Duke University Hospital
- UNC Hospitals
- UNC Rex Hospital
- Duke Reginal Hospital
- WakeMed Raleigh Campus
However, acute care is not the only choice for nursing professionals. There are 427 nursing homes in North Carolina, with 28 located in the Durham metro area alone.
Getting to your Durham nursing job is going to be just a little easier than it might be in other major metros. The average commute time is just around 22 minutes, compared to the national average commute time of 27.6 minutes. Nearly 76% of commuters drive alone in their car to work, and just over 4% take mass transit.
Living in Durham
Once you are done with your work for the day, there is so much to do and see in this city that is proud of its inclusive culture. From the art, sports, history, nature, and science museums, to reconstructed Bennett Place (the place surrender papers for southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida were signed), Durham celebrates all of its history.
If you are more inspired by the here and now, the sports and food scenes in Durham are both vibrant. Whether you are a college sports fan (Duke or UNC) or more interested in the Durham Bulls (fictional or real), sports are a beloved pastime in this city.
If you’d like to eat before, during, after, or instead of a game, Durham has a cuisine for everyone. Of course there is plenty of great Southern cooking in town, but maybe you wouldn’t expect restaurants serving everything from Zimbabwean cuisine to classic French bistro dishes. And yes, grilled pimento cheese-turkey-and-pepper-jelly sandwiches are actual lunchtime fare.
When it’s time to exercise away the calories from your favorite chicken and waffles place, Bull City has a wealth of outdoor spaces. If you are more low-key, stroll around the American Tobacco Campus, or if you want a longer hike or bike ride, follow the 22.6-mile American Tobacco Trial. More nature walks can be found in Duke Forest. Durham even has its own Central Park, not to be confused with that cute green space in New York.
You can enjoy the outdoors during much of the year in Durham. Average temps in Durham in the summer are about 81 degrees, and even in the coldest month of January, the average low temp is 33 degrees.
What makes Durham a great place to live is not only the mild weather, the culture, and the proximity to cutting-edge industries, but the reasonable cost of living. The overall cost of living in Durham is below the national average and the average mortgage payment is also below the national cost. Even better, the tax rate is low, with an astonishing local sales tax of 2.75%. Your nurse’s salary will go a long way in Medicine City.
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