Most of the replies are going to come from patients in the US healthcare system. On the whole, we spend more than any country in the world for worse outcomes. We still have wait times like everyone else, but medical debt is the most common reason for bankruptcy in the US. It's not just a little unaffordable, it can ruin you. The way our system is incentivized, we have an extreme lack of general practitioners and a lot of specialists.

If you have decent insurance (which you likely will have in your role) it's likely just annoyingly expensive, but fine. In MA we have only a small % of uninsured people, in states like Texas, they have about 20% uninsured. We have great disparities in the quality of care you get by state by your employer. You can choose your doctor...if they are in your insurance network. Basically this arbitrary aspect of your life is bound by how cool your employer is and your state.

In Boston and Massachusetts in general, we pay a little more than average for the US for healthcare, but it is pretty world class in this state and we have more subsidized options compared with the vast majority of other states. It's still bound by US issues, but it is an improvement.

I used to live in Maine and our rural healthcare non-systems are imploding and access is getting worse as these hospitals close. I know lot of folks that travel hundreds of miles for their cancer treatments /surgeries to Boston because of how much better it is here.

Being an RN is a grind anywhere as I'm sure you're aware, so I wouldn't let that bother you.

You'll find it takes longer to get folks to open up here, but it's exaggerated how different it is. New Englanders tend to be to the point and less likely to blow smoke up your ass to make nice. It wouldn't be strange at all for my older neighbor to tell me my car is shit for driving in the snow before digging me out of it.

Anyway, good luck in whatever you decide. We need all the nurses we can get.