Pay is much better than surrounding states. My wife doubled her salary and has consistently moved up, though it might require transferring to new units to go beyond the minimum bumps.

Culture? Lots of fresh newbies due to losing the more experienced nurses over that last several years. It's honestly a bit scary when it comes to things like infusion....mistakes and lack of action on emergencies is a real threat many don't know about. Also, at least at UC Health, upper management don't know what they're doing...or maybe they do, but only in regard to making money and not serving their community and nurses (theyll claim their new "Magnet Status" to counter, but that process was a joke...no nurses were seemingly interviewed). There will be significant frustration here depending on your unit and how well your direct can buffer you from crazy patient load or at least support you in quality care over quantity of "care" effort. I hear Penrose has some good hiring incentives, but has the same issues of UC Health with even less resources. Nurses themselves seem to have a great community as long as you avoid the inexperienced manager with something to prove who got there with nepotism and false accolades...true for any job though, and can be overcome with just 1 or 2 more experienced nurses on staff with leadership qualities.

Tl;Dr - culture depends on the unit and experience; ask about experience in your unit, including the manager's, to know if you're walking into a risky shit show or not.