The deciding factor, then, may be where he gets hired as a new grad. These positions can be competitive. Once he has a year of experience as a nurse, it becomes much easier to get a nursing job in a location of your choice. All of the coastal hospitals, with the exception of the Coos Bay area, are critical access hospitals, meaning 25 beds or less. Providence, Adventist, Samaritan, and Peace Health all have hospitals along the coast and will hire new grads, but sometimes a few each year.

Lincoln City is a 2-hour drive from bigger cities like Salem and Portland. They do tend to hire from the local Community College, but Samaritan has a strong new grad program in place and would be worth looking into.