Nursing Jobs in Fort Myers, FL: Salary, Hospitals & How to Apply (2026)

Fort Myers Nursing Market Overview

Fort Myers and Cape Coral form Lee County's largest metropolitan area and one of Southwest Florida's primary healthcare employment hubs. The region's nursing job market is driven by a growing retirement population, accelerating in-migration from the Midwest and Northeast, and continued hospital expansion across Lee Health's four acute-care campuses.

Lee Health is the dominant employer — a 4-hospital system operating Lee Memorial Hospital (Fort Myers), Cape Coral Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center (Fort Myers), and Health Park Medical Center (South Fort Myers). Combined, Lee Health employs more than 4,000 nurses. HCA Florida facilities (Gulf Coast Medical Center on the HCA side, plus HealthPark's Cape Coral campus) add additional positions for specialty RNs.

RN Salary Ranges in Fort Myers / Cape Coral (2026)

• Medical-Surgical Staff RN: $62,000–$84,000/year
• ICU / Critical Care RN: $75,000–$99,000/year
• OR / Perioperative RN: $78,000–$104,000/year
• ER / Emergency RN: $73,000–$97,000/year
• Labor & Delivery RN: $70,000–$92,000/year
• Step-Down / PCU RN: $67,000–$89,000/year
• Home Health / Visiting RN: $62,000–$82,000 (salary) or $55–$110/visit

Fort Myers salaries typically run 5–10% below Naples for equivalent positions, reflecting slightly lower housing costs in Lee County versus Collier County. Both markets are well above rural Florida averages.

High-Demand Specialties in Fort Myers

• ICU / Critical Care — Lee Health's trauma center (Lee Memorial, a Level II Trauma Center) creates steady ICU demand
• Labor & Delivery / NICU — Cape Coral Hospital and Gulf Coast Medical Center both have active L&D units; NICU nurses are perennially short-staffed in SW FL
• Telemetry / Step-Down — high volume due to cardiac patient demographics
• OR / Surgical Services — robotics expansion (da Vinci) at Gulf Coast adds caseload
• Home Health — Lee County's density of retirement communities creates exceptional home health demand

Florida RN License Requirements

All RN positions at Fort Myers hospitals require an active Florida Board of Nursing RN license. Florida is not a Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) state — nurses licensed in other states must apply for endorsement. Current Florida BTRN processing times are 8–14 weeks. Most Fort Myers facilities will extend conditional offers to nurses with endorsement applications in progress.

Sign-On Bonuses and Relocation

Lee Health and HCA Florida facilities in the Fort Myers area periodically offer sign-on bonuses for hard-to-fill specialty positions (ICU, OR, L&D, NICU). Bonus amounts and service-agreement lengths vary — confirm specific terms with HR during the offer stage. Relocation assistance is available for nurses moving from out of state, typically covering moving expenses up to a set cap.

Cost of Living: Fort Myers vs Naples vs Tampa

Fort Myers and Cape Coral consistently offer lower housing costs than Naples (Collier County) and are slightly below Tampa Bay medians. As of 2026, median home prices in Cape Coral are approximately $380,000–$420,000, versus $580,000+ in Naples and $350,000–$400,000 in the Tampa suburbs. The Fort Myers–Cape Coral area is one of the more affordable nurse-friendly metros in Florida.

Getting Hired at Lee Health

Lee Health posts positions via its Workday applicant tracking system at leehealth.org/careers. Key tips:

• Apply directly through the ATS rather than third-party job boards — Lee Health hires primarily through its own portal
• Highlight any Epic EHR experience (Lee Health uses Epic across its system)
• Florida RN license (or confirmed endorsement in progress) is required before an offer is extended
• BSN is preferred at all Lee Health facilities; ADN candidates with active BSN enrollment are considered
• Specialty nurses (ICU, OR, L&D) with 2+ years of experience should contact Lee Health Nursing Recruitment directly in addition to submitting the ATS application