California Schools.........

For accredited, recognized schools go to the Board of Registered Nurses of California and look there.
Yes, its been hard finding jobs but maybe by the time you are done thing will be different. If nursing is what you what to do then don't let anything get in your way

It's hard for new grads to get jobs in California because:

1. California has high wages and good working conditions for RNs compared to many areas of the country (I've heard there are people who live in the midwest and fly in to California every week to work as nurses in the Bay Area because the wages are high enough to be worth it).

2. New grads are expensive to train, and there are limited openings available for new grads, though there may be more for people with a few years of experience.

3. The hospitals are effected by the economy just like everything else, and a need for nurses doesn't automatically translate into more jobs. Less people are getting elective procedures done, older nurses are less likely to retire, and people who hadn't been active nurses are going back to work (people who left to stay home with their kids, for example). Many California hospitals are on hiring freezes or are laying off RNs.

Be aware that in California, there are few, if any, nursing schools that will allow you to enter straight from high school (and if there are any, they are private schools). You have to complete prerequisite classes first, and taking prerequisites at the school where you hope to attend nursing school is no guarantee that you'll get into the nursing program - some give preference to people already enrolled in the college or who live locally, others treat all applicants equally, regardless of where they took prerequisites - and California nursing schools tend to be very competitive. I've also seen some BSN programs that do not allow out-of-state applicants (either CSU or Humboldt State's program is like that).

I'm not trying to discourage you if coming to California is your goal - just know what you're getting into, and that you may need to be creative about how you accomplish it.

As a heads up many nursing schools out here give more "points" if you are a local resident. I worked closely with the nursing department at a CSU out here. I believe 10 points alone were awarded if you were a resident. You would not be viewed as a resident.
Also, Nursing programs out here are incredibly impacted. Most have an average of 400-800 applicants for between 24-80 spots.
Most programs consistently require:

Anatomy,
Physiology
Microbiology
Chemistry
Algebra
English
Psychology or Developmental Psychology
Sociology
And other General Education courses

There is some variety depending on the programs, but these are usually stand bys.

You may want to look into programs in your local area first, they may not be as impacted and you could always move here later.
If you would need a part time job out here while your in school, that would be even hard to find. The unemployment rate is higher than 10%. I am the only one employeed between me, my husband, and our three roommates.

Good luck!