UC Davis Sacramento

I have never worked for UCDavis but live nearby. I have transferred patients to them and have never heard a bad word. They have a trauma center plus the medical school, so there's never a shortage of physicians Sacramento is a nice city--growing all the time. The Med Center is located in Sacramento, not Davis. I have worked with nurses who came from UCDavis and liked working for them. Hope this helps

I did most of my rotations at UCD and there is a reason that I chose to work elsewhere when I graduated. I hated it.

UC Davis med is I believe the lowest pay in a Sacramento Hospital, but they do have the best benefits/retirement...so it is a trade off.
As far as the hospital itself is..it is like any other teaching hospital...nurses need to be on their toes all the time...double checking meds and dosages...with all the Med students the nurse has to be on the ball. What I have noticed is that you get alot of orders then an hour later you'll get an order countering that one. The Doctors are coming through all different times so you have to be checking for new orders fairly frequently throughout the shift.
With having said all this the nurse is well respected and the ones that I have had to pleasure of working with are real sharp!
Good luck
P

I just started there per diem and HOLY SMOKES. It is a zoo but I guess that is what you get from working at a large hospital. I am working there to keep my skills up and have full time employment elsewhere. THe pay is not the best, especially crappy for a per diem nurse who isn't using benefits. It is a very busy teaching center. You see pathology and a varied of patients from ALL socio-economic backgrounds. I am doing a shift this week and I only hope it gets better. The nurses that I work with seem to eat their young, and moral seems to be low with the few that I worked with. I am curious if this is just my perspective b/c I am sort of a country girl with small time hospital experience.
On the opposite end of the spectrum there have a lot of benifits and resources unlike the places I have worked before.

best of luck and keep up posted
Cali girl

Hi CaliforniaRNForKids,
I just read your post and wondered if you work or have worked in the PICU at UC Davis or have heard anything about it? My family and I are moving to the area and I would really appreciate anything you could tell me about the unit. I also was wondering if you have heard anything about a Kaiser PICU being built in the Sacramento area?
Thanks,
Diana

Diane,
oh my BAD. Let me say tha when I wrote that post I was finishing up a brief orientation to the unit with less than desirable preceptor. I was really in a bad negative place. Fortunately I have found that the peds and PICU nurses are so great. I have worked with many more nurses and found 99% to be helpful with great teamwork. If I didn't love my current job I would gladly transfer to UCD full time (or part time).
They are opening a new woman and childrens center in Roseville at Sutter so that may be something to look into. Kaiser should be opening a trauma center on the other side of town...if you are into trauma. Shriners has a great ICU (children only) and they pay great. Send me a PM if you have more questions.
best of luck...
Cali RN

Re: UCD PICU - I did clinical rotations there and one of my friends is an attending there .... they are a great hospital in general and the PICU nurses are some of the smartest nurses I have ever known! They get some very sick kids so they have the chance to keep their skills sharp.

Re: Kaiser PICU - Kaiser is opening a new Women's and Children's hospital, schedule to open in Jan. 09. They have a PICU but it is less acute than UCD or Sutter's. I used to work in the adult section of that ICU and some of the PICU nurses we catty ... they might be better when they aren't forced to share an ICU with adults. The doctors seemed good ... but since the patient's aren't that sick, your skills might not be so sharp.

Good luck!

Hey everyone! Any of you can give me inputs as to how long application process take in sacramento hospitals...I'm in NY and am planning to relocate anytime soon BUT there are no job offers... I heard you need to know someone inside to get hired? (if its true then that's sad its like living in the philippines) I have years of experience in med surg and very eager to move to sacramento. I hope to send my kid in school there in june so any input will help...