What is the job market like in San Francisco Bay Area for new registered nurses.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Nov 16, 2014

Most new nurses are not employed the first year or two. I went to school in the Bay Area and moved back to southern california. Most of my classmates, with many years of LVN hospital experience could not even find a job at their current employers. They took jobs at SNFs, case management hospice. Some eventually got med surg positions in hospitals. Point is, it's not an easy market.

Feel free to get your ca nursing license if you want to. But I highly don't recommend moving here without a job. If you look at the forums you will see how many have difficulty. It's a harsh market across the state right now.

RunBabyRN · Nov 18, 2014

Don't do it if you can avoid it. Get a couple of years of experience, then come. Having your BSN will be helpful, at least. There are about 500 applicants per new grad/residency position (unless they close it after a certain number of apps, in which case a position is posted for a matter of hours). The SF Bay Area has THE most competitive market in the US (partly due to salaries, but if you look at the cost of living, it's not as great as it seems). Don't set yourself up for failure.

CaliLVN-RN · Nov 19, 2014

It's very competitive out here. Even nurses with years experience are having a hard time getting a job. It's hard because a lot of places only want local candidates and have said so in some postings I've seen. I've heard one nurse say he was trying to get a job out here for years and nobody would hire him. So he took up traveling nursing and eventually landed a job here. But it took years for him to do. Best of luck