[jensfbay]

Lowest paid? Worst working environment? Is that true? UCSF is one of the top 10 hospital. How could it get such a bad rep from bay area nurses? there is a big change in pay between cpmc and ucsf. why such difference? there must be something good with ucsf if they are keeping nurses despite the difference in pay. any ideas? thanks! feel free to private msg me. thanks!

[Senshaly]

Hi Jen.
I have worked at both CPMC and UCSF. UCSF has 12-hour shifts and requires shift rotations in most departments. Whereas, CPMC has straight 8-hour shifts. Overall, I liked CPMC better because of the environment (mind you it is a tertiary hospital). But I think UCSF has a better retirement program which is why I think they can better retain their nurses. Anyways...there's my two cents. :-)

[prmenrs]

The whole UC system has a good retirement. UCSF nurses have always been VERY active in CNA, if they were the "worst paid" in the area, they would be squawking very loudly.

You might check the CNA website, see what they say.

[msweezer]

CPMC solely does 8 hr shifts? No other types? Thanks.

[Senshaly]

I believe the floor nurses do. Not sure of the Emergency, Critical Care units, and other units. I've seen some situations when floor nurses really want to work 12-hour shifts they pair-up with another nurse on day/night shifts (meaning one works the day shift and the other works the night shift on the same scheduled day and unit) that way it's easier for the manager, or whoever, to organize the nurse work schedule.

[NTPinky]

My friends who worked at UCSF hated it. Top reasons were mean nurses, low pay, and rotating shifts. I have to add that they have a high number of travel nurses, which is suppoed to be a bad sign.

[TazziRN]

High number of travelers is not always a bad sign. The last hospital I worked for relied heavily on travelers a few years ago. They had trouble attracting local nurses because the larger area hospitals paid better. However, those travelers enjoyed the facility so much that a good number of them stayed on as "real" staff after their contracts were up, or they kept renewing their contracts. Ironically, now that most of their staff is "real", they're having problems.

I have never met any CPMC staff, but I have had multiple experiences with UCSF and their staff was happy. I dealt with the transplant and neuro floors, the transplant clinic, and high-risk OB clinic.

[diamondqueen]

I recently interview at UCSF. I took an hour to walk around and talk to nurses there and the ones I talked to seem happy and spoke very highly of the facility. While doing my research, I found that in the Bay area, UCSF has the highest payrate for new graduates. I didn't search for experienced nurses. Well anyway, that is my input.

[jensfbay]

thank you for all your responses. i do get mixed reviews from other nurses who work there. as it is with other hospitals, it really does depend on the floor. cardiac and neuro nurses at ucsf seem to be satisfied, if not proud, to work in their floor. other floors, well...let's just say it's the contrary
i'm still considering to work there, but they haven't really been really responding to my calls, hmmm.