Best hospitals and expected RN pay in Orange County area

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Hello all,

I currently live in the Dallas area and was curious what the best hospitals are in the Orange County area. What could I expect for pay as a BSN nurse with 3 years ER experience? Thanks in advance!

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While I don't know exactly how much they pay, I do know that Kaiser pays the most. I have heard good things about Hoag, but again, don't know the pay. Good luck!

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Great, thanks! I've heard they don't pay as much in this area because everyone wants to live there.

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I've heard the same thing, it tends to pay more as you get closer to and in LA. If I had 3 years and a BSN I would try for every Kaiser hospital. Hopefully the salary would make up for any commute.

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Thanks! Is the commute terrible going towards LA?

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Very terrible, it's more tolerable before 7am, in the middle of the day, and about after 8pm. I drive back and forth from sd frequently. The pay between OC and LA is not too different. Dollar or 2, depending on institution.

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Thanks! Is the commute terrible going towards LA?

In one word, yes.

Everything you have heard about traffic is not only true, but worse when you actually sit in it. The only thing I can assure you is that living in the Inland Empire means you should work in the Inland Empire. My husband did the commute from the IE to the OC for 4 years, it just chips away at your soul :arghh:

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Good to know! Are there any decent travel agencies that you could recommend as well?

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Hoag is a great place to work. I had 2 years experience in 2011. Just finished my BSN and with my base was to make 34$/hr. night differential was 6$ hr. so had I stayed it would have been 40. So my guesstimate would be your base would be around 38 hr? St Joseph in orange is another great place. They paid slightly better than hoag and also did time n a half after 8. St Joseph you are UCD less likely to get called off. Hoag I got called off at every week, so keep that in mind. For the cost of living though, the salary sucks. We paid 1500 for a 2 bed apartment. I moved to Sacramento and make way more $ here and my mortgage isonly a few hundred more for a nice house. Go figure....

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