I have been traveling to Northern CA as a nurse for 11 years......from the South. I have finally realized that, if you really want to make some serious money, you need to be a staff nurse there!! no doubt about it.
Even in the small town hospital, the nurses are paid around $60/hr, more depending on experience. The larger hospitals pay much more! I personally know some staff nurses who make $75/hr base salary! And they get those shift diffs also, that travelers dont get!
A 24 month stint in CA, and a nurse could pocket some serious change! That's what I plan to do after the first of the year. "Get busy living or get busy dieing"......that's what the man said! That's damn right....lol. (that's what the other guy said)
If two nurses went and shared expenses, that's just more money for both of them. Something to seriously to think about.
Please keep us updated! I have a cousin who works as an RN in California, she has close to 20 years of experience but has only been working for a couple of years in California. She says she makes about $100,000 a year in L &D at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Anaheim, I believe, and I know she rarely works OT. I had a hard time believing her, but she's not one to brag. It's definitely sparked my interest as something to do in the the future, like you said, to work for a few years and save.
As a nurse with experience here in SoCal it's the norm to at least make over 100,000/year. Cost of living is quite expensive if you live here in L.A so 100G's is the average salary for a nurse with experience.
how was the modesto area? i just got a job offer at Doctors Hospital in the ICU. i'm 24 so do you think the hospital is great/the area is nice for someone my age? it will be my frist travel assignment! also the pay was quoted 1500/week that was with full stipend ... is that good?
NYbabyRN, BSN, RN
95 Posts
Shushu,
Please keep us updated! I have a cousin who works as an RN in California, she has close to 20 years of experience but has only been working for a couple of years in California. She says she makes about $100,000 a year in L &D at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Anaheim, I believe, and I know she rarely works OT. I had a hard time believing her, but she's not one to brag. It's definitely sparked my interest as something to do in the the future, like you said, to work for a few years and save.