California Counties with an RN or NP Shortage

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

Certain parts of California do have an RN shortage (and NP shortage). In 2014, I graduated from an ABSN program on the East Coast and 50% of the students were from California. Everyone in my class that wanted to return to California got an RN job. There is fierce competition for jobs in the Bay Area, LA, Orange County, and San Diego. But all the major hospitals have new grad residency/training programs. Many smaller hospitals also have them. California is a huge state, and there are opportunities, and less competition, in other parts of the state. Furthermore, these other areas are also much more affordable. I am attaching a link to a great resource that provides information on which counties have an RN shortage - really study this website, as it lists the hospitals in every county. The site also provides listings of counties with Primary Care and Mental Health Care shortages, which should be of interest to NPs and PAs.

Registered Nurse Shortage Areas in California

Note: If you work in a designated shortage area, you may be able to apply for loan repayment programs through HRSA or the State of California.

[pollyiz]

This is really inspiring and great that you shared this. Did you see that the link/site will be taken down sometime in 2017? It states to email them if you want to be kept up to date.

I just joined allnurses today. Sent you a "friend request" but not sure how it works! Anyway, would love to have your advice as I get further into the program. Networking and support is so important.

[tampanurse2000]

Hello Shibaowner, thanks for the information. The data from the downloadable maps and tracts in your link are from 2013 and 2014, so some data may have changed in regards to California areas with RN/NP shortages.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

As a Bay Area resident, I'm surprised to see Alameda County on the list. There is a huge RN surplus in the entire Bay Area but if you account for specific specialty experience, there are specific specialties that likely have openings. NP market is different, however, I can see a need for primary care in parts of Alameda County.

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

Here is the most up-to-date HRSA resource on HPSAs (shortage areas) for mental health and primary care:

HRSA Data Warehouse – Shortage Areas

[Ohm108, MSN, NP, CNM]

To add to this thread, I came across the below Youtube video about whether there is a nursing shortage in CA The research is from the Philip R. Lee Institute of Health Policy Studies at UCSF. I know that there has been quite a lot of discussion about this and the data they present is from 2016 which is the latest data they have from their surveys. At the very beginning of the video the researchers stated that while they focused on CA, the trend data is applicable to all of nursing as a whole. They also have links to supply and demand data through their website if you want to take a deeper dive. It is an interesting look at the history of nursing employment and the future trends within nursing itself.

[bryanleo9]

The market is oversaturated in the Sacramento area for NP and RN's.