Can I come work with y'all?

[goingCOASTAL]

Hey guys!

Texas nurse here with this really bad "itch" to come work in the LA area. I've got real acquainted with your Nursing Board website, and with what I have to do to get licensed, etc., but would just like some advice from you guys about the working environment, living environment, and that awful subject no nurse likes to ever talk about (at least admitting to liking it! LOL!), pay!

I'd especially like to hear from other "transplanted" nurses -- what was your biggest surprise (pleasant or otherwise), how you adjusted to moving out West.

Thanks in advance!

goingCOASTAL

P.S. I don't have to make a firm decision until the new year, but my basic plan is to visit a couple of times, see how I like the area, and perhaps work a short-short contract to see how that works before I pack up and make a permanent move. Whuddaya think?

[Gomer]

Come as a traveler (Travcorp is great). Try UCLA or Cedars if you like big teaching hospitals. Or St. John's (Santa Monica) or Little Company of Mary (Torrance) if you like smaller private hospitals. You'll need a car and the closer you live the the beach or if you want an ocean view, the more expensive the housing.

[goingCOASTAL]

THanks for the info. Was browsing through apartment listings today, and I was quite surprised at some high prices and low square footage . . . although I was prepared for that, it was still quite interesting to say the least.

What I'm afraid of is picking a decently priced apartment, then discovering the reason it's so cheap is because it's in the middle of the "hood." Are their any locales (neighborhoods/towns) in the LA area I should avoid? Is there such thing as decently priced (and safe) housing in the LA area?

I'm more ignorant about a lot more of this than I imagined. I think I'll really have to do it via "travel nursing" at first, get a feel of the land, then move.

[Gomer]

Travel nursing is your best bet -- as I said before -- I believe Travcorp provides you housing (some of the other companies probably do to, but TC I'm most familiar with). Anyway, no area of town is more safe or less safe than the other Although I'm certain if you research it you will find there is a high crime rate in East LA, Watts, and parts of (what we call) The Valley. And there are murders in Beverly Hills too. There are good and bad people everywhere. I would suggest you find a hospital first and then find housing as close as possible. The freeways and commuting are a bigger problem than crime.

You also might go to http://www.nurseweek.com as they have alot of Calif. information.

Anymore questions? Good Luck and Welcome!