Mental Health Nursing in California--L.A.

U.S.A. California

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Hi all, my name is Chere'. I am a recent BSN graduate (May 2003) currently working at a great psych facility in Georgia. I have family in the Los Angeles area and have been longing to return to California for much too long. I am curious as to what anyone might share regarding psychiatric (or mental health) nursing opportunities in California (e.g., numerous or few job openings, median pay, recommended psych facilities & facilities to stay clear from, etc.)? If anyone has any info to share it would be greatly appreciated. I am a mother of two growing boys (ages 11 & 14) and may be travelling out there as a single mom; so I am very concerned about the pay and level of opportunities that may be available in my chosen specialty (i.e., psych nursing). I decided to go for a BSN after doing much research on the degrees available in mental health. It became evident that obtaining a master's as a CNS would open the pathway to a career in mental health & enable me to be creative with my degrees. Anyway, I am very excited about joining this discussion board as well as the world of nursing! It is my God-chosen path and I am blessed to be in a position to help others. I would love to get to know you, and highly appreciate any info you may be able to share regarding psych nursing opportunities in California, as well as the Atlanta area.

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Mental health is not my field. I do know nurses who work at UCLA in the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI) who love their work. The staffing is good. Pay and benefits are excellent.

St. Johns in Santa Monica has a mental Health unit with an excellent reputation. I met a former patient who seems fine and spoke very highly of the care she received at St. Johns.

There are probably others I am not aware of that are good.

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UCLA - NPI and Cedars are the only inpatient psych units I am aware of and both have good reputations. Saint John's closed their mental health department about 5 years ago. Century City also has a mental health department but the hospital is closing April 1st.

You might want to try http://www.nurseweek.com for more up-to-date job openings.

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1. UCLA(good Pay and benefits)

2.Cedars Sinai (good pay)

3.Pacific Hospital in Long Beach

4. Metro State Hospital in Norwalk(federal employee)

5. College Hospital in Cerriotos

6.Augusta Hawkins in Los Angeles

Outpatient

1. Pacific Clinics

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Spacenurse, Gomer, & Mztrixi,

Thank you all for the info! You all have been very helpful!

BTW--I ran across a another facility last night--Has anyone heard of Del Amo Hospital--a private psych hospital located in Torrance? Once again, thanks a bunch:roll

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic Transplant Telemetry.

I am currently a student nurse who is picking up hours at Glendale Adventist Medical Center as a nurses aid. For some time now I have been picking up hours in their psychiatric institute while waiting for a permanent transfer into the department I spoke to the director today who said that; were I able to graduate immediately, that he would be glad to hire me at whatever rate that I wanted. With the new mandatory ratio's they are really struggling. I know that some of the area hospitals are limiting admissions because they simply do not have the staffing to fill their beds. let me know if you need any more information

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Hi Christine :)

Where is Glendale Adventist Medical Center located? Also, could you please share a bit more info on this mandatory staffing ratio? I live in the Atlanta area & we do not currently have this in place (to my knowledge, anyway). I think it's great, but would like more info. You had mentioned that you were being offered an open salary range--could you please elaborate? Also, what do you think an RN with a BSN would start out making in the Los Angeles area in psych, specifically? Thanks so much for any info you're able to share! Have a great day!

Chere'

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Hi Christine :)

Where is Glendale Adventist Medical Center located? Also, could you please share a bit more info on this mandatory staffing ratio? I live in the Atlanta area & we do not currently have this in place (to my knowledge, anyway). I think it's great, but would like more info. You had mentioned that you were being offered an open salary range--could you please elaborate? Also, what do you think an RN with a BSN would start out making in the Los Angeles area in psych, specifically? Thanks so much for any info you're able to share! Have a great day!

Chere'

I did my clinicals at Glendale Adventist during my RN school. Their Psych facility consists of 3 units -(1) Gero-Psych (2) Psych 1 west which houses patients with personality disorders who are somewhat still functional, and there is (3)Psych 2 unit which houses individuals with severe psychiatric problems (i.e. schizo, severe depression with recent suicidal attempts, etc). I would say that Glendale Adventist's psych units are well organized and very therapeutic for health care workers and patients alike. In addition, they also have a nice outpatient facility as well. GAMC is located at the junction of freeway 134 and 2 in the city of Glendale about 5-7 mi north of Downtown LA. Ask your relatives, they would know where it is. As far as patient ratio, I don't know the current CA guidelines for psych units. Check their website as well www.glendaleadventist.com

hope this helps.

:)

Photon71

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I Just Have To Say One Thing You Girls Rock Kudos To You For Working In Psych. Evertime I Worked There Crazy Sh#* Happened. Not Like Working In The Er Is Any Different But Atleast There I Wasnt Locked In. Keep Up The Good Work Ladies I Truly Admire You.

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