Just Looking Abit Of Advice From Other Posts And Other Sources Of Information I Am Aware California Tends To Be A High Costof Living, But How Do You Really Manage?? Is It Manageable With Your Wage Or Do You All Struggle??
Could You Maybe Give Me Rough Est Of Hourly Rate. Considering Taking Up Direct Placement With A Hospital There No Specific Location Yet They Are Coming To Interview In Oct And Id Liked To Be Prepared With Some Informationthat Im Hoping You Could Possibley Give Me.
Hope To Hear From You Soon
P.S ANYONE AWARE OF A GROUP OF HOSPITALS THAT CONSIST OF ABOUT 20 TOGETHER IN THE WEST COAST AREA??
If a person already has credit for certain pre-reqs then they'll likely graduate having earned fewer units that a person who had to complete more pre-reqs. Take for example a student who starts college having already taken algebra and who has credit for AP English versus a student who has to start with remedial math and English coursework. While both may graduate with the same degree, the latter will likely end up having earned several more units than the former.
Anyway, back to cost of living in California... as others have noted, a lot depends upon where you live. If it's less desirable (eg not close to major metropolitan area, the coast, etc), then the cost of living is less while nursing wages may still be fairly high (though still not as high in the major metropolitan areas). Still, the cost of buying a house in California is pretty high when compared to many other states, even with the recent dips in price. It's definitely do-able to make a living on a nurse's wage in most cases... but there are many things to factor in to that.
I WORK FOR KAISER AS A TELEPHONE ADVICE NURSE..GRANTED I HAVE 30 YRS EXPERIENCE. MY SALARY IS 56/HR. I WORK 10P-630AM SO I GET NIGHT TIME DIFFERENTIAL WHICH IS 7.36. WORK 24/HR..8HR SHIFTS..BEING HOME $2100 EVERY OTHER WEEK AFTER TAXES.:nuke:
Bumping this thread a bit, someone above mentioned that if you move to one of the more rural areas in California that still have good pay, (they used San Bernadino as an example) that it can sometimes work out so you are still making more money than in other states/cities.
Anyone have any suggestions as to what cities in California are less expensive to live in but still make the good money? Or any cities directly outside of the big ones, so that one could work in say, SF and make $40/hr starting, but live a little further away and not have quite high of a rent each month?
Try the Central Valley. Where I work, starting pay for new grads is over $34/hr. You can earn over $600 on an overtime shift. Housing costs less than LA/Orange County or the Bay area, $200,000 will buy a nice starter home right now. Three quarters of the year, the weather is good. The summers can be miserably hot, but we learn to live with it. Some people actually like the heat! We are close to two National Parks, and you can drive to the coast in three hours.
When I say living outside outside of major metropolitan areas I mean not really commuting distance - unless you want a ridiculous commute. Mapquest puts San Bernardino just over an hour from the city of Los Angeles, but unless it's 2am, it will take MUCH longer. Heck, I live less than 10 miles from Hollywood, but to get there usually takes at least 40 minutes! I've also heard that San Bernardino is a having some growing pains, having a large low-middle income population boom - meaning increased demand for schools, police, etc without as much funding as a growing middle, to upper-middle income population. Anyone living out there correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't know the SF area as well, but to plan to take advantage of the great SF wages without paying SF cost of living can only take you so far. Lots of other people have the exact same idea, which drives up prices in the outlying areas as well.
The nice thing about health care, though, is that wherever there are people, there are health care needs. So while some HAVE to commute to a big city for work, some health professionals can more easily find a good job much closer to home. For example, Bakersfield is a quickly growing and developing area with a new university going in.
On the other hand, given the increased cost of living even in many outlying areas and the kind of areas where you may find the best deal in (where schools, parks, weather might not be as appealing), you might be able to find a similar income/cost situation in a more appealing locale in whatever state you are considering moving from.
San Bernardino has some good hospitals, loma Linda, VA Hospital, St Bernardines, etc.... BUT, has a rising crime rate, housing forclosures are on the rise, low income means MediCal and no payment! I lived there for 20 years and got out 10 years ago and moved up north, couldn't be happier. I still, though, work at the same hospital I have been at for 30 years. I wouldn't live in San Bernardino if you gave me a house. Too many people and traffic. There are nice areas outside of SB like Redlands and Highland, but these are starting to go downhill also. I am sure if you looked real hard you might find some redeeming values but probably not.
There is reasonably priced apartments out there. My husband and myself live in a nice one bedroom in a nice safe area for $875 a month. We used to pay $485 in San Pedro but the area is not so safe. The area we live in right now Lomita has a very small town feel the crime rate is very low and the sheriffs are always very responsive even for little things ( the only thing we've needed to call in was a stolen bike) The last murder here was 1997. The only hazaard is don't live too close to the municipal airport as there have been a few planes that don't make it to the runway but thats only a couple in 8 years
hello nurses from cali! im reading posts here and talking about san bernardino, isnt that close to "oceanside" already? i just want to ask about this county as well, how is the cost of living for nurses who works in oceanside hospitals? like for example, in tri city medical? and other hospitals there.
me and my fiance will soon get an apartment somewhere in oceanside..so were planning things ahead and to top that is our "should-be cost of living"
jjjoy, LPN
2,801 Posts
If a person already has credit for certain pre-reqs then they'll likely graduate having earned fewer units that a person who had to complete more pre-reqs. Take for example a student who starts college having already taken algebra and who has credit for AP English versus a student who has to start with remedial math and English coursework. While both may graduate with the same degree, the latter will likely end up having earned several more units than the former.
Anyway, back to cost of living in California... as others have noted, a lot depends upon where you live. If it's less desirable (eg not close to major metropolitan area, the coast, etc), then the cost of living is less while nursing wages may still be fairly high (though still not as high in the major metropolitan areas). Still, the cost of buying a house in California is pretty high when compared to many other states, even with the recent dips in price. It's definitely do-able to make a living on a nurse's wage in most cases... but there are many things to factor in to that.