Experienced RN moving to the Bay Area

[butterfly7]

Hello all,

I'm an RN with 8 years PICU experience ( 6 years as a PICU traveler) looking to transition to PACU ( adult or pedi ). I have found some positions at some hospitals in the Bay Area. I' am wondering are most hospitals in the Bay Area union? I'm looking at Oakland Kids, Kaiser, Packard, Alta Bates and CPMC. Also, what is the pay rate like? I know that the cost of living is higher than a lot of US cities. Have these hospitals had an recent hiring freezes? And do you know if any have relocation assistance? I have not been permanent staff for years so any answers to the above question would be great!

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

1st off: the bay area is impacted with nurses, that includes experienced nurses. You would be recommended to have a job lined up prior to moving there.

The likelihood of transitioning from one specialty to another may be small. Most bay area jobs have greatly reduced hiring on top of the economy and they have tons of nurses that are unemployed in that area currently.

Most of the hospitals in the area are union, I know Kaiser is.

The cost of living is expensive, one bedroom apartments can start for around 1400/month.

Pay for new grads is around 50/hr, so an experienced nurse would make more.

But definitely line up a job before moving, I completed my RN program up there, but most of the nurses had not been able to find jobs, yes they were new RN's but most had worked for LVN's in hospitals for many years.

[NeverTooLate8]

I echo Nicki’s advice. The Bay Area is DISGUSTINGLY oversaturated with nurses. Even though I was a new grad (May 09), it took me 7 months to find a job. I do see quite a few postings that have “EXPERIENCED NURSES ONLY” (emphasis in job posting, not mine) – I see this so much it makes me sad, sick, bitter, and angry all at the same time. So, even though there are more jobs for exp nurses, I still think it’s wise to already have a job lined up before moving.

I was born and raised here – C.O.L. is almost laughable. Depending on the area, 2 bedroom apartments can run upwards of $1500 - 2K (again, depending on region). A modest single family can easily go for half a million.

As far as I know, most places are union. But, I haven’t worked for a ton of places.

For an experienced RN, pay rate is quite high (hence why so many people want to move here and the area is over-saturated). You might start at around mid $50’s/hr.

Majority of the hospitals (in fact, I can’t think of one that hasn’t) are on/have had recent hiring freezes.

In this economy, I doubt any hospital will add relocation assistance.

Good Luck!