relocating- need some advice, please

Nurses General Nursing

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hi, i could really use some advice from all the nurses here.

kinda-new rn, about 1 yr of home health care experience- acute adult, no hospital experience. planning on relocating to california and working in a hospital b/c frankly, i think i need a break from homehealth and can't fathom all that driving in los angeles at present. considering med/surg, onc or? and to hospice ulitmately.

questions- 1. advice on making the transition from homehealth to hospital?

2. am i crazy to think med/surg? i keep hearing about understaffing and mandatory overtime

3. any opinions re- usc, ucla, cedars-sinai {the only magnet hosp in ca}

thanks, after.

You've picked three excellent healthcare facilities. Do you know where you will live? Driving is a real b*tch here, so the less you need the freeways the better. Both UCLA and Cedars are large teaching hospital, both have terrible parking, both pay well (UCLA has great benefits), both have educational opportunities, both are looking for nurses. UCLA is also union (Calif Nurses' Assoc) and Cedars is having a union vote in December (also CNA) and the some of the nurses are petioning to have the magnet status removed. USC is a Tenet hospital. I would suggest you visit all three and see which makes you the best offer. Oh, mandatory OT is not allowed in CA and you either take your meal breaks or you have to be paid for the time. Good Luck!

Originally posted by after01

am i crazy to think med/surg? i keep hearing about understaffing and mandatory overtime

i don't think you are crazy. when you interview, ask them these sort of questions....what is the nurse patient ratio? is mandatory overtime an issue? you might also want to ask for a tour of the unit after/during the interview. this way you can actually see a shift in action. good luck with the job hunt!

thanks gomer and shannonRN for your advice. i'm planning to live in echo park/silverlake area, santa monica only in my dreams... but either way i know i'll deal w/traffic.

gomer, you said ucla, cedars are great hospitals, how about usc? why/when the petition to pull the magnet award from cedars? where can i find out info like that? any idea the kind of pay, benefits offered by these hospitals? i'm currently making about 56K and hoping to buy a house w/in a year of relocating. where do you work?

can anyone recc an agency to use? my biggest dread is to lock myself into a floor i hate. thanks, after.

My suggestion would be to go to the online version of the Los Angeles Times and checkout the classifieds. That way you could compare property costs to what you expect your household income to be before you settle in a specific area. Commuting can be a real nightmare, and housing in many areas is way out of range for nursing wages.

Specializes in Everything except surgery.

after01 I would check out several agencies and do a travel contract first. Then some agencies can get you a sign on bonus, relocation assistance, and housing for certain period of time. There many, many travel contracts for RNs in that area.

Here are some of the agencies I would reccomend.

First the agency I work for is Travelcare Unlimited,

next there is Richards Healthcare, and you can go to their website and see what areas they have open now.

Next try Across America, and the recruiter is on Delphiforums.com often. She gives excellent info without having to fill out one piece of paper. Then there is HRN, a well respected agency with a lot of nurses, but can be lowing paying in some areas.

Next ....Albertta Care, and the recruiter is also online a lot in the delphi forums.

There is Aurerus and they pay good rates, and I have heard no comoplaints about them.

I think taking a travel assignments is a great way to find out what if what first, before signing on the dotted line, and having your housing paid(which is a pay of your compensation package).

Make sure you contact the agencies you're looking at and then ask somene on Delphi, about the hosoital you want to go to.

Edited to reflect the fact that I work for and am an employee of Travelcare Unlimited...

thanks jemb and brownms46 for your replies, more stuff to think about...

i love the idea of getting housing as part of a job package and to be able to check out the different hospitals, but BIG QUESTION- how much and wat kind of experience is needed to join an agency or travel?

i've never worked in the hospital setting, so far only homecare and i'm not relishing driving around la doing homecare. any suggestions or infor?

thanks, after

Specializes in Everything except surgery.

Dear after01,

There are all kinds of travel assingments out there, in fact I'm considering one that is working in a clinic working Monday thru Firday with on weekends, or nites. And the pay is even better than most hospitals. I also worked with a nurse who experience was in OR but she was totally burnt out, so we went back to school for ARt. While she is going to school she decided to do travel locally. She walked into an endoscopy unit, and they trained her to do procedure and the hospital even sent her to classes to learn how to do IVs. And in LA...are you kidding??? They have a "shortage" of at least 70,000 nurses in Califonia. One hospital group has some many positons open for RN you would fall asleep before you read them all. There is also Behavioral Health, and there are wound care positons, immuninization clinics, IV therapy teams, employee health. None of which require acute care experience. Don't sell yourself short, as I'm sure you learned about in the last year in home care. I know I did...:cool: If I can be only any help to you let me know...anytime! And you're very welcome after01..:).

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