Have you ever worked in Bakersfield CA

dijaqrn · Feb 20, 2007

If you're not in California you might rethink this. Bakersfield is the desert and there are no cities near it. Lancaster is about 90 mins away.... I don't hear much about medical care in Bakersfield, Lancaster is much bigger and lacks adequate care. Good luck!

pickledpepperRN · Feb 20, 2007

I know one nurse who now works at Bakersfield Memorial.

She likes it. Says the staffing and standards of care are good.

CRNA2BKY · Feb 20, 2007

I loved Bakersfield, and lived there for 3 years. It had close to 1/2 a million people several years ago, so it sure isn't the little tiny town that some people think of as. It has nice new developments on the West side, malls, movie theaters, a performing arts center, and nice medical facilities. What it doesn't have is all the headaches of the big cities like L.A. and S.F. and the cost of living in Bakersfield is much lower than in the big metro areas. It only takes 1.5 hours to drive to the beaches near LA, and about an hour to be up in the mountains for some beautiful skiing or hiking. So, there is plenty to do within easy reach, but again, you will avoid all the traffic and headaches of L.A. and S.F. I miss living in Bakersfield, and would recommend the experience. I did not work in the healthcare field at the time, so unfortunately, I can't comment on being an employee at a hospital. I hope this helps.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2007

I lived in Bakersfield from 2003 to 2005 after being priced out of other parts of California.

A general rule of thumb is to live west of the 99 freeway, because that's where the safe and desirable neighborhoods are primarily located. There are beautiful neighborhoods east of the 99 freeway, but you would have to be native to the area to find them. You'll be okay as long as you live west of the 99 freeway, which includes Southwest Bakersfield and Northwest Bakersfield. Good luck!

babynurselsa, RN · Feb 21, 2007

I did an assigment there in 2003/2004.

I was in apartment on the west side of town. It was nice. It has a mall, good shopping. There are actually 5 hospitals. I worked at the County facility.

The town itself isn't real exciting, but as previously said you can be somewhere fun in a couple of hours.

angel4gramma · Feb 24, 2007

I have worked in 3 of the hospitals in Bakersfield. Mercy and Kern Medical Center were terrible. Not travel freindly on the floors I worked on. Memorial was fantastic. I worked on 1st East and floated all over. Always treated the travelers wonderful. Managers at Memorial are great. I just wish they needed me longer on the floor I was at. :blushkiss

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2007

i live and work in bakersfield, california and if i were to rate my life here compared to oakland, california i'd give it a 6 out of a possible 10.

here are the negatives

1. air quality..the worst in the nation.

2. abyssmally hot during the summer months...triple digit temperatures lasting weeks. check out the trends on the net!

3. commuting a big hassle. no logical planning of roadways (too much traffic and no place to go!) and housing expansion booming,icreasing the smog problem.

4. materialistic cultural values: my house is bigger than yours and so is my suv...so what!!!?

5. ignorance of general public regarding healthy lifestyle. lack of exercise, meth habits, drinking hagits galor, poor food choices, worst illiteracy rate in the state. nurses fight an uphill battle to educate these folks.

6. hardly anyone commutes here by bicycle. only the poor and undereducated ride on the wrong side of the street, on the sidewalk and in the wrong direction.

7. libraries that charge a lot for videos and books and have no grace periods. perpetuating the problem with illiteracy!!!

8. republicans galor and intolerance of another world view other than their own. lol

9. nothing culturally to do here! other than mall shopping, eating at a restaurant, and walking the dogs at the park or going a country music dance. this is a wannabee texas town that comes no where nears close.

10. gang problems and murders every night on the news...violence is not diminishing only growing.

11. cal state bakersfield nursing school. all white teaching staff and just plain mean.

pluses

1. the hospital i work at sjch and the terrific night nurses on the telefloor.

2. beautiful westchester neighborhood i live in east of the 99! nice and quiet.

3. living close to the kern river bike path.

4. close to the mountains to enjoy clean air within an hours drive.

5. great personable and intelligent coworkers ;-)

6. the winter months are special. not too cool; and spring can be beautiful too but only lasts a few weeks till the baketown heat kicks up its might hot coal rear hoof!

7. picking up the l.a. times on the corner. the local paper the bakersfield californian riddled with errors and poorly written.

8 bakersfield college nursing school. diverse teaching staff and just plain nice!