How difficult is it to find an RN job in the S.F Bay area and what are the wages?

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Hi, I am looking to relocate to the S.F. Bay area from the east coast and I was wondering if anyone knew what the job market is like for nurses with 5 yrs of non acute care experience and the general salary range. I have been searching on line and checking things out for about six weeks now, but I only have one week off this summer and I need to make it count if I make a trip out their to job hunt and interview. I have not had much feedback from nurse managers and I do not know if they are not taking me seriously because I am thousands of miles away or what. Any recommendations on what hospitals/institutions are better than others, would be helpful. Thank you.

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Specializes in ER, PICC placement, Vascular Access Team.

Hi Michael,

IMO, the nursing shortage is over. haha. Places here in SF are hiring - but the slow market has cut that back from a few years ago. It's good that you already have experience - the market is flooded with new grads that can't find jobs. What kind of nurse are you? I'm an ER nurse, so not too familiar with many of the non-acute care roles. But I could provide a bit more info if I knew where your expertise was applicable.

Pay wise... most hospitals based RN's make $40's - $50's and up depending on the facility and years of experience. New grads at my facility start about 50 (give or take a few dollars). Differentials are paid on top of that.

UCSF, CPMC, Kaiser are prominent hospitals in the city. SF General is the county hospital and the main trauma center. Catholic Healthcare West has a few hospitals in the city too but I'm not very familiar with them.

What else would you like to know?

chris

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Hi Chris, thank you for the information. I never got the M/S experience in nursing. Jobs here in Boston have been fairly hard to get without experience for several years, unless you have many years of acute care skills. There are several nursing schools churning out new grads every year costing about $180,000 for a BSN. This coupled with some prestigious institutions setting the pace, I feel the market here for nurses to be a tough one. I think the wages are pathetic given the cost of living here and the amt of responsibility in our work. I started at $27.00 hr, which was considered good and I now make $31.50 hr. I have friends who are in business and the computer science field, who are making $90,000-$150,000 a year, so not all jobs pay low here. there are a few union hospitals that pay better but hard to get into.

So I started out in the OR and then worked in psych and now I am in a second stage pacu, hoping to graduate to 1st stage pacu sometime. I have been trying to land work to get acute care nursing skills. Everyone wants me to go back into m/s/telemetry but I can not take care of a 7 patient patient load. My career path has not gone as planned, one of the reasons I want to move west and get more experience. I am not sure if now is a good time, due to the economy. So I am checking it out. It looks like the average rent in the city is around $1200.00 does that sound correct to you? Thanks Michael

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Highly suggest you have a job lined up before your move. Many people leave the SF bay area when they find that they can't get a job. This goes for the experienced as well as new grads. SF is a very, very expensive place to live when you don't have a job or three.

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Thanks, I agree. a city that expensive you can blow through your savings very quickly without a job lined up. I noticed when I was out there last year, the high cost of everything, including groceries. M

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

average rent would be more like 1400/mo for a 1 bedroom or studio, I dont know who told you 1200.....

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You can live in Berkeley for much cheaper, and get a nicer place, and take rapid transit (BART) to SF for cheap!! Outlying communities are even cheaper and are rapid transit accessible to San Francisco.

Nurse-Patient ratios are standardized in California at 5:1 for m/s, 4:1 for tele, and 2:1 for ICU (amirite?)

I would think that with experience, it wouldn't be THAT hard to find a job... HR departments do seem a little flaky, but I see lots of postings for experienced nurses.

There are also a lot of Sutter hospitals in the East Bay (which will have similar pay scales as SF) and good hospitals in the South Bay.

And we have awesome weather.

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Thanks for the information. I did not think there was much difference in rents through out the bay area. I will check out Berkeley. I have never been their before in all my travels to the bay area in the past. I know here in Boston, the farther out you go from downtown Boston, the nursing wages drop significantly. Is it not like that in the S.F. Bay Area? I have also applied to a couple places in the south bay, but I think it might be harder to connect with new people and make friends versus living in the city. So I may stick to more densely populated places. I do need some green space though. Yeah your right you do have great weather!

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