Jobs San Diego vs Sacramento

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Hello everyone! I would appreciate any advice from California nurses. I will be a recent graduate from nursing school. I currently reside in Indiana. I am interested in moving to California with my family. I do have kids and a husband. My question is what is the job success rate of finding a RN position in San Diego and Sacramento areas as well as the pay rates vs the two cities. My husband is liery to make such a big move, especially from hearing the cost of living in California. We're looking for a nice suburb nothing crazy expensive, something nice and safe for the kids! I am sorry for all the questions but I would appreciate any and all advice from California nurses:))! Thank you all for taking the time to read this!

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.
Fyi... it's 106 degrees in Sacramento today, same tomorrow. But at least there isn't any humidity.

The places in CA with the great weather, like San Diego, come with a cost (for the most part). Either cost of living is higher or pay is less or both in the case of San Diego.

There are LOTS of nurses in CA and lots of nurses who want to work in CA. Get that first year under your belt and the opportunities are much greater.

Its way more humid here than it used to be! I'm refusing to go outside today!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

You NEED experience to work in either SD or Sacramento and only getting 10 months while the kids finish school won't really cut it. You won't have enough experience for staff nurse positions as they usually require 1 or most often 2 years' experience. At the same time, you'll be ineligible for many new grad programs if you have 10 months' experience. You'll be in that infamous black hole.

There's tons of competition for positions here, so you really need at least 1 year of experience to have a decent chance at a job. Also, if you won't be graduating with a BSN, look into a RN-BSN program as soon as you do graduate, as most facilities prefer BSNs.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I've heard that some hospitals (mainly Kaiser) will no longer look at you if you are coming from a skilled nursing facility (and it could be a false rumor).

Kaiser will always hire internally first, and they'll tell you that upfront. Getting into Kaiser is hard, but once you're in their system...

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