Moving to Los Angeles, thoughts on best hospital to work for as an RN?

xstarsfallingx · Jun 22, 2011

Having grown up in LA, doing clinicals in several hospitals in the area, and working at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for two years before moving out of state, my very first gut instinct is to tell you to avoid Cedars. They are great at PR and customer service, but that is because they focus all of their attention on that and ignore their staff. Most past employees do not speak highly of them and do not feel they advocate for their nurses.

I do not have personal experience with UCLA (either campus), but they have a great rep. A family friend worked in peds ICU as a traveler at UCLA Santa Monica and did not particularly like it. I believe an old classmate of mine is at the main campus ICU, but I have not touched base with her in awhile.

Kaiser is okay, but is a huge assembly line-style brand of insurance and hospitals. Better to just pick up per diem there as they pay very well for those positions instead of getting stuck in their system.

My clinical experience at St. Johns Santa Monica was great, as well as my ER and ICU experience at St. Francis in Torrence (i believe they are unionized). St. Francis is a bit of a drive, but their staff was very welcoming. It is in a pretty trashy area though...but that allows for lots of GSWs and fun trauma cases.

USC University Medical Center has a brand new hospital and they have virtually no turnover last I heard. A classmate of mine is working nights in their CV ICU and I have not heard complaints from him. They pay very well too.

As a past employee of Childrens, I cannot say enough about my experience there. Obviously you are not in peds, but they are transitioning to their brand new hospital, and really take care of their staff. They only place they lack is their pay...they are strictly non union and pay less than most other facilities in the area.

Keep in mind when researching that if you are living in West Hollywood/bh that youre commute will be at least double in time what it looks like on paper when you are seeing miles. It is very difficult to navigate from that area to any nearby highway, so you are on crowded LA streets. I lived in weho and it took me over 30 min some days to get to Sunset and Vermont from Crescent Heights and Melrose. I would consider your location carefully.

lindarn · Jun 22, 2011

I worked at UCLA for two years in the early 80's, and I loved it. The campus is like its own city. There is everything on the campus, from wooded areas to its own Baskin-Robbins ice cream store.

They treated the nurses very well.

The only "complaint" that I had, was that it states right up front that teaching the medical residents is its primary focus, and patient care is second!

JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Someplace in the PACNW

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2011

I've loved working at UCLA for the past two years, but a lot of that has to do with my specific unit's culture; YMMV. A friend of mine has commuted from Hollywood all that time, so it's doable, although not ideal; personally, I live just a couple miles from the hospital, and while it's pricey for a mediocre apartment, I'm happy to pay for the convenience. I'm making $36/hr based on my two years' experience, plus differentials (I work straight nights and a lot of weekends).

RNcairo · Jun 22, 2011

I appreciate the responses so far. I realize that the experience varies per unit regardless of how good or bad a hospital is, so I'm hoping to shadow the units I apply to in order to get a feel for them. It seems like UCLA is more what I'm looking and they have positions open in ICU, so I will apply there for sure. The drive is definitely an issue, but we plan on moving to a new apartment once I relocate.

Do you guys have anything to mention about nursing in California compared to NC? Obviously your experience may not include NC nursing, but I know California is heavily unionized and we have none of that here. What are your dues like? How involved is the union? Honestly I have absolutely no experience with unions so have very limited knowledge.

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 23, 2011

This is the schedule of dues for the CNA (CA Nurses' Association) at UCLA. Assuming you land a full-time RN job that's paid biweekly, you'll be charged just slightly over your base hourly pay with each pay period. For me, that comes out to $36 and change. The union is pretty active, as far as I can tell; there was nearly a strike last summer when they couldn't come to terms with the university, but it was called off at the last minute for some reason. Anyway, I'm well aware that I'm spoiled working here, insofar as I'm guaranteed my breaks and a minimum level of staffing at all times.

I did have to get the union involved once in a dispute with payroll, and everything worked out as I hoped, so my impression is that they will take care of you.

RNcairo · Jun 23, 2011

Thanks Coffee Nurse. :)

Do you mind if I ask what your shift differentials are? I tried to message you but, alas, couldn't figure it out. And I thought I was technologically savvy. :lol2:

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 23, 2011

$5 for night shift [edit: sorry, that is, going up to $6 in a few weeks, I think], $2.50 for weekends. And I think the reason is that you have to have a minimum number of posts (15?) before you can PM.

NurseVN · Jun 23, 2011

I work at Cedars and I see RNs who worked st St Johns, White Memorial, and Kaiser and other hospitals tranferring to Cedars loving it here. Great benefits, great pay, well staffed. I'm on Cardaic stepdown (CABG, AVR, heart transplant, etc.) and the ratio is 3:1. With 24 beds, we're almost always staffed with 8-10 RNs, 1 LVN, 3 CNAs. I've only been here 4 months but I see RNs who have been here for over 20-30 years. I believe one of the reasons Cedars has a slightly high turnover is b/c some RNs from out of state or out of region come here for the experience and then come back to where they're from to be with their loves ones. Also, Cedars is a teaching hospital and Kaiser is not. UCLA I heard has rotsting shifts. Again, just to give you a different perspective. Every place has pros and cons. I would choose UCLA over Cedars, Cedars over Kaiser :-)

ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN · Feb 24, 2013

UCLA and Kaiser IMHO are the best hospitals for me. I still work there, full time in UCLA and per diem at Kaiser. In terms of benefits though, I choose UCLA. They provide a lot of training opportunities, 40 hours of paid CEUs, leadership roles, etc., etc. It's just a wonderful place to be. Very supportive management, amazing co-workers. It's a dream job.

xanbella, BSN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

I know this is an old post, but I am hoping to get some updated information on RN jobs in the LA area as I have been considering moving down there as well. I have about two years of acute care experience in tele and ER. My main concern is pay & the cost of living. Seemingly cost of living is about the same as up here in the bay area yet the pay for nurses is lower. Is this true? Any opinions in general or knowledge on pay for someone with about the same experience would be greatly appreciated!

RNcairo · Jan 13, 2015

Well I can answer this now that I've been living in the area for over three years. I would say that UCLA and Cedars-Sinai are both good choices to look into. From what I've been told, Cedars has better pay. They do not have a union either, which depending on the nurse could be a good or bad thing. I interviewed at both hospitals and I recommend that you do the same if you're considering moving here. I can't speak for Kaiser as I've never stepped foot in any of their hospitals.

Pay covers my cost of living (and quite a bit more) but I do live with my partner so we share housing expenses. Housing really depends on what area you want to live in and the quality of the place you're expecting. Of course if you want to be near Cedars or UCLA, your rent will be more expensive than living farther away and commuting. I have several colleagues who do both. I'd say if you're looking in the vicinity, rent for a 1br ranges from 1500-2300 for reasonable places. Of course it can get much higher in the poshest of places; for instance, a new apartment building recently opened nearby my place with monthly rent from 5k-30k/month.

If if you're willing to commute 45-90 minutes, housing in the valley and east side is cheaper. Some of my older colleagues actually have houses they purchased in the valley, but who knows if that's feasible on an RNs salary anymore. Anyway feel free to ask if you have other questions. I'd be interested in knowing why 1-you want to move to LA and 2- how does this compare to SF? I've often thought of moving there.