Needing a little info....(San Diego Area)

[jenniferboggan]

I am currently a nursing student in Mississippi. I am working towards a 2 year degree (ADN in MS). My fiancee' is from San Diego area and wants to return. He is a school teacher, and finding out his salary and benefits has been fairly simple. I have a few questions concerning becoming a 2 year nurse in San Diego, CA though.

1. My future mother-in-law has spoken to a nurse. This nurse has stated that a 4-year degree nurse makes apprx. $60,000/year. She also made mention that 2 year nurses do not have their own patients. They must work under a 4 year nurse. I am unsure of what she meant by that. Here in Mississippi, you must have a 4 year degree to become a charge nurse and that charge nurse is over a wing of nurses. But the nurses under her do have their own patients. Is this what she meant?

2. What is the hourly wage (average) of a new graduate 2 year degree nurse? new graduate 4 year degree nurse? In Mississippi there isn't much difference in pay. The main difference in the 2 year and 4 year nurses is the ability to "climb the ladder" so to speak.

3. I have also heard that they only accept new graduate nurses at certain times of the year. When would this be or is this even true?

4. How difficult is it to transfer my liscense from MS to CA? From my research it is fairly simple and the only hold up that may occur would involve fingerprinting.

5. Do new graduate nurses receive sign-on bonuses in the San Diego area?

6. Are they given a moving incentive?

7. Do they pay for continuing education (4 year degree or specialty)?

8. Are there shift pay differentials and if so what are they?

9. What are the average utility bills in the Oceanside area for a single family detached living soace of approximately 1200-1500 square feet?

Thank you so much to those of you who take the time to answer so many questions. Being that cost of living there is so expensive, I would like to ensure our ability to "survive" over there and every little bit of info helps.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

You would have your own patients on shifts.....i'm not sure what she's talking about.

I believe RN's make 28 to 30/hr there. I believe there's shift differentials, but each hospital would have a different range, also sign-on bonuses and relocations would depend on the hospital.

Most hospitals hire twice a year, december/january range and june/july.

That's a lot of questions, I don't know all the answers.

[suzanne4, RN]

I do not know what your mother's friend is speaking of either. There are quite a ew charge nurses that hold a two year ADN or a Diploma in Nursing. And they are over a wing of nurses as you call it and even over those that hold the BSN or even the MSN.

Experience is what counts.

Right now there are many new grads from the area that are having issues getting hired, and they trained right in the San Diego area. Would advise that you contact facilities to see what is actually happening in the facility. Remember that even though you may see something posted on a website, many times the managers already know in their mind who they are going to select based on students that have rotated thru their dept or worked there as a student.

No issues with endorsing your license to CA.

Best of luck to you.

[jenniferboggan]

Thanks to both of you for the info. If anyone else has any input please feel free to post. I would appreciate all the info you can make available to me.

Thanks again.

[secretgoldfish]

I'm a new grad nurse working in San Diego with a 2 year nursing degree I don't work under another nurse unless you count the charge RN and typically have 4-5 patients on the floor. My base pay is $30.50/hour with a $4.33/hour differential for nights. There is no weekend differential at my hospital. Another nurse who began at the same time as myself with a bachelors in nursing makes an additional $1/hour than myself. Most of the other students from my class started out with a base pay ranging from $28-$31/hr. Good luck on your search!