New Grad moving to California

Drewseph, ADN, RN · Apr 28, 2021

@Mackenziefaye
So if you decide to go that route, you'll apply for Initial Licensure by Examination, and you'll want to work with your Program Director or Dean to get all of the paperwork to the BRN they'll need from the school to evaluate your eligibility to take the California NCLEX and become licensed. While the schools of nursing in California automatically take care of all this (aka your "packet") for us once we apply to take the NCLEX, this is a process that you'll need to be proactive in doing on your own, with the help of your faculty.
https://www.RN.ca.gov/applicants/lic-exam.shtml

Honestly, as a new grad who graduated in December in California, I personally would recommend that you consider getting licensed and working out there for your first year as a nurse in Utah, in the specialty you want, and then coming back here once you can get Licensed by Endorsement in California: meaning that you don't have to take the California NCLEX because you already passed it in Utah and you have gained some verifiable work experience.
https://www.RN.ca.gov/applicants/lic-end.shtml

I say this because I am here to tell you: it is HARD to find work in California as a new graduate RN, and most folks wait on average up to 6 months after graduation before they find a job. Otherwise folks end up working in LTC, a nursing home, or a vaccine clinic in the meantime to try and find work until they can get hired at a hospital. And there's a little bit of variability based on geographic location. But again: if I were in your shoes I would take the NCLEX in Utah, get hired at the hospital where you do clinical on the floor/unit/specialty that fits you best, use that first year of experience to work on getting licensed by endorsement, and then move out here once you have a license and your job already lined up for you... it's 100X easier to get a job once you have 1-2 years experience! Especially in California.

Best of luck to you, I hope this helps! ?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Apr 30, 2021

On 4/27/2021 at 8:42 PM, Drewseph said:

Honestly, as a new grad who graduated in December in California, I personally would recommend that you consider getting licensed and working out there for your first year as a nurse in Utah, in the specialty you want, and then coming back here once you can get Licensed by Endorsement in California:

I would highly recommend this route, except I would stay a minimum of 2-3 years. After 2-3 years experience, you are far more marketable than having only one year of experience. In addition, you will be able to start off in a specialty that interest you instead of taking any job, just to get experience. That could lead to burnout more quickly.

MFaye · May 1, 2021

Would you both recommend this route knowing that I am currently living in California now? I was planning on taking my husband and 2 toddlers with us and renting our California home out to finish with my BSN from Utah. I got accepted into an ADN program here but my start date is a year out. Utah BSN RN program starts next month. It feels worth the move, just not sure if it is tricky coming back home, or if I should plan to live out there longer.

Drewseph, ADN, RN · May 1, 2021

7 hours ago, FutureNurseMack said:

Would you both recommend this route knowing that I am currently living in California now? I was planning on taking my husband and 2 toddlers with us and renting our California home out to finish with my BSN from Utah. I got accepted into an ADN program here but my start date is a year out. Utah BSN RN program starts next month. It feels worth the move, just not sure if it is tricky coming back home, or if I should plan to live out there longer.

@FutureNurseMack that's a tricky one... the same thing happened to me, I got accepted into an ADN program in Cali and had to wait half a year before my 1st semester started. Your chances of getting hired as a new grad are a lot higher if you apply wherever you did your clinicals and preceptorship, which is another one of the main reasons I suggested staying out in Utah for a couple years after you graduate (if you do end up going to school out there)... but it's definitely worth considering staying if you've already been accepted into an ADN program out here, because it's so competitive and that's half the battle, you can be done with your BSN online in as little as a year after you graduate if you wanted, and already be working as an RN to help pay that off.

Let me ask you this: where are you at in California? Certain areas are much easier to find work than others. Also are you hard-set on what kind of floor or specialty you work in, or are you pretty flexible?

MFaye · May 1, 2021

So there seems to be a lot of jobs, I have friends and almost every hospital within a few hours. I am in Fresno/Clovis area. 3 hours south of SF and 3 hours north of LA, I want to work in pediatrics ED or NICU, or possibly L&D, I figure that will clear up through clinicals.

I also like the idea of working in the ED for a year before applying to a specific specialty.

Drewseph, ADN, RN · May 5, 2021

@FutureNurseMack nice!! That's great news... I'm in Modesto (we're neighbors!) and I am here to tell you, we have it easier in the Central Valley than almost anywhere else in the state of California. In fact, many people in our cohorts will already have a job offer lined up before they graduate. That's unheard of in LA, SF, or even Sac! In that case, you might want to consider staying in California if you want to come back here anyway. You can find work.... you might have to be willing to go anywhere from Bakersfield to Stockton those first couple of years, but you'll likely end up getting a job in the Fresno-Clovis area.

That's great that you want ED, but I would try to get a job as an ED tech/EMT while you're in nursing school. It will help you out tremendously because it's one of the most competitive department areas to get into as a new grad...usually (but not always) the lucky ones who get hired in the ED have ED experience already.

Just to give you, or anyone looking into moving to CA as a new grad RN, an idea as to the hardest specialties to get hired into as a new grad since like Summer 2020, in order from hardest to "less-hard". This is just what I've seen over the past year. Not based off real life numbers, just off of close observation between myself and my fellow nurse-geek friends ?

1. Labor & Delivery (L/D)
2. Emergency Department (ED)
3. Any Intensive Care Unit (IMCU, SICU, CVICU, PICU, NICU, TICU)
4. Mother-Baby (postpartum, antepartum, newborn nursery)
5. Pediatrics (especially Peds ED or PICU)
6. Progressive Care Unit (PCU) / Step-Down CCU / Intermediate ICU
7. Telemetry(renal-tele, cardiac-tele, or med-surg-tele)
8. Med-Surg (medical, surgical, renal, cardiac, ortho, respiratory)
9. OR / PACU (Except at some hospitals, where its most competitive)
10. Oncology/Infusion/GI, Outpatient doctor's offices
11. Dialysis (inpatient or outpatient), COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics
12. Home Health, Palliative Care, and Hospice
13. Nursing Homes: Acute Rehab, LTC, SNF
14. Psych/Mental Health/Behavioral Health Centers
15. Prisons and correctional facilities

*2 and 3 are basically tied, but sometimes can be reversed as well.
**Because I know someone's thinking it:
no, travel nursing as a new grad isn't a thing. 1 (usually 2) years of experience is the minimum