NICU new grad UCSD/DHMC?

[nicunewgrad]

I graduate from nursing school in NH in May and have been offered a position in the NICU at Dartmouth Medical Center and in San Diego at UCSD Medical Center in the NICU. I currently have a 300 hour internship at Dartmouth and love their NICU but feel like I need a change from the NH weather I've lived in my whole life. Went to San Diego last week for the first time and loved it and got offered the NICU job at UCSD.

Any input on the UCSD NICU for new grads or otherwise? Housing- i was thinking hillcrest or ocean beach?? Any input on which would be a better choice for me? Any info about the unit or where to live would be greatly appreciated while I make this tough decision! Thank you!

[prmenrs, RN]

UCSD has an EXCELLENT new grad program in the NICU. They've been doing for a few years so lots of experience--they should have the drill down by now!

If you live in Hillcrest, you can walk to work and save yourself some $$ (you have to pay to park, and it's not cheap).

[nicunewgrad]

Thanks for the quick reply! That is great to hear. I really appreciate it. This is a big move for me so I want to make sure that I am making the right decision.

I'll be leaving all of my friends/boyfriend of four years/family in the northeast and I will also be leaving a very supportive team-oriented NICU environment to come out to UCSD. The weather (and running!!!) seems amazing in San Diego and for the few hours that I was on the unit, I got a good feeling. Do you know anything else about the NICU at UCSD?

how much is parking? eek. If I did end up living at OB, do you know how long the drive would be to work? Thanks :-)

[nicunewgrad]

Should I just leave my car back east and try to get a place to live that's close to the hospital? Do you know of anyone renting out a room in their home in the area? One bedroom apartments in that area were around 1,000$ and I definitely can't afford that. Thanks.

[prmenrs, RN]

It's too hard to live in SoCal w/o a car. I'm not living in Hillcrest right now; $1000 seems about right--it's called a "paradise" tax. ALL real estate in this area is very high. I think it would be higher @ the beach. Not sure of the commute time, but a lot of it is surface streets, and that takes longer as a rule.

Your cost of living out here will be higher: gas and housing both.

http://www.signonsandiego.com That's the Union-Tribune website--more info there.

[TravelingJT]

I traveled to UCSD ISCC (NICU) and loved it. The people there were super nice, and I felt like I was apart of a team. The new grads while I was there got to take care a lot of the acute babies (which I think is great experience) and the preceptors are excellent. I wish I would've stayed there to travel. It was a great experience. I was housed in La Jolla UTC area, and the travel to work was like 15 minutes, maybe in traffic. From OB, you'd just take the I-8, and should have no problems. Parking is expensive, but if you end up on night shift it's less than half from day shift, and totally worth it, AND totally tax deductible. Hillcrest is a pain in the butt to park in, so I would suggest buying the parking pass. Take your car to So. Cal, it's fun to drive up the I-5 to other parts of So. Cal, and you won't regret it. Good luck, and who knows, maybe I'll see you there in a travel experience.

[TravelingJT]

Should I just leave my car back east and try to get a place to live that's close to the hospital? Do you know of anyone renting out a room in their home in the area? One bedroom apartments in that area were around 1,000$ and I definitely can't afford that. Thanks.

Totally look at Craigslist. Rooms to share. I feel like a lot of people will be looking for roommates soon as a bunch of students graduate/leave the area. You should to be able to find something closer to the $600 - $700 range if you don't mind taking a roommate. OB/PB/La Jolla are going to be expensive without a roommate. Good luck again.