Nursing in Southern Cali

perioddrama · Jun 12, 2012

Search for local hospitals (SD)'s websites and see if they have (a lot of) openings. That could be a starter to gauge whether or not they are hiring experienced nurses.

Good luck!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jun 13, 2012

right now......there are multiple applicants for every position and many hospitals have hiring freezes. it is however, highly variant.

has the nursing shortage disappeared?

it's that time of year again. graduating nursing students are preparing to take the nclex and are looking for their first jobs. this year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.

reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.

these new rns entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. they were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.

so what happened? has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?

the short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there. the recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. they are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.

many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.

in addition, many hospitals are not hiring. the recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in july, even as the overall economy saw a modest increase of 139,200 in online job listings.

for the rest of the article http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/co...sappeared.html

nurses are talking about: jobs for new grads

the big lie?losing our skills

the holy grail

take a job, any job

get out of the hospital

back to school?

give us a chance

without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."in other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a bsn later on. who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. the jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

medscape: medscape access

for the rest of the article you need to register for medscape but it is free and is a great resource and source of information

be a nurse...if you can

not too long ago, the threat of a growing nursing shortage prompted thousands of prospective students to choose nursing as a career, and nursing schools rapidly filled to capacity. nursing was frequently referred to as a "recession-proof" career, and the outlook for finding a job after graduation was rosy.

experience and employment: the vicious cycle

now, the bloom, as they say, is off the rose. it seems that many of our new grads are stuck in that perennial dilemma: they can't get a job without experience, and they can't get experience without a job. this situation was not anticipated by thousands of nursing students who were told, often repeatedly, that a global nursing shortage practically guaranteed employment for them.

consider, for example, the situation faced by new graduates in california. a survey of hospitals by the california institute for nursing & health care found that as many as 40% of new graduates may not be able to find jobs in california hospitals, because only 65% of the state's potential employers were hiring new graduates and generally planned to hire fewer new graduates than in previous years. overwhelming numbers of new graduates submitted applications for the few available positions for new graduates. it wasn't that the hospitals weren't hiring at all, but that they wanted nurses with experience.

what happened to the jobs?

most experts blame the crumbling economy for ruining the job prospects of new graduate nurses around the country, but as usual these days, the truth is more complex.

uneven distribution. the demand for nurses was supposed to exceed the supply by the year 2010.the question of whether we truly have a nursing shortage right now is a fair one. the answer, it seems, is "it depends." apparently, it depends on where you live and where you are willing to work. neither the distribution or supply of nurses, or the demand, is uniform. some geographic (mostly rural) areas have a shortage of nurses, whereas some urban locations are witnessing an oversupply of nurses. new graduates seeking jobs in these regions will face a very competitive job market.

economic recession. the shrinking job pool is widely believed to be a consequence of the declining us economy. temporarily at least, economic pressures and job losses in all industries have induced thousands of experienced but aging nurses to forego retirement and even increase their working hours to support their families.

medscape: medscape access again requires registration but it is free no strings...

"praemonitus praemunitus" forwarned is forarmed.

i wish you the best on your nursing journey.:loveya:

BeachBlueRN · Jun 14, 2012

i think that you have a good shot. there seems to be a lot of jobs for experienced nurses out there.

allnurses Guide · Jun 14, 2012

California is quite saturated with nurses not being able to find jobs. Hospital and newspaper website classified ads are not an accurate gauge of the reality on the ground. That doesn't mean that nobody can find a job, but that you'll probably need to be much more proactive than you had planned. When I moved back here from Colorado several years ago, I was pretty surprised they weren't rolling out the red carpet for nurses anymore!

Speaking with the recruiter is good, you may also want to check out our Job Hunt related forums as well. We've added many new ones due to the nationwide job crunch for nurses. All the best to you!

Here you can get a feel for which of our many forums best suits your needs. It's just one part of our site map.

Nursing Career Advice

CaliBoy760 · Jun 14, 2012

I would sign up online with Scripps and with Sharp, two of the larger employers in the area. Also, the VA. You can register and have any openings emailed to you. That way you can knid of judge what the job market is like. Do the same with Indeed, Monster, and Career Builder as well.

caliotter3 · Jun 14, 2012

I have found that many employers will regularly post ads on the employment websites but that does not mean that I will necessarily get hired into that position, i.e., there isn't necessarily a viable job available. Just said to warn you to take job listings with a grain of salt. Once you have your plans in place to make the move, I would start a job search in earnest.

sd-ace · Jun 19, 2012

There is no shortage of nurses in So. Cal in my opinion. I work at a large facility and am getting called at least every two weeks. Census is low and paid time off is dwindling to make up for the canceled shifts. It's not going to get any better either. The jobs that are being posted are simply sitting there because managers lose that money if they don't use it. Doesn't really mean there is a position available per se even though there are "openings" listed. For example, one job has been listed for over a year, but it's renewed so that the date is reset. It was worked into the budget initially, but there really is no need to fill the position when shifts are being cancelled daily. Definitely make sure you have a signed job offer before relocating.