Orange County Hosp-Saddleback & Hoag

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I am going to be graduating from nursing school in May of 07. I've talked to a bunch of hospitals in california to get information on new grad programs and pay rates. The best hospitals I have found are Hoag, Saddleback Memorial in Laguna hills, and the Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. So i was wondering if anyone can give me some bad or good things about any of these hospitals? I am living in pA right now ... im relocating to CA once I graduate. I'm wondering though since I can only apply online if the face to face interview would have to wait until I move out there... which would be 2-3 weeks before a new grad program starts? How does this whole interview thing work out? I'd hate to move out there and have to wait months to get an interview. But its hard to fly out there just for interviews.

Although maybe I can go on vacatino in June once I graduate and schedule a bunch of interviews. I don't know if thats good or not though because a lot of the new grad progrrams start in Sept or Oct and you have to apply wayyy before that.

Are the new grad programs hard to get into? I will have been working as a nurse extern for a year when I apply for the jobs... will this give me a little bit of an advantage over everyone else and make them possibly consider me sinceI have more experience?

And when you are offered a job do they offer you a certain shift? I read a few posts about Hoag that they offered only Night Shifts to new grads, but these posts were from back in 2005 and early 2006 so hopefully that has changed.

Also.. how are the new grad programs? I didn't really ask much specific info on them because I wasn't sure what to ask.

I know that laguna hills offers relocation assistance but I'm not sure about Hoag bc I forgot to ask.

I realllly like Hoag the best I think but.. i know newport beach is realllly expensive to live at. I really want to live at the beach, or close to it but I don't know if I'll be able to afford it. I do want to live very close to where I work though because I know traffic is crazy in CA.

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Hi there! I'm very familiar with the OC area as I have lived here all my life. However, I am not a nurse yet so I can't offer you any insight at to what it's like to work in those facilities. But here's what I've heard:

Hoag is great and location is beautiful. All of there new grads still start out doing night shifts so plan on lining those bedroom windows with foil! They also pay time and a half after 8 hours for 12 hour shifts. You might want to consider living in the Costa Mesa area as it's not quite as expensive as Newport. It would probably take you 20 mins from there.

I hear Saddleback is nice but has a lot of geriatrics patients as it's right next to Leisure World. They also have the Laguna Hills Mall across the street which is a nice little bonus. I see tons of nurses over there on their breaks.

Mission Hospital is my favorite. Great facility, good location. They offer tuition reimbursent which is what I plan on signing up for. They also have an excellent children's facility if you're interested in pediatrics.

Well good luck in whatever you decide!

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

I went to the new grad dinner that Hoag had last week, and it seemed really nice! They have tons of benefits - and well, it's like a resort! Literally on a hill overlooking the pacific.

The only problem I forsee is that there are several nursing schools that use their facility for clinical rotations and it seems that they might get the priority over any other nursing students (from outside the area-like myself, I'm in a school out of LA).

I am interested in ICU and Emergency department, so I can tell you in detail what they told me and I can give you some general info in regards to vacancies in different departments etc.

I can also give you some phone numbers of the nurse mgrs in each dept. They also gave us a sheet of nearby apartments - less than 10 mile radius of the hospital that actually offer a discount if you become a hoag employee.

PM me and I can give you all the info

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I went to the new grad dinner that Hoag had last week, and it seemed really nice! They have tons of benefits - and well, it's like a resort! Literally on a hill overlooking the pacific.

The only problem I forsee is that there are several nursing schools that use their facility for clinical rotations and it seems that they might get the priority over any other nursing students (from outside the area-like myself, I'm in a school out of LA).

I am interested in ICU and Emergency department, so I can tell you in detail what they told me and I can give you some general info in regards to vacancies in different departments etc.

I can also give you some phone numbers of the nurse mgrs in each dept. They also gave us a sheet of nearby apartments - less than 10 mile radius of the hospital that actually offer a discount if you become a hoag employee.

PM me and I can give you all the info

I sent you a pm with my email address so hopefully you got it

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Specializes in PMHNP.

I know you want to be close to the beach, but there is also St. Josephs and Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange. If you live south of there, going north-bound on the freeway is not a bad commute at all compared to those going south-bound in the morning and vice versa in the evening. I agree w/ other poster that Costa Mesa would be a good place to look for places to live if you really want to be by Hoag. Also, if you want to live more in S. OC try looking for places like Dana Point and San Clemente. To me, it seems like Newport/Corona Del Mar is really "snobby" and Laguna is really jammed with tourists. San Clemente and the area seems way more laid back. Plus, there is a military base in Oceanside so you could meet some of the hot guys there. :chuckle My cousin lives in Dana Point and LOVES It! I want to move down to the area when I'm done with school.

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Well I'm not really sure if I wanted to work with children or not. I won't know that until after I do my ob/peds semester which I start in a month. But to tell you the truth I dont really like any of the hospitals in orange because i called and left messages with the nursing recruiters to get information about their new grad programs and not one of them called me back. That just gives me a bad vibe of the hospital right away.

I don't like how Laguna Beach is a small town with no walmarts no malls or anyhting like that. I want to live close to a walmart and grocery stores. That town is way overfilled with tourists now because of the show so I'd never want to live there. I am just trying to live somewhere thats close to where I work so I won't have to drive far and sit in hours of endless traffic. And so far Hoag seems to be the place I want to work at the most.

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Hey Luv2shopp - You have to keep in mind that Hoag is very much in a beach community so there are tons of traffice jams (I lived down the street from Hoag for a while). The closer you are to the beach - the more congested it will be. Besides, I don't recall there being a Walmart anywhere near that area. Good luck with whatever you choose!

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Specializes in PMHNP.

I know there's a Target and Ralph's in Costa Mesa. I don't think Newport and Laguna have those conveniences.

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I found a lot of cheap apartments in anaheim by looking at an Orange County apartment guide. SOme of them have some utilities included which realy caught my eye. But is Hoag a long drive from Anaheim? I know laguna hills saddle back is about 40 min. Thats what the saddleback recruiter told me. I don't know if I'll be able to deal with traffic... i really hate it. So I should probably not move to newport beach huh? But I also wanted to live close to where I work... im confused.

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Specializes in critical care.

i cam eacross this thread & i got interested as i am planning to go back to california when my contract expires here in vegas.i used to work in la county but i am looking at fullerton, anaheim area & found st jude medical center, anybody of you guys know about this facility?my specialty is critical care.do they have sign on, relocation bonuses?thanks in advance for info.

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I was looking at my apartment guide book and I found some cheap apartments in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Mission Viejo, Dana Point, and South Coast Metro. Can anyone tell me anything about any of these areas? I don't want to live in an area with a ton of traffic that it takes me an hour to get down the street. But I do know that I will have to drive in it so I'll have to get used to it.

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Specializes in NICU.

Traffic in Southern California is just horrible. If you need to get on the freeway to get to work, you are likely to find traffic. In the mornings you usually find more traffic heading South/West and in the evenings you find more traffic heading North/East. So when finding a place to live, consider what shift you will be working and the location of your apt in relation to the hospital.

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