BeaRN

Fresno is also cheaper, I see great rates for stipends up there.

Northern CA is almost always the best pay but rent is very high. I worked in central CA and was able to pay off lots of loans. Bakersfield area with certain agencies pay upwards of 60 for ICU and you can find a cheap/reasonable apartment close to most hospitals. Make sure you compare rates offered by different agencies/companies. One that I worked for and paid me very well is Westways Staffing. You know the stipend portion is non-taxed and that really helps alot

Yorker, I am in Utilization management which is much better. Its a desk job, doing chart reviews. I love it though its now almost 6 years in it and burn out is creeping in. I am going back to school soon

I moved from CA to TX and I first worked at Presby Dallas, I was on my feet for 14 hrs without breaks. I agree with you that nursing in TX is horrible, due to no adherence to safe nurse to patient ratio. I would have 2 patients post cath with sheaths, and since they do lots of Caths, the sheaths were left for the floor nurse to pull. And you had no helper such as CNA to monitor your vitals at least. It was very unsafe, I quit that job.