puresass

i have about 15 months experience as an RN & i've been looking for jobs in LA for the past two months non-stop & JUST got my first call from a recruiter the day before yesterday. most positions there require a minimum of a year experience in acute care (at least for hospital positions) but you might be able to find something in long-term care.

i'm thinking about moving to LA from san diego at the end of summer, by which time i'll have a little over a year of experience in med-surg/orthopedics. can anyone give me some info about the best hospitals or hospital systems in LA? i'd be looking to move somewhere around echo park, silver lake, los feliz or glendale, so hospitals within commuting distance of those areas would be the most helpful. also, what is the job market for (semi) experienced nurses looking like in LA right now? thank you!

i haven't lost any sleep during nursing school. i agree with 'noahsmama' that sleep is a higher priority for me than studying & i've maintained straight A's as well. it's not the amount of time that you spend studying that gets you the grades & helps your understanding, but the quality of studying that you do.

i think it really depends on when the recruiter for the program/hospital/floor where you applied is looking at applicants. i know that if you're out, they'll probably email you & let you know, so you're probably still in the running. good luck!! :)

san diego $30-31 + $4-something night differential at sharp not sure of wages elsewhere in san diego

here's a way to solve these problems... go into class just before the exam. maybe go in, drop off your bags so you can save yourself a seat, then go outside & relax off by yourself. don't sit in class before the test & expect everyone else to discuss anything but the test. after the test, if you don't feel like discussing the test, go off somewhere by yourself or with other people that don't want to discuss it either. there's no way to control other people's actions, only your reactions to them. i know these things can be annoying, but now that you know how you react, you can change your behavior to make your experience better for yourself. good luck!

thank you! is LA not as competitive as san diego right now? trying to find out where else in CA to apply for new grad positions. i heard there were 580+ applicants for about 30 new grad positions at sharp.

if you've got a job offer at either, i'd take it... if you received offers at both & are just trying to decide between the two, i guess it would depend on where you want to live? both hospitals have great reputations. good luck deciding! :)

i do go to school in san diego, but i didn't have a preceptorship with sharp.

they must have had a lot of applicants for those L&D positions & not many L&D positions to begin with. two girls i know at school got a rejection email quickly after applying to L&D. i got a call today for a phone interview with a recruiter for PCU @ memorial. if i do well there, THEN there'll be an interview with the unit's hiring manager. excited! :)

i just got an email from lisa saying that she has a preceptor for me in the ICU at kaiser, so it's set in stone! so excited!! congratulations on the step down unit!! do you know if you're days or nights yet? have you done rotations on that floor?

i was told that i'd be in the ICU at kaiser, but it's not set in stone yet, so i'm just crossing my fingers (i actually had a dream last night that i found out for sure that i got into the ICU at kaiser & i was SOOO stoked.... haha). i think it's funny how they're having us write our objectives already when they're so clear that we might not get placed until the day before the preceptorship starts. but i'm thinking of just doing general stuff that could apply to med-surg or ICU, like doing an admission or a transfer/discharge from start to finish...? adding to what you said about being a CNA, i would definitely recommend that everyone going into the nursing program try to get a job as a CNA or a unit clerk because the job market for new grads in san diego is completely saturated, so any "in" that you have in a hospital will definitely help.

you definitely need to get in there & take control of your learning experience. if you want to be shown how to do a head-to-toe assessment, ask your instructor to show you or ask your RN to let you watch his or her head-to-toe in the morning & explain what they're doing/looking at. it can be disappointing if you feel like your instructor isn't showing you everything you want to see, but you also have to take responsibility for it & actively look for learning opportunities.

ooooh, after 5 years of CNA work, you definitely deserve a spot! :) i hope you love the program! keep us updated about how it goes for you.

i wonder if the scripps students are going to be in an entirely different class all to themselves? i can see the short wait that the scripps people had causing some bitterness among those that were on the list for 2+ years... not that it's your fault that they waited longer than you & if any of them had the opportunity to get into the program right away you can bet they'd have taken it, but i can tell you that that's just how some people will think. anyway, just curious.

have you applied to new grad programs? i don't think they'll start until at least may or june, but the application period starts in the next couple of months.

during our first semester of nursing school, they didn't tell us our clinical days until the week before. the last couple semesters, we've known ahead of time, but they've changed the days & times each & every time. they told us at our orientation that it is very difficult to schedule clinical time since there are a few other schools in our city trying for clinical spots as well, & that we need to be completely flexible, even if they change our clinical times the day before. sooo, i wouldn't push back. it's probably going to be this way for the rest of your program.

if that's the case, i would definitely go into debbie yaddow's office & say something. i know it's happened before & the person went in & raised hell with debbie & now she's in my semester. don't take it lying down. if you know that someone else got in ahead of you, let them know, because you deserve that spot.

how did you finish your whole careplan without a nursing dx to start it off? not trying to be rude, just curious. the nursing dx is always my very first step in writing a careplan.

one of the NLN ladies came & sat in on our lecture on monday & then today we had a meeting with three of the NLN ladies to talk about the program. they crammed all of the 2nd year students & the LVN-RN students in 355 & asked us about the program. haven't heard anything yet, though. i think they're still there until tomorrow. i didn't join the nursing association, but i might? i don't know. kind of short on cash, though. are you going to the scripps externship hiring fair on november 4th?

i can almost guarantee you that they're just preoccupied with the NLN visit coming up at the end of this month. everything is kind of revolving around that right now. plus, today is the last day of the first 8 weeks of class & monday starts the 2nd 8 weeks of class, so they have to do reviews & grading & everything going on right now. i know it's frustrating, but i'm pretty sure they're not just trying to annoy you guys.

being an RN & being a PA are two totally different things. someone who wants to be an RN might not necessarily enjoy being a PA.

University of San Diego has an entry level MSN & i know they also have an MSN/MBA program, not sure if the entry level also has an option for the MBA as well. i'd go to allnursingschools.com & do a search for entry level masters programs.

not to hijack the thread, but which hospital in san diego is that? just curious! sharp's paying $27-28.

baaaad karma.