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I am agency shopping and wonder what agencies have the best pay and most options for California? What are good rates in California? I prefer to be near the coast in a city such as San Diego or San Fran. I'm afraid there probably is not going to be much opportunities in these great cities. That being said as much as I would like a great location money is a big factor. So I may end up in a place like fresno if they pay much higher there. This will be my first assignment. My background 2 years Tele and 1 year medical Resp ICU. What would be an acceptable hourly pay? I plan on finding my own housing and pocket that tax free stipend. I also understand that meals and incidentals are usually part of your tax free package. I talked a recruiter who said that an assignment in Monterey is 26 per hour plus a housing stipend. I was in a hurry when she called so did get a figure for stipends. To me that seems low but again I have no idea what the stipend in this area may be. By the way I am traveling with my girlfriend so we will live together and pocket the extra stipend.

Key me updated about your job hunt. Im in the same situation as you. Willl be 1 and a half years RN when I make the move in February. Would like to know about current pay, paid time off, and required weekends to work in San Diego. Also is there a market for RN's in the area? Im from philly and it seems every hospital here is in a hiring freeze.

Thanks for the replies. It definetely helps to hear that night shift can be a good learning experience for a first year nurse such as myself. I must admit the money is tempting, but ultimately its the learning experience that means the most to me. If that can be achieved on night shift that will be great. Looking forward to Monday when I do my first night shift. Any suggestions on sleep pattern. What time you go to bed? How long do you sleep? Thanks again for the replies. What unit do you both work on? Im on a telemetry floor.

Been a while since I've posted anything here so I'll just post my experience as a first time nurse. I got hired on a telemetry floor where we take anywhere between 3-5 patients depending on how "heavy" they are. It seems to me after 2 months time management is getting better but I do find if I have 4 days off in a row (gotta love the nurses schedule sometimes) I feel im out of groove on my first day back. So let me backtrack for a bit. I started out with a preceptor who I thought was nice and helpful but after a few weeks with her I found that not to be the case. After I was getting the hang of things I saw her rarely as she would be constantly in the break room with some of the other nurses. When I needed help I felt like I was bothering her. I observed other nurses who I thought would better fit me as a preceptor and luckily I was able to get a switch. The new guy I had for the past 3 weeks has been much better and after 2 months I'm about to flip to nights for the first time next monday. My manager was able to set me up with a preceptor who I think will help during nights. Since the switch to the new preceptor I feel things are going to be much better. I'm looking forward to doing nights next week and may consider doing that permanently because they give permanent nights a 20% diff vs a 10% diff for rotating nights. I fear if go to permanent nights that it wont be as good as a learning experience for me during my first year. Any suggestions from nurses who started at nights and switched to days; was it a hard transition?

About to interview for UCLA new grad program Santa Monica division for the ICU? Has anyone ever done this program. If so do you like it. Any UCLA nurses out there? How you like it? How's the benefits? I got monster student loans wondering if there is any student loans assistance? Any input would be of great value. Most of all did the New Grad program have you feel ready in the ICU?

Thanks for the responses. I definately realize that the bay area will be a long shot after reading some posts of people who were searching for jobs for quite a while. I definately hope to get hired somewhere before I move out there since I will pretty much accept any place in the state. Ideally a beach area would be preferred, but I can tough it out somewhere else if the right learning opportunity arises. I've seen many advertisements for nurse residency programs in California. Either way it's exciting, if I do not get a job before my move I guess I'll just take a temporary residency somewhere in the state while I study for the NCLEX and apply for jobs. Thanks for the input.

The link that seems to be so helpful is a dead link now. Does anyone else have any other helpful sites for resume examples. Thanks!!!

Glad the info helped. About clinical placements, for the summer quarter you start clinicals about a month in and it lasts 8 weeks (this is your longest rotation). The faculty usually gives you a sign up sheet for clinical placement where you can list your top 3 choices. They will try to accomodate your top three the best they can. For our summer rotation all clinical placements were af Jeff, not sure if they will do this again this year but that's how it worked for us. As Jello mentioned, after the first month you will have classes on Th and Friday for about 8 hours and clinical days can be picked M-W or Sat and Sun. I had MT for 12 hours each day and yes the schedule remains constant until the particular rotation is over. I agree with Jello the first semester for myself was also the most difficult so far. But I have found things getting easier because you learn how to manage your time and learn the best ways to study for the exams. After the first semester you clinicals will vary from can go as short as 2 weeks to 5 weeks long. Second semester the rotation is as follows: Telemetry: about 4 weeks Maternity: About 3 weeks Third Semester Peds: About 5 clinical days on unit and 2 days in school like setting. Neuro: 4 clinical days Psych: 5 clinical days We are about to finish up our third semester :rckn:. After that you will have community rotation and a critical care rotation. Once again good luck to all in the program. I agree with Jello don't stress out just stay focused.

whats the pay in Ventura? What unit are you working in and how is your preceptorship going?

I graudate from nursing school in May from Philadelphia and am planning to work in California. I would prefer to live close to the coast but that is not too big of a deal. I am open to work anywhere in California. My interest lies in ICU having hard time choosing whether to do an RN residency/new grad program or just try to find a job in ICU. My questions to all you California RNs are" 1. Which hospital do you work in and would you recommend it to a new grad? 2. How much is the starting rate? 3. Is it hard to start in the ICU at your hospital. 4. Should I take my NCLEX in California or Pennsylvania? My main spots I would like to live are: Anywhere around the Bay area, although I hear those jobs are few and far between San Diego area. I'm open to work anywhere in california though, just looking for the best learning opportunity.

Hey I'm in the program right now and am really enjoying it. The faculty as a whole is great to deal with and actually care. About being in the FACT program this is how it went down for me. First month you are doing an incredible amount of lab work prepping for clinicals and taking an health assessment class and professional nursing class. The clinical reading assignments they give you is very unrealistic but you don't get tested on this so my advice is skim through the main parts so you kind of know what you are doing in clinical. After a month in you get slammed with 3 more courses and this is where you want to spend your time studying. At this time you are starting clinicals too at 24 hours per week so that gets some getting use to also. However, the teachers for these 3 courses are awesome and will help you out. You have to put in your work though. My main tips for semester 1. Month 1 spend time on health assessment and don't worry too much on clinical readings just go over the main points, I would be prepping in advance for the three courses (Patho, Pharm and Nursing Managment) before they start. Jefferson is all about the powerpoints and I would get the powerpoint information down pat and use the book to supplement your studies for patho, pharm and Nursing Management. If you focus on powerpoints alone for health assessment you can get a B, but if you want the A in this class you must read in some detail. Studying for nursing managment was the toughest for me because this class teaches you how to think like a nurse so it's not just memorization. My advice is you are required to have a Saunders NCLEX review book and Jefferson carries NCLEX 3500. Do these questions and pay attention to the rationale. Other than that that is semester 1. You picked a great program. Yes it is busy but it is also doable.