mrex

There are always nurse refresher courses! Also, when/if you do get pregant, make friends with those OB nurses/doctors! Connections always help. Try to absorb all the information too. Think of your pregnancy as an extended OB rotation! =P

Hang in there! It took me a whole year to land my first nursing job after I graduated with my BSN. It took some of my classmates longer! Trust me, it was a very frustrating experience. From what I remember, people with CNA experience or connections to nurse managers got jobs first. A few classmates started volunteering at hospitals and got jobs that way. Even with connections, I wasn't able to get a job. Took a lot of persistence and hope. I went on 6 or 7 interviews and I believe most of those positions already had someone in mind and were just entertaining other applicants as a technicality. I finally got my job from a friend's referral to her manager. Honestly, it really comes down to who you know. My manager hired over 15 new grads as a group at the time. All of us had some kind of connection to the hospital. Don't give up, don't lose hope!

I work at Kaiser Santa Clara.

I currently work for Kaiser in Northern CA. I started as a new grad last year with a base pay of around $46/hr. Right now I'm at about $51. My NOC shift differential is about $9/hr. I am originally from Southern CA and just moved up here for the job. I want to move back, but the difference in pay is so high. Going to take over a $20/hr pay cut! Living in both Southern and Northern CA, the biggest difference I can see in cost of living is if you were to buy property (house, condo, etc..) Other than that, everything is pretty much the same.. gas, food, etc. Even renting in Northern CA is only slightly higher than Southern. The only exception is if you were living right in the middle of San Francisco, where things can get pricey. Northern CA includes Sacramento area, where cost of living can be cheaper than Southern CA. Doesn't make sense! The difference in salaries has to be from the unions. I'd like to transfer to Kaiser down south, but most opinions rate Kaiser Northern CA far superior. Same hospital, but different regions, so different unions. I know Kaiser in LA was threatening to go on strike to try to get equal or similar pay to what the Bay Area gets. My dilemma is to move back to SoCal to be around family and close friends (and in my own house), or make big bucks being alone here in the Bay Area.

I started at Kaiser in northern CA as a new grad last year. My pay was about $46/hr as a new grad. I'm a level 2 nurse now and I make about $51. Evening differential is about $5, and night is about $9. So with only a year experience I'm at $60/hr working nights.

Thanks for the tips, Sehsun! SoilderofLove, I start next week. My start date got pushed back because I'm relocating. I'll try to keep you updated after a few weeks of work.

Hello everyone, After 11 months since I earned my BSN and 11 months of discouraging frustration, I finally landed a new grad position on a stroke unit. Although the unit is labeled a stroke unit, the patients also include cardiac-related diagnoses as well as respiratory problems and sepsis. Being almost a year out of school, I am really nervous about jumping back into the hospital workplace. I was wondering if anybody can give advice on general and specific things I should prepare myself for on this unit. Obviously I should brush up on the cardiac stuff, but what else? Thanks!