kjschulke

I can't speak to the specifics of per diem pay, but a recent Sacramento Bee article did a comparison of wages for staff nurses with 10 years of experience, placing UCDMC on the lower end and Kaiser on the upper end. However, I think the appeal of working at UCDMC lies less in the hourly wages and more in the benefits, all RN staff, collegial nurse-physician relationships, etc. There are many opportunities to go beyond bedside nursing if that is one's interest.

Here is the current salary scale for UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. We are in the midst of contract negotiations, so wages should increase in a few months :) http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/hr/hr/cna_steps_04_05.htm

Here's a link to an article that discusses limitations to oxymetry including abnormal hemoglobins such as carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin. http://www.rcjournal.com/online_resources/cpgs/pulsecpg.html

I think that shoe preference depends on where you work. For 12-hour ICU shifts, I've found Dansko professionals great for relieving foot fatigue and helping reducing back strain from reaching over beds and equipment (I'm 5'5"). I did nearly trip a couple of times on uneven surfaces. Since switching to the Dansko sport clogs, I haven't had that problem. They feel slightly broader in the base and have a grippier sole.

I work in a 16 bed PICU that tends to have a fluctuating census, so we also have gone through periods of floating. To help with retention and morale, our hospital has gone to a "no floating" policy, which means that individual units take more responsibility for adequate staffing. This means calling your own staff, including administrative nurses to ask if anyone is willing to help. In cases where minimum safe-staffing levels are not met, the hospital nursing supervisor can mandate a float from another area of the hospital. When our unit is overstaffed, we have the option of floating voluntarily or staying home unpaid or using accrued vacation time. Some of our nurses have cross-trained in other areas so they have a second area where they feel at home. I think this has helped morale in general.

I think that with your RN experience, particularly ICU, you'll find a lot of job options in Sacramento and it will be a matter of finding the best fit for your priorities. The four main hospital systems here are University of California, Davis Medical Center (in Sacramento), Kaiser, Sutter, and Mercy (Catholic Healthcare West). You can find their most detailed ads in the Sunday edition of the Sacramento Bee newspaper. www.sacbee.com There are pros and cons to working in any of these systems, so it's a matter of choosing among options like union representation, teaching hospital, private hospital, Catholic hospital, regional trauma center, wages, health care/ retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, continuing education opportunities, sick-time, paid-time off, length of shifts, floating policies, skill mix, ratios, etc. If you bring these issues up to the various nurse recruiters, I think you'll narrow down your choices for interviews. Also, in light of your experience, you should be able to negotiate help ($$) with relocation. As far as commuting goes, it depends on when your shifts begin and end as well as what you are used to. I lived in Baltimore and Annapolis in '96-97 while attending nursing school in Md and thought the DC and Baltimore beltways were pretty congested. Feel free to PM or email me with any questions.