nocturncal

Reviving this thread from the dead for anyone that are interested in USF (NOT UCSF) for their undergraduate BSN. I enjoyed the program, I learned a lot, their simulation lab was pretty decent in my opinion. I learned a lot and especially the med/surg portion of the program had a very good professor that challenged me. Clinical placement to facilities was great, everyone I knew got their first choice in senior preceptorship in the field they wanted to do (ICU/Med-Surg/L&D,etc.) Just know that it is really expensive. If you don't have scholarships and/or good financial aid you'll be paying off those loans for a long time. I think USF has a pretty good reputation in terms of the quality of new graduate nurses they churn out from what I've heard from other managers at different hospitals. Ultimately, if you are limited on funds, I'd try to get get into a cheaper college that will help you get a BSN, and way before you graduate, get hired at a hospital doing nurses aid work or unit coordinator work. You want to get your foot in the door and show you're an excellent worker way before you graduate so you can be in a position to be hired internally as a new grad. Working in some capacity that deals directly with nursing staff and makes you visible to managers will increase your chance of getting a new grad spot quick. Cheapest route= get your ADN, then get in a program for ADN to BSN. You pretty much need a BSN to be hired in the bay area, and you'll probably have a better chance getting a new grad spot. If you can financially afford it, USF in my opinion is a great nursing school choice. In both cases, you're connections will get you FARTHER FASTER than having a really good GPA. I knew a lot of people that solely focused on getting the best grades, ace'ing all their tests, and didn't focus on making connections. They ended up being unemployed/underemployed for a long time before they could secure a new grad spot far away from their home, while people with decent grades but great connections were hired shortly after graduating. Definitely aim to to well in your classes, but don't assume just because you have a 4.0 GPA managers will automatically hire you. There are many nursing students with perfect grades, but what will truly separate you from those grade A students are your connections. If you don't have the connections now, seek them out by getting hired at a hospital, ideally in a position with patient care. Good luck to all you new grads!

Hey all, I've looking to move into the bay area, and two hospitals have been on my radar: UCSF and CPMC. UCSF has openings in one of their ICU units. I've worked at UCSF in a non-clinical position in the past, I loved working for the organization, and I have already been offered an ICU position. I've been in that particular ICU specialty for a couple of years. I really enjoy working in that specialty. At the same time, there are case management positions open at different CPMC campuses. I've been contacted for an interview. I explained this to the UCSF ICU manager, and the manager has been more accommodating and is willing to hold off until my interview at CPMC finishes to allow me time to think and make a decision. Assuming I am offered a position as a case manager, I am trying to figure out whether I should make the change and take the case manager position or accept the job offer in the ICU. I've always loved the idea of what case management work entails-- the independence to some extent, coordinating discharges and working with multiple disciplines to plan post-acute care. My question is: 1) Has anyone worked at either CPMC or UCSF, and what were your impressions on both organizations? Good? Bad? Avoid at all costs? 2) If you're a case manager, how does doing this compare to bedside nursing? My basic thoughts are that I'm really interested/excited being the gate-keeper/organizer in the transition from acute to post-acute care, and the idea where nursing care meets business really peaks my interest. 3) What is the pay like at both facilities? I've looked at UCSF pay scale for bedside nurses, but I don't have a good idea on what the pay is for a new case manager. Do case managers make more/the same/less than bedside nurses in the bay area? How about outside the bay area? Thanks for all your input

Personally I like both. I think both sexes conplement each other in the workplace.

Personally I love Queen's. It's a great hospital with a good amount of ancillary staff, support systems, they are a magnet facility. The staffing is pretty good. 4:1 med surg (maybe 5:1 in the day time depending if they are short). 3:1 for tele/chronic vent floor. 2-1:1 ICU. I think raising a family in Hawaii is a great, people are very welcoming. The only thing I can think of is sometimes there is some reverse discrimination IMO that happens in Hawaii in general (if you are a mainlander, white, you might experience some discrimination). I'd say come with an open mind, don't have the "well I did it this way at blah blah blah" attitude and you'll be fine. Travelers I've spoken to have experienced it, and some have not. Not everyone is like this just a select few. Housing can be very expensive, especially if you're going to be moving into town. I moved back from living in SF for 7 years (Hawaii is my home) so moving back felt a lot cheaper to me because SF was so expensive. The houses tend to be on the older side in town, so if you are looking to even rent something relatively brand new looking and cheaper, you're gonna have to rent out west (kapolei, makakilo, ewa, waipio). It is also way hotter weather-wise out west. The other thing to consider is traffic. When I moved back from the mainland I was staying out west with my parents, I would have to leave at 5:30 to get into town by 6:30ish (and its only ~15 mile drive from my house to Queens). I moved into town and I walk to work now. Throw in an accident on the H-1 freeway and be prepared to feel like you're driving in a parking lot. Plus they're doing roadwork on a lot of roads now on the freeway and in town, so expect traffic at all times of the day Traffic coming from the windward side (kaneohe, kailua) isnt nearly as bad, at least you have options when commuting (Pali Hwy, Likelike hwy). Where are you from? Feel free to ask me anything, the Hawaii forums aren't as active as other forums so I'm trying to contribute as much as I can :-D

I spent a year in cali after I graduated, worked for an home health infusion company and then applied at queens randomly while I was away back here on vacay. Pali Momi and Straub does hire new grads, but more often than not they're the aides that have been there 1+ years with their nursing degree. Also gotta say that Queens is moving towards hiring BSN only.

I work at Queen's. They had a large amount of new grad programs last year, the last cohort i believed they hired at 60. The new grads were hired into the float pool, but you were assigned a floor for 6 months orientation (3 months with a preceptor and 3 months solo) to get you stabilized, with the option of being preassigned if the need was there after 6 months for the floor. I love float pool. It's great because after a year or so you can get tele-trained at Queen's(which is what I'm about to do next September), you pick whatever schedule you want and get it majority of the time and scheduling vacation is a non-issue. I think there's gonna be a huge need relatively soon, especially with more people leaving for the new hospital opening up (Queen's West, which is the old St Francis West before it went bankrupt). From what I've heard they're gonna do a new grad program in May, no idea how big it is though. We definitely have a huge need in house right now for tele trained nurses because a lot of em are leaving or moving to floors/west, and the tele floors are struggling to staff tele nurses right now. I know certain floors supplement their tele staffing with agency. If you have tele experience in the mainland, it's a + if you want to work at Queens in my opinion! :-D

im raising this thread from the dead. I use robinul, prescribed by a dermatologist for excessive sweating. works like a charm! moved back to hawaii from sf and the humid weather kills me. the only thing is that you can get some dry mouth, i just eat gum to combat that. other than the dry mouth it works wonders.

From Hawaii, working at a hospital in hawaii, New grad jobs here are tough...many unit secretaries, nurse assistants, etc are BSNs waiting for a new grad opportunity. I'd go far to say that they almost expect you to have some kind of NA/secretary experience (1yr+) within the hospital itself before you'll be considered. Even LTC/home health jobs are hard to come by for BSN grads d/t high new grad demand/not a lot of inpatient opportunity. I was in a new grad program about a year ago and my cohort had around 40 people, all of them were from Hawaii and had graduated from a nursing school in Hawaii, one was from san diego and had gone to UH, and myself and another girl were the only two that had gone to schools in the mainland, and we were both from Hawaii. I think hospitals out here are biased towards new grads that are from Hawaii/went to school here because they know they'll stay (its home, not a lot of people move from hawaii to the mainland unless its later on in their career). Like LVHI_RN said, maybe volunteering, making connections, try there. LTC/home health/temp staffing. Sorry to be so grim, I really do hope you do find something here, just wanted to give you a clearer picture. Good luck to you :-D

haha thanks pkramer, i think i was bored not having much to watch on tv after the olympics ended lol. so true though that area of oakland wouldn't be a bad place to be, get so much more for your money, good weather and it'll be even closer once the children's hospital opens up in mission bay! Haven't heard from the training program coordinators. I think the individual units will contact you regarding the specifics of your training program. Or so I hear...

@Klcrook - congrats! ditto to what pkramer said. housing is expensive, myself been here since 2006 it has pretty much had a relatively steady climb, especially with the past 2 years thanks to the employees of tech companies living in the city and driving prices up and the lack of new housing being build :/ if you're looking at a studio downtown (pac heights, russian hill, nob hill, etc) youre looking at an average of around $1500-1900/month not including any kinds of ammenities like parking, etc. As you move more towards the ocean, the prices start to get cheaper. Places such as the inner/outer Richmond you can get more for your money, with a 1 bedroom being ~1500/month at the upper range for a decent apartment by SF standards (which are probably considerably smaller than Colorado standards!). Parking is a bit better here too if you plan on bringing your car here. The sunset district, not including the immediate area around the UCSF campus, is considerably cheaper. Think around the $1100 range for prices in this area. Anotherthing to consider is sun. The closer youmove to the ocean, the less sun you'll see. The sunset and outer Richmond tend to be the first parts of the city to receiveany fog that's laying wait offshore. By the way parking @ UCSF can cost upwards 300/month if you park at the daily max rate 3 days a week during the daytime. The monthly parking passes at parnassus campus is ~$130/month, but from what I've heard there's a huge waitlist for employee parking. The only parking passes that are worth it are the night/weekend passes which are considerably cheaper. If you want to plan on renting near the transit routes, the 6-Parnassus, N-Judah, and 43-Masonic all run to the hospital. There are also various shuttles throughout the city that run between certain parking lots UCSF uses for its employee parking and the different hospitals in the city (Parnassus, Mt. Zion, Laurel Heights, Mission Bay, etc) Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!

Hey! This is my first of many posts to come! I just got accepted into a new grad program in the PICU! :-D. I worked in peds at the same hospital in a desk capacity, and I ran into something that really kept me up this past week. A patient got admitted with an ICH and things weren't looking too good. I didn't know the exact details, but all the details I got through the 9 year old brother who was really mature for someone his age. He would talk about how he wanted to either be a doctor or nurse when he grew up because of how the staff cared for his sister. Over the course of 2 days we got to know each other fairly well. I let him do simple tasks at the desk like stapling papers. We made him a name tag and gave him a disposable stethoscope because he wanted to be involved. Then one day he came up to me and I asked him how everything was going. In the calmest voice he told me that his sister had died and that she was in a better place where she couldn't feel any pain anymore. I was devastated. It was the first time where I didn't know what to say, other than ask him how he was doing. I was at a loss of words. I love working in the PICU and dealing with families (did my preceptorship in the same unit that I got hired), but I always wonder how I will deal with those times where I will have to help families at their time of loss. Has anyone experienced a time where they were at a loss for words? How do you help those cope with a loss of a loved one, especially a sibling?

hey anyone else on here get into the PICU?!

HR tends to be very slow on the paperwork process lol.

Congrats! I won't be seeing you in peds hem-onc, but I'll be seeing u around if we ever get your kiddos in the PICU!

yupp! Good luck to everyone else n hang in there