ManyRN2B

Wholy smokes! That's like having a toddler. It was a 12th baby too!!!

I don't know about OR's in the bay area but I do know John Muir has several OR positions. You should call and talk to a recruiter and they should be able to give you a good idea of what your responsibilities are. I live about 20 mins from Walnut Creek, we just moved here a month ago. It's a nice area. The downtown area is really nice. I think rent in Walnut Creek can be pricey. Concord is probably more reasonable but depending on where you live in Concord, traffic can be a beast. Good luck and Welcome!

I'm sorry! What a bummer. Keep trying!

There is a forum for foreign nurses. I would recommend posting your question in that forum because they know exactly what to do. There is also a really good moderator here Suzanne that seems experienced with foreign nurses. Try asking her. :) Good luck!

I'm getting ready to leave Cardiac Tele Stepdown unit to go to L&D. I did love Cardidac nursing but I'm ready for a change. I want the get em get em out kind of pt's. I was very interested in L&D during school but after rotations I changed my mind. I'm going to try L&D. :) I think I will love it. I have been reading threads for the last 2 hrs and I'm getting a good feel of what to expect. The part of cardiac I loved was all the stuff there was too learn. I hated getting huge patients you had to bathe, clean up their poops, tube feeds etc...etc......vents also kind of got old. Most of my pts needed help to do everything because they were post open heart surgery. It's hard when you have 4 pts that need you for almost everything. I told myself during school I would do med/surg or whatever for one year and then I was moving onto a specialty. Well it took 2 yrs for that. LOL......I got comfortable. But now I'm ready to move on. I think you will like Cardiac. It is hustle and bustle and busy!!!!!!

I just moved here from Maryland. My husbands job relocated us out here. He works in Santa Clara and we live in the East Bay Area. We live in Livermore, CA. It's beautiful here. We love it!! The weather is gorgeous, there is a lot to do here. We did go to Monterey and it was gorgeous!!! Absolutely the best!!! It was very relaxing the the views were awesome. We drove down this road called 17 mile and I recommend that to everyone!! We plan on going back because we bought season tickets to the aquarium, which I believe is ranked #1 in the country. It was awesome. The cost of living is expensive here but I think the salaries are comparable. We moved from the DC area of Maryland and it is just as expensive but the salaries were not comparable. We have a bigger house out here then we did in Maryland. The house was expensive but since my salary increased by $40,000 it allowed us to buy a more expensive house. We have a 3400 sqft. 5 bedroom, 4 bath single family house (our first single family), 3 car garage. Expensive Yes, but affordable for us. We could have found a house cheaper but we needed extra bedrooms and we wanted something big because our kids are 14, 9 and they aren't getting smaller. We don't plan to move for a long time so we figured, get a big house that we could slowly grow into. :) We did a search of homes around here and found that you get more for your money in Livermore. We are about 45 mins from downtown SF, 20 mins from Oakland, hubby drive to Santa Clara sometimes 45 mins. He also takes the ACE train which is nice. He said traffic isn't too bad for him. Salary wise. I got several job offers. Just to help you gage salaries. I have 2 yrs experience. A small community hospital offered me $46/hr. I'm per diem so I got an additional $5.25hr, plus $5/hr after 3pm. When I was in orientation, I made friends with another nurse, she had 7 years exp and was making $62/hr as perdiem. It seems like you get $1/hr extra for each year of experience. Another hospital, my full time job, I make $55/hr for night shift. I hope that helps. Rent out here isn't too bad. You rent a 2300 sq.ft home for $2000/month. The $55/hr job is less than 10 miles from my house!!!!! Love it!!!!!!! :) I was surprised they paid that much for being a small community hospital. I did interview for a job in Stockton, They wanted to start me at $38/hr. The cost of living out there is cheaper. You can get a brand new house in the $400-500,000. The drive was too far for me. Great opportunity out there but it is 40 miles from me. Oh, I made $27.50/hr in a DC hospital!!!! Just to give you an idea!! Made me realize the DC area salaries need to increase. Good luck in getting out here. I think the move was expensive. If it wasnt' for my husbands company relocating us out here and paying for the move, we probably wouldn't be here. Email me if you have any more questions.

I just moved here in Maryland. My husbands job relocated us out here. I have 2 yrs experience and I had trouble finding a job. I think the reason I had so much trouble was because of the time of the year. I applied to a hospital in June got a call back, interviewed end of July and was offered the job. I had also applied to a few other places and not one word back. We moved here in August and I needed to find a job in order to buy our house. I started applying to a bunch of places and then I started getting calls back. I really wanted to switch specialities and of course, with that you are competing with new grads because I need to be retrained for the new specialty. All those slots were filled!!! So the calls I was getting back were for jobs I could do because of my experience. I realized I just needed to stick with my current specialty until the next training programs start. If your a new grad, I would suggest getting your licence in the state you graduate in first and then obtaining one here. My license came pretty quickly according to other people. I applied in early July and I had my licence in hand in August. It was about 6 wks from start to finish. You also need to apply at least 4 mos in advance for new grad programs. So if your graduating in December you better be applying now. I have also heard from other people that it's harder for an ADN to find a job here than an BSN. I don't know if that is true or not. I know people from CA don't believe me but the nursing shortage here isn't as bad as other places of the country. Forget sign on bonuses etc. I have a per diem job here at John Muir, Concord and they aren't hiring any permanent full time staff, only per diem. They have a hiring freeze going on because they are losing their Kaiser contract. I did get really lucky and was able to get accepted into a training program starting in Novemeber. They only hired 3-4 people for it. :) Who knows how many applied but they seemed really pleased that I was not a new grad. They were not interested in new grads. I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just giving you what my experience was. I just suggest apply early, have your license in hand. I had that question a number of times when I was called back for my interview. " Do you have a CA license?" One hospital, I said, no and she sounded discouraged and proceeded to tell me I should have just drove to the office and got one same day. Well when I'm in MD! It's kind of hard. I thought the mail in process was easy. It took a while to get all my paperwork together they required but once I mailed it off, no problems. In other parts of CA, they really need nurses bad. I just think this area, SF Bay Area isn't as hurting as other places. New grads probably make $40.hr starting. If you go closer to SF, you will most likely get $45/hr. This is what I have heard. Good luck!!!!

Since I just moved here, I recommend finding a job before you come. I'm in the Bay Area and come from Maryland I don't think there is a nursing shortage here like on the East Coast. I started applying for jobs in early June and got my first offer late July. I had only been called for one interview!!! One job, one interview. That wasn't cutting it. I started applying like crazy every where just to see what the heck was going on. I have heard new grads have a harder time finding a job then experienced nurses. So I suggest getting a job offer before coming. I was surprised and upset because they aren't begging for nurses here. Take a look at some hospitals career page and you will see. There aren't pages and pages of jobs like in other parts of the country. I finally did get 4 really good job offers and I chose the best one's. :)

I agree! It is hard to find jobs for new grads here in the Bay Area. I just moved here from Maryland and I have 2 yrs experience and it was difficult for me to find a job. I wanted to switch specialities and I think that made it more difficult. But I did interview with a hospital that told me that they can be really picky on who they hire for their new grad residency program. She told me for this past July class, they have over 500 applicants, mostly out of state, they selected the best 100 and then narrowed it down to the best 14 students and that was it!!!!!!!! She said in past years, they were hiring 65 per class but this past year they didn't need as many because more nurses are staying on board after training. So apply really early! I'm talking 4 mos in advance. I had to apply for as many jobs as I could at that point and then I began getting calls back like crazy. I think it was bad timing for me but if you want a new grad program or anyone out there looking to change specialities and move to this area, you need to apply very early!!!!!!! Good luck!!

I had a job interview just like that. They asked 3 scenerios about differen patients and they wanted to know down to what labs to order etc. I had that interview before I graduated. It was nerve wracking. This hospital would offer you certain units based on how you did. So if you wanted to go to the ICU, you needed to kick butt. That was the worst interview I ever had and now I hate interviewing because I'm afraid it will happen again. Whew!! Sorry you didn't get the job. I feel your pain. :) Tiff

Hello!!! I see there is not much of a nursing shortage in the Bay Area. A few months ago, when I did a job search, a good amount of jobs showed up but yesterday I looked and it looks very discouraging. Then I read some posts here about other ppl have trouble finding a job. Eeeeekkss!!!!!! Not comforting. I was upset because we are relocating to the Bay Area because of dh's job and if I can't find a job, we will be struggling. I did apply to 2 hospitals a month ago and one hosp filled the job and the other didn't respond. We went on our first house hunting trip this past weekend. I have never been to Cali and it was different. It was such a quick trip (4 days) that I really didn't appreciate the area/climate/setting, until I was on my long flight home. :) I see why everyone wants to come here. We found a house in Livermore. Gorgeous area. I think we were attracted to this area because of the "country like setting." My coworkers suggest I take a 13 wk contract assignment become familiar with the hospitals and be able to get infront of someone. Someone else on this website suggested also, I don't remember who but it's a great idea. I'm with an agency now but they don't deal with West Coast Hosp. I know you all are full of information and can recommend some agencies to sign with. :) I never thought I would be facing this in my career. What ever this area is doing to fix the nursing shortage is doing something right. Possibly the weather?????

We are relocating to the Bay Area also and I notice there aren't many jobs out there. I'm getting discouraged because I'm moving out there because of my husbands jobs but I feel like I will have to fight for a good job. Out here it's very different. I applied at 5 hospitals a few months ago (before we knew about the promotion) and 4 hospitals called me back for interviews within one week. I'm hoping I find a job soon because we surely can't afford to live on my husbands salary.

Is that why the ER is calling me? LOL ADD Stepchild here!!!! I also love the teamwork! I was an EMT years ago. I'm a nurse on a post open heart stepdown unit and we have our share of codes. Whenever we have codes, I enjoy the teamwork that is involved. Hopefully ER is where I will be next!!!! Tiff

I switch around. I wear my Dansko's more than the other ones. I do have Crocs, they are okay but my feet don't really care for them after 8hrs. I do trip too. I thought it was just me. I have to agree with someone else Merrills are the best!!!! it's like walking on air!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhh......... I think shoe preferene is for each individual. I wore atheletic shoes when I first started working and they put so much strain on my calves that I would get muscle spasms at night. ugggh!! Those were the worst. Good luck!! Try Dansko or Merrills!

Are you serious? Is that why I see so many 8 hrs shifts positions? Why would CA make such a law? The hospitals are going to go broke. Well that is if everyone works 12's. Here, we don't get paid OT until we are over 40hrs that week. So if you usually work 36hrs and you work an extra 12, you only get OT pay on 8hrs. WOW!!!!!

Smile123~ Thanks for the tidbit on the shifts. They are different there than here. Good suggestion on working per diem at another hospital. I noticed one hospital had a lot of per diem shifts to work in their open heart stepdown unit. That is what I do now. I could then work ER as my regular job. The only reason I thought of a recruiter is because they could probably give me a better feel of each hospital and help me find a job since I'm hopefully changing specialities. I have looked on website's but man I have looked at so many hospitals and their jobs..........my head is They all kind of run together.....:) I like the nurse patient ratio. Does that ratio apply to all areas? Moondancer~ I thought about doing the traveller thing for a little while until I figure out where our family can settle down. Isn't the bad part about travelling being at the mercy of the hospital? Don't they just fill you in where needed and your shifts suck? Where I work now, we have lots of travellers and they schedules aren't the best. They get flipped from days and nights in one week. That would be my only hesitation because we have 2 kids and I will need some schedule flexiblilty because my hubby will be traveling. I do work per diem now with an agency I guess if I work something out with the hosp in CA it could work out. I will have to discuss this with hubby. Thanks for the idea. Hopefully our first trip out there together will be June 14th weekend. I guess I should set up interviews that week? Lordy, I'm sooo confused!!! I did however gather everything to apply for my license because that seems like that can take sometime. Thanks everyone!!!!!! I can't wait to get out there!

hahahah.......Hey, for a minute there I thought A sista was going to be poor in CA. Not only would the cost of living eat me alive but the part time status too. :) ...starve......struggle on 32 hrs a week..... Tiff

What is state law? The number of hours you can work in a week?

Well I guess I won't be working in SF if we live in the San Ramon, Pleasanton area. People in my husbands new office live in Pleasanton and say the commute is about 45 mins. They also suggested he take the BART to work. I really appreciate everyone's input. I did look at Kaiser's website. Whoah! Tons of ER jobs. Wow!!! What is up with all the part-time jobs? 64 hrs/pp Is that normal in CA? Here mostly everyone works 72hrs/pp. I noticed they had tons of part time jobs but no many FT jobs. OR does Cali consider anything less than 40hrs part time? Here in MD we consider 72 hrs/pp full time. Also what is the nurse patient ratio? I see all these posts about nurse patient ratio. Is there a mandate on max ratios? TIA Tiff

That is a great map. I printed it out. That really helps. We will have to look into the area's close to Santa Clara. Hubby doesn't mind commuting. I'm the one that hates commuting. Thanks again. Tiff

I'm from Maryland it's competitive to get into nursing school. C's would be hard to get in but I would keep trying and not lose hope. When I went to nursing school, they were deseperate for students and took C students and they did just fine. Unfortanately, when it's competitive to get in, grades come into it. It really depends on who you are competing with when you apply. Good luck!

Tazzi, Traffic here is bad too but not that bad. If I work an 8 hr shift and leave at 4pm, It usually takes me an hour to get home. On the weekends I can get to work in 30mins. Around here it depends on where you live. Some areas traffic is horrific even during non rush hour. So are you saying if I live in Pleasanton I should work in SF? Also, I can't find the website for San Francisco General. Hubby doesn't mind commuting.

Thanks Smile123. That is really helpful. If we live in Pleasanton, SR, or Dublin area, will commuting to places south of SF be far? Right now where I live I commute 40mins each way. I would like to cut my commute time down if possible. If not, that's okay but if I have the choice, I would like to. Secondly, since you said I'm experienced but I want to change specialities to ER, do you think it will be hard to find a job since all the new grads are coming out. They will still have to train me but probably not as long. I was an EMT before I became an RN. I do have ACLS. Thanks again. It helps to get hospital names and ideas of where they are. Hopefully hubby and I will be out there in 2 wks to do our first house/area hunt. :) Tiff

I sent the info PM. I will start looking into those hospitals. We are looking at living in Dublin, San Ramon or Pleasanton area. Coworkers told us to look there.

Thanks Tazzi. Do you know of any recruiters? Thanks for the list of hospitals. I hadn't even heard of some of them. Do you know long it will take to get my CA license? Here it takes 8wks.