Should i mmove to California

Euskadi1946 · Sep 21, 2005

You should take a couple of weeks off and go to California and travel up and down the state to see if you will like it. I loved California especially up in the north where I lived for 16 years. I have 3 brothers who live in San Marcos near San Diego and they love it there. If you decide that California is for you, stop in Sacramento and go directly to the BON to get your license, otherwise, you'll have a 3-6 month wait. Good Luck to you!!

suzanne4, RN · Sep 21, 2005

One thing to take into account, if the salaries are higher, then cost of living is probably higher. You need to figure out what you would pay for your living expenses in each area, what your pay would be, and then work from there.

You could actually come out with more money in your pocket, if you are not receiving the highest salary that can be made, but live where the cost of living is less, and then you would also be paying less in taxes, so actually more money in your pocket.

Next depends on which specialty that you wish to work in. Most ICU ratios are about the same in the US, at least they should be. CA does have mandatory ratios in palce for Med/surg of only five patients per shift. Then the weather, what you would like to have and not have..............for me, I hate snow.

Hope that this helps...................

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2005

California has every kind of weather you would want from the deserts to the mountains. What kind of weather and location do you think you would like? If you look toward the large cities you are going to find good jobs. California also has a large number of small cities, some of them isolated from other small cities, so there are only one, maybe two community hospitals in those towns, if any. Having been trained in California and worked in a number of different states I think I can honestly say that California is at the cutting edge on a lot of changes going on in nursing. The nurses association is very political--in case you haven't heard, they are going after Governor Arnold lately. All employees contribute to a disability fund so if you are working and off of work due to illness, you get a disability check from the state. There's a lot of good things about California.

I live in a Los Angeles suburb. A lot of single people save money on rent by renting a room. A good one will have it's own entrance from outside. Lots of people have huge homes and rent out rooms to help pay their mortgages. You need to be careful how you find one of these rooms because you don't want to get into a party house. I know of several professionals who bought homes for their parents to live in and rent out rooms or have small guest houses on their property they rent for less than a one bedroom apartment in a huge complex. Unleaded gas was $2.95 a gallon this morning. You can price the groceries in Los Angeles and Orange counties by going to the websites for Ralphs, Albertson's, Vons/Pavillions or Stater Brothers.

Sheri257 · Oct 4, 2005

California = ratios. Typically no more than five patients.

Maryland and Virginia = no ratios. Potentially unlimited numbers of patients.

Something to consider.

:coollook:

chuckc, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2005

Hi
I reccently passed NCLEX and i am currently residing in virginia. But i have a californian license.Where is the best place to work, california, virginia or maryland?( in terms of salary working condition....)
They say that even if you get paid more in cali. the life is more expensive there. Is it worth to relocate to california from here.

I am a nursing student in the Bay Area San Francisco, the thought of having more than five patients is frightening, move here, it is beautiful, but expensive. The CNA is strong. THere are a lot of more inexpensive places to live in Cali, but same ratio standards.

grentea · Oct 12, 2005

I was pondering moving to CA, and I wish I had. Even though I haven't started my new job yet, it's too late to move to CA now. Maybe some day, I'll spend some time there. San Francisco is heavenly, although a bit expensive. Oh California, the land of sunshine and reasonable nurse to patient ratios. :)

PedsRN03 · Oct 12, 2005

Definately!! I moved out here 6 months ago after working 1 1/2 years on the east coast and LOVE it. I'm not sure I can stay here forever because I could never afford to buy a house here, but you should at least try it sometime for a year or two or do a travel assigment here when you have a little more experience. The current starting salary for new grads at the hospital where I work in the bay area is about $35/hour with an 18% differential for nights. I rent a room in a house for $700/month which is about average but if you're looking for your own place it may be between 1000-1500/month. If you're looking for a hospital in VA, I really liked UVA hospital when I interviewd there looking for a new grad job. They had lots of departments to choose from, their new grad program sounded really good, and the people there were super nice. The salary was about 60% of what I make in California, but I believe the housing costs there are a lot cheaper.