SoCal job market 2019

[hellonurse7]

Hello my fellow nurses! I am a pretty new BSN RN, coming up on 1 year of ED experience in Houston, in a magnet facility. Not trauma. What are my chances of landing a job out of state in Southern California with this experience?? What’s the good, the bad, and the ugly in Cali? I’m aware of the high cost of living, but in my opinion it’s worth it to make the move, even if for just a few years. Any and all input is welcomed and appreciated.

[2Bornot2bB]

The good : you have a BSN and almost a year experience , Hospitals will require both . I am just assuming you want to continue working in a Hospital environment , but if you want other type of work place its easier to get a job .Weather is most of the times nice although its getting hotter every year with little rain or cloudy days

The bad : cost of life, gas is 4 dollars and we are not even in summer when prices increase.Rent is very expensive you are looking at over 2K for one bedroom , obviously you could find cheaper if you rent a room or have roommates but I am talking about average . Distances and traffic will take 2-3 hrs of your life aside from the 12 hrs shifts , and again it depends where you work and live but in Los Angeles , people tend to live in the valley bc rent is cheaper but you spend more gas and time commuting .Its getting more and more violent , specially driving , if you commute in LA don't EVER say or do any finger flipping to anyone , people have been killed for that .Also most of the people get in accidents due to traffic that is why car insurance is so expensive .

The BON will take its sweet time to do your license , be proactive and find out the requirements to have a CA license , since CA won't endorse any state ( at least that's what I know) So you have an idea I have an RN CA license and now to get an NP license will take about three months or more to get the paperwork started and its the same State who issues it .

But as anything else , life is what you make of it , so if you want the experience do it .Good luck to you !

[hellonurse7]

Thanks so very much for your response! Planning to apply for CA license this summer! You only live once

[quittaRN]

How about you take on a travel assignment just to get an idea. I think you would really like it in SoCal and Texas is not that far so if you wanted to return home you could probably do so pretty easily. At least as a traveler you are not locked into anything and you can just leave once your contract is over. You can live pretty comfortably as a nurse in California.