St. John's/Oxnard

I'm a California native who has lived in Thousand Oaks, 20 minutes south of Oxnard, for the last 15 years. Oxnard is a beautiful area with beautiful homes by the beach, but is known for its gangs. I haven't heard much about St. Johns as a hospital, but if you do start to work there, communting from either Ventura or Camarillo would be a good bet, as they are about 5-10 minutes away from St. Johns and tend to be much safer.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions!

Thanks for the info! I'm going out there in May to check things out (I currently live in Louisiana). My initial interest was in Ventura or San Luis Obispo, but I'm liking what I see with St. John's. If I end up there, I'll definitely consider commuting.

Do you know anything about Los Robles? I see they have a new wing going up that should be finished soon.

I used to volunteer there and live very close to it. It seems like a great hospital, but I have no idea how it is for nursing.

Hmm...working in Oxnard doesn't sound very appealing. Living in Ventura doesn't even sound appealing anymore since it's so close to Oxnard. Maybe I'd better look more into San Luis Obispo. I was just hoping to live fairly close to my sister-in-law in Lancaster.

Just out of curiosity...why did you leave CA?

I bought a house for cash in Texas.

Is there any other reason? I mean, that's a very good reason, but just curious if there were any negative things about CA other than home prices that convinced you to move to Texas.

I am an LVN. The California wages for LVNs are about the same as Texas LVN wages, yet the cost of living is much more reasonable in Texas.

I know of an LVN who earns $15 per hour at a facility in Los Angeles County. I earn $18.50 per hour at a facility in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area. The cost of living in California is elevated, yet the wages have not really kept up with the pace. If the wages were truly in line with the cost of living, then all California RNs should really earn $40+ hourly and all California LVNs should earn $28+ hourly. That's my opinion.

po

i don't know much about the hospitals out there. however, i was stationed in port hueneme (basically in oxnard) for 2 yrs. I LOVED living there. I loved that there was stuff to do right there but it was still a calmer area. Plus, it's so close to LA, santa barbara, las vegas etc.... I just got accepted to my nursing program but once my husband & i graduate we're moving back to the ventura area (we're in Illinois right now). and our best friends are moving out there w/ us too. the cost of living does suck but i'm willing to sacrafice to be out there because I'll know we'll be happier there in a small house or condo than in a huge house out here.