Travis AFB area- nursing jobs?

[KaitRN]

Hi there,

My boyfriend is in the Air Force and was offered a great job at Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA.. We have discussed moving to a different area of the country, due to the fact that nursing jobs in Rhode Island are scarce at the moment and he has no problem relocating. I have been working for the past year after graduating in a Rehab/ SNF.. The facility that I work in is not bad, but not great. I feel as if I am losing my nursing skills and have been desperately searching for hospital jobs with no avail! I am wondering how is the Fairfield, CA area? Are there hospitals in the area, and if so, are they hiring? How is the area in general? If anyone from this area could reply back, it would be a great help!!! Thank you

[slowrunner]

Fairfield is near some hospitals like Kaiser Vallejo and Vacaville. There is a hospital in Fairfield called Northbay Healthcare. It's a smaller hospital. Fairfield overall is an ok area. I know someone that lives there and you pretty much have to drive a ways to get to places. For example, Fairfield is about 20 miles from Vacaville and Vallejo. And as far as jobs, it is also tough here. Kaisers have a hiring freeze and I believe Northbay is looking for acute care experience. I would make sure to secure a job first before moving bc there are a lot of new grads and even experienced nurses who are having a very difficult time finding a job.

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

I live & work about 30 mins from Fairfield, and I'm very familiar with that area.

First things first, jobs for new grads are incredibly scarce right now all across Northern California. For example, a recent new grad program in this area received a little over 4,000 applications for just 13 positions.

That said, there are several hospitals within 45 minutes or less of Travis. There's Northbay in Fairfield, and also Northbay Vaca Valley in Vacaville (8 miles, not 20 as the last poster wrote). If you're willing to commute farther than that then there's Kaiser Vallejo, Sutter Davis, Woodland Memorial, and a dozen or so hospitals in and around Sacramento. You might even take a look at Kaiser Walnut Creek or the John Muir Medical Centers, but I think those wells have run pretty dry.

As for Fairfield as a place to live, it's hit or miss. My best friend is a police officer there, and he keeps busy. That's not to say there aren't some nice parts of town, but if I were moving there from out of state... I wouldn't know what was a good area and what wasn't. Better to stick to Vacaville, it's close by and a lot nicer.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck.