Info on San Diego Hospitals

[NMonteRN]

Just wondering if anyone has info/opinions on what hospitals are good to work for in San Diego, CA. Any bad experiences with a particular hospital...please share. I work in CCU and Step-Down tele. I will be moving to SD in June and staying there for at least a year. Thanks for any input.:shades_smile:

[AmandaWIRN]

I am currently on assignment in the ER at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. I have been here since December, and my contract will expire at the end of May. Not sure about the ICU/Tele units here, but the ER is a VERY busy ER (the busiest in San Diego), BUT there is no trauma, so I miss that... The trauma centers are at Scripps Mercy & UCSD. If you have any specific questions about San Diego in general, let me know!

[sunnijudi]

How's the housing in San Diego? Which agency did you go with? What's the scoop on med-surg at Kaiser?

Be well.
Judi

[AmandaWIRN]

My housing is excellent- I travel with RN Network, and they have me in a condo here: The Missions at Rio Vista - San Diego, California

I work in ER, not med/surg, and most of the ER staff is great. The only encounters I have had with med/surg nurses at Kaiser is when I have to call report on a patient, and my general impression of a lot of the regular staff in med/surg at Kaiser in San Diego is that they are kind of rude and lazy. I have had nurses lie to me and tell me that the room is dirty and the patient can't come up yet, when, in fact, the hospital supervisor has told me that the room is ready and that they are just stalling....

[sunnijudi]

thanks for info Amanda!

I have been looking for a nursing position for 23 years where I can be "lazy"....lol...maybe I'll hit the jackpot yet ;-)

Judi

[AmandaWIRN]

I just get a bad impression overall of the med/surg nurses at my current assignment- I have never had so many problems calling report at any other hospital as I have here...

[sunnijudi]

I understand what you are saying...and I can agree with the frustration you feel. When I have floated to our ER it becomes extremely irritating to try to get a patient up to the floor, especially when they may have already been in the ER for 6-24 hrs., and the staff nurse puts off getting report, these are often my co-workers!

Having to "tap-dance" with patients/families as to why the patient hasn't been transferred is often embarrassing. Soothing ruffled feathers becomes a challenge; which seems unnecessay and avoidable.

In the staff nurses defense. Asking the ER nurse to "give me 10 minutes" is often a sincere request....b/c ( at least at my facility ) they are inundated with the "priority" needs of 6 or
7 other patients. :-( Those 10 minute requests become the "60 minute/10 minutes". So, if I don't receive a call back after 10 minutes, I call to give my report to the charge nurse, and if she is indisposed; I ask to speak to any nurse at the nurse's station to take report. We have all been in this position, so we are all willing to help one another out PRN.

There is no excuse for being rude, in my opinion. After all, isn't patient care what nursing is about...and keeps us in a job?

Just a few thoughts this beautiful Saturday morning in chilly Missouri.

By the way, your condo complex is absolutely beautiful!
Thanks for sharing Amanda.

Have a great weekend!
Judi

[Anmutasc]

Just to add to what amanda wrote. Yes, Missions at Rio Vista is a nice apt complex but you may want to check out where the apt is located within the complex before accepting. My girlfriends live there in a 3rd floor walk up (no elevators, so moving in was a pain), and they are located right on friars rd which is a very busy main road. They are both night nurses and hear the cars and sirens all day long. The apt is very nice, they just really wish they were in a different part of the complex.

[AmandaWIRN]

True- I'm on the first floor, and my apt. doesn't face the road, so noise isn't a problem for me, but yes, Friars is a very busy street, so if you end up here, just ask for an apt that doesn't face Friars.