Registered Nurse Jobs in Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles hospitals are posting registered nurse pay ranges from about $55 to nearly $99 an hour, and the big systems from Cedars-Sinai to Kaiser's Sunset Boulevard campus are hiring. Here are the current RN openings, followed by who is hiring, what it pays and how to get licensed.
Current registered nurse Openings in Los Angeles, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Registered Nurse Work in Los Angeles
RN jobs in Los Angeles follow the hospital map. East Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard corridor holds Kaiser Permanente's Los Angeles Medical Center and Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Boyle Heights has Keck Hospital of USC and the county's Los Angeles General Medical Center; Cedars-Sinai anchors Beverly Grove; and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center sits in Westwood off the 405. In the Valley, Kaiser Panorama City, Northridge Hospital and Olive View-UCLA in Sylmar round out the picture north of the 101.
Two things set LA nursing apart. Many hospital RN staffs are unionized, with UNAC at Kaiser, the California Nurses Association at UCLA and SEIU 121RN at Northridge, and California law puts the pay range on every posting, so you can compare offers before you apply. New graduates enter mostly through year-long residency cohorts with short application windows.
Top Los Angeles Employers Hiring Registered Nurses
These hospitals had RN openings posted on their own career sites this month:
- Cedars-Sinai - the Magnet academic medical center in Beverly Grove lists close to 100 nursing openings and runs a new grad residency.
- Kaiser Permanente - hires staff, emergency and cath lab RNs at its Los Angeles and West LA medical centers.
- UCLA Health - staffs Ronald Reagan UCLA in Westwood and UCLA Santa Monica, including per diem OR nurses.
- Keck Medicine of USC - the Boyle Heights academic hospital hires union RNs for telemetry and surgical units.
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles - the East Hollywood pediatric Magnet hospital hires RNs across units and runs a yearlong new grad residency.
- PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital - the Westlake hospital hires NICU and inpatient RNs and has run regular new grad cohorts.
Registered Nurse Salaries in Los Angeles
- New graduate: about $48 to $51 an hour in LA residency programs, before night differentials.
- Experienced: roughly $55 to $80 an hour for staff RNs on med-surg, telemetry and maternity units.
- Senior and specialty: $80 to $99 an hour at the top of academic and Kaiser scales, OR and cath lab roles included.
These are estimates drawn from ranges posted this month by Kaiser, Keck, UCLA Health, Dignity Health, Northridge Hospital and PIH Health, and they move with experience, unit, shift and union step. Children's Hospital Los Angeles posts in annual terms, with a PACU range of about $104,000 to $172,000 a year.
How to Become a Registered Nurse in Los Angeles
RNs in California are licensed by the California Board of Registered Nursing after an approved nursing program and the NCLEX-RN, with Live Scan fingerprints at a California vendor. Los Angeles has ADN programs at Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Valley College, Los Angeles Harbor College and Los Angeles Southwest College. Bachelor's routes include Cal State LA's Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing, the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, Charles R. Drew University's Mervyn M. Dymally College of Nursing in Willowbrook and West Coast University in North Hollywood. The license renews every two years with 30 hours of continuing education.
What the Job Involves
RNs assess patients, give medications and IV therapy, monitor vital signs and equipment, carry out physician orders and document everything in the electronic record. They also teach patients and families, coordinate with doctors and therapists, supervise LVNs and assistants, and respond first when a patient's condition changes. Hospital shifts usually run 12 hours, days or nights.
Skills Employers Look For
- An active California RN license
- BLS, plus ACLS, PALS or NRP for many units
- Epic or another electronic health record
- Specialty experience such as ICU, ED, OR or labor and delivery
- Bilingual Spanish, valued across LA
- Sound clinical judgment under pressure
Career Path and Advancement
Most LA nurses start in a residency at Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Health, Kaiser, Children's Hospital Los Angeles or the VA Greater Los Angeles, then spend a year or two on med-surg or telemetry before moving to ICU, ED or OR. From there the ladder runs to charge nurse, clinical nurse manager and education roles, or to advanced practice through master's and DNP programs at UCLA, Cal State LA and Charles R. Drew University.
Related Careers in Los Angeles
If nursing interests you, these Los Angeles guides are close matches:
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do registered nurses make in Los Angeles?
Posted ranges at LA hospitals run from about $48 an hour for new graduates to nearly $99 an hour at the top of academic scales. Most experienced staff RN postings fall between about $55 and $80 an hour before differentials.
How do I get an RN license in California?
Finish a board-approved nursing program, apply to the California Board of Registered Nursing, complete Live Scan fingerprints and pass the NCLEX-RN. Nurses licensed in another state apply by endorsement instead of retaking the exam.
Which Los Angeles hospitals have new grad RN residencies?
Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Health, Kaiser Permanente, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the VA Greater Los Angeles and MLK Community Hospital all run year-long programs. UCLA requires a BSN or MSN, and most programs recruit in cohorts with short application windows.
Are LA nurses in a union?
Many are. Kaiser RNs are represented by UNAC, UCLA Health RNs by the California Nurses Association and Northridge Hospital RNs by SEIU 121RN. Union status is usually listed on the posting.
How long does it take to become an RN in Los Angeles?
An associate degree at a Los Angeles community college takes about two years of nursing courses after prerequisites, and a traditional BSN at Cal State LA takes three years in the program. LVNs can finish faster through the bridge routes at LA Trade-Tech and LA Southwest College.
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