Nursing job at Atascadero (Salinas, San Luis Obispo: transfer, living in, safety)

[Tikigal]

Anyone got any information about RN jobs at the state hospital? What's the work like? Is it hard to get hired? Any info much appreciated.

[stellar9]

I don't know details, but it is an extremely stressful place to work. There are many disgruntled employees there because it is in effect a prison, yet the employees do not make the same as correctional officers and other equivalent jobs. I think this will be changing. There probably are openings for RNs because of this issue. You can check out sanluisobispo.com for the classifieds or google for state jobs in CA.

Hopefully, someone else can give you more information.

[Inthesierras]

I have known a few nurses that worked there and they HATED it. Staff assult is off the charts, the pay isn't as good as elsewhere and the conditions are downright miserable. They now work in level 4 prisons and prefer that over Atascadero. If you are considering Atascadero, look into the prison system, RN's get paid ALOT to work for CDRC. Its not a pretty job, but its that bad either.

[susie4]

I currently work at ASH, but not as an RN. I actually do recruiting for psychiatrists and psychologists. We are in need of RN's and everything discipline. A lot of have have left the state hospital, and that goes for all the state hospitals in California. They are leaving for CDCR. The pay is much higher. The RN's just got a raise at ASH I believe this past summer. I don't know exactly what they make. All the disciplines are trying to get parity with CDCR, but I don't know if it will happen or not.

As for assaults, yes, ASH has its share. Alot is due to low numbers of staffing. Admissions have been cut way back untill more staff can be hired. I believe the hospital's census is somewhere around 1175 pts now. The main difference between ASH and CDCR is treatment. If you like the idea of working really without treatment and like a custodial atmosphere, CDCR is the place for you. If you want to do treatment, groups, then ASH is more the place for you. As for getting in, as long as you have a California RN license, and you can pass the physical/agility test, and the background screen, you should not have a problem getting a job. Very plentiful! Most the sexual violent predators have been moved to Coalinga. The majority of our patients are MDO's.

If you want to get more info on the RN positions, Karen Swangler is the person you need to contact. I believe her phone number is (805) 468-2202.

The employment's office main number is 468-3384.

If you have any further questions don't hesitate to email through a private message.

[Care Now]

There's actually a HUGE shortage of RN's, LVN's, & Psych Techs over at Coalinga. It's true that the place is almost empty of patients because there is a certain ratio that must be maintained.

The pay these days are:

RN:$40 per hour
LVN:$25 per hour
Psych Techs: $27 per hour

Work is full time 40 hours a week, pay is weekly and you get to pick your own schedule, just required to do one weekend a month. We also PAY up to $600 a month untaxed gas expenses.

Please email: [email]Paul@carenowstaffing.com[/email] for information
or call: 415-889-9207

[CA central coast]

Vacancy Search (VPOS) - State Personnel Board - spb.ca.gov

An RN at ASH makes $7200 a month and one at CMC makes MORE????? Wow, that's good money. I'll take a beating for $7200 a month! j/k, I don't mean to make light of an assault. I just had no idea that the nurses made that much.I know I'm going to get into trouble saying this. But this has been my experience living in this area my entire life. It seems the people who work at ASH long enough eventually turn psycho. Like I said, this has been my experience. For the most part the employees I've known have been psych techs and kitchen staff. These people turned nuts. Seriously, I don't know what it is about that place. It just changed them. Not in a "hardened" way, but in a weird way. They just became weirdoes. The people I've known from CMC, didn't turn out that way. The prison didn't make them nuts, alcoholic maybe, but not nuts. Oh, man I'm stepping in it now. Please , no offense to anyone who works there. These have just been my personal experiences. In all honesty, I haven't ruled out working at ASH or CMC some day. The money is just so darn good, especially for this area. My advice to the nurse. Skip ASH and try CMC in San Luis Obispo. Listen to the previous posters' advice. They know what they are talking about.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Inthesierras

Staff assult is off the charts ...

Very true. I'm a state corrections RN in Monterey County and the prison environment is MUCH safer. I would never work at a state mental hospital. I don't care what anyone says ... inmates are the same no matter where you go but, you need custody there to protect you. With the mental hospitals ... there is virtually no custody so ... you're on your own.

However, it can be pretty hard to get hired at the prisons because the money is so good. There's a waiting list of 4,000 RN's trying to get hired right now.

So ... you may want to get hired at Atascadero and, transfer out after a year since transfers get priority. That would probably be the best way to get hired by CMC or one of the other state prisons because if you're not already a state employee ... it's extremely difficult to get hired.

My facility just hired six RN's .... 66 people applied so there were 11 applicants for each position. Only those of us who were already state were the ones who got hired.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by CA central coast

An RN at ASH makes $7200 a month and one at CMC makes MORE????? Wow, that's good money.

Yeah ... after three years it gets up to $8400 a month with CMC and the other CDC prisons. $9300 a month for CTF and Salinas Valley in Monterey County (hence the reason I'm working in Monterey and not SLO )

So ... you can see why there's thousands of RN's trying to get hired on with the prisons right now.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by susie4

The main difference between ASH and CDCR is treatment. If you like the idea of working really without treatment and like a custodial atmosphere, CDCR is the place for you. If you want to do treatment, groups, then ASH is more the place for you.

This isn't true. CDCR has the EOP program where the inmates go to group and receive mental health treatment every single day. I know because I was an RN for the EOP program at one of the institutions.

[MWJamesLDS]

I just wanted to point out how great a forum I think Citi-data is. I posted a big thread with pretty much the questions above on allnurses.com and got almost no response.

Originally Posted by sheri257

Very true. I'm a state corrections RN in Monterey County and the prison environment is MUCH safer. I would never work at a state mental hospital. I don't care what anyone says ... inmates are the same no matter where you go but, you need custody there to protect you. With the mental hospitals ... there is virtually no custody so ... you're on your own.

However, it can be pretty hard to get hired at the prisons because the money is so good. There's a waiting list of 4,000 RN's trying to get hired right now.

So ... you may want to get hired at Atascadero and, transfer out after a year since transfers get priority. That would probably be the best way to get hired by CMC or one of the other state prisons because if you're not already a state employee ... it's extremely difficult to get hired.

My facility just hired six RN's .... 66 people applied so there were 11 applicants for each position. Only those of us who were already state were the ones who got hired.

How easy was it for you to transfer from ASH to CDCR? I'm actually pretty interested in ASH. I know the pay is a little less than CDCR, but its still better than most hospitals and still has safety CalPERS retirment system. Plus I have a BA in Cognitive Psych as well the BSN I'll be finishing in March. However, if I dont like ASH, it would be nice to know how difficult it would be to transfer.

Also, anyone with any experience working as a Nurse Practitioner at either a State hospital or CDCR out there?