Registered Nurse Jobs in San Diego, CA
Registered nurses in San Diego see posted pay from about $58 to over $90 an hour, and the big systems are hiring from Kearny Mesa to Chula Vista and Escondido. Here are the current RN openings, followed by who is hiring, what it pays and how to get licensed.
Current registered nurse Openings in San Diego, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Registered Nurse Work in San Diego
Most San Diego RN jobs sit in a handful of hospital clusters. Kearny Mesa is the busiest, with Sharp Memorial, Sharp Mary Birch, Rady Children's and Kaiser's San Diego Medical Center all within reach of SR-163. UC San Diego Health and Scripps Mercy anchor Hillcrest, while Jacobs Medical Center, Scripps Memorial La Jolla and the VA sit along the I-5 and I-805 corridor near UTC. South Bay nurses work at Sharp Chula Vista and Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, and North County nurses at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Scripps Encinitas.
Demand is steady because healthcare is the region's biggest source of new jobs, and California's nurse staffing ratios mean hospitals have to fill every shift. Posted ranges here are well above most of the country, though so is the cost of living, and hiring incentives such as Palomar Health's $30,000 offer for experienced med-surg nurses show how hard some units are to staff.
Top San Diego Employers Hiring Registered Nurses
These San Diego employers are posting RN jobs on their own career sites:
- Sharp HealthCare - hires RNs across Sharp Memorial, Mary Birch, Grossmont, Chula Vista and Mesa Vista, and runs a one-year new-grad Nurse Residency Program.
- Scripps Health - posts ED, ICU, med-surg and maternal-child RN jobs at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, Scripps Memorial La Jolla and Scripps Encinitas.
- UC San Diego Health - the academic medical center hires RNs for Hillcrest and the La Jolla campus, including Jacobs Medical Center's operating rooms and PACU.
- Kaiser Permanente - staffs med-surg, telemetry and step-down units at Zion Medical Center and San Diego Medical Center on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.
- Rady Children's - the pediatric hospital on Children's Way hires RNs for its emergency department, medical, surgical and sub-acute units under a union contract.
- Palomar Health - North County's public system recruits med-surg, telemetry and float pool RNs in Escondido with hiring incentives.
Registered Nurse Salaries in San Diego
- Entry level: about $58 to $70 an hour for new graduates and nurses in their first years.
- Experienced: roughly $70 to $84 an hour for nurses with several years in acute care.
- Senior and specialty: $84 to $92 an hour at the top of posted ranges for long-tenured and specialty nurses.
These are estimates built from ranges posted by Sharp ($61.74 to $90.16), Scripps ($58 to $84), UC San Diego Health ($62.90 to $88.16) and Rady Children's ($64.39 to $92.09). Placement depends on years of RN experience, unit, shift and union contract. Night shift, critical care, emergency and pediatric specialty units, plus certifications such as CEN, push pay toward the top.
How to Become a Registered Nurse in San Diego
You need to finish a nursing program approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and pass the NCLEX-RN, then hold an active California RN license. Local options include the two-year associate degree nursing program at San Diego City College on Park Boulevard, the four-semester program at Grossmont College in El Cajon, and the BS in Nursing at SDSU, which admits freshmen directly. LVNs can move up through San Diego City College's LVN to RN track or Southwestern College's LVN to RN Step-up. Hospital units also expect AHA BLS, and many require ACLS or PALS.
What the Job Involves
Registered nurses assess patients, build and carry out care plans, give medications and IV therapy, monitor vital signs and lab results, and chart everything in the electronic health record. They coordinate with physicians, therapists and pharmacists, supervise LVNs and aides, teach patients and families before discharge, and respond first when a patient's condition changes.
Skills Employers Look For
- Active California RN license
- AHA BLS, plus ACLS, PALS or NRP for many units
- Acute care experience in the unit's specialty
- Electronic health record charting
- Calm judgement in emergencies
- Bilingual English and Spanish, often preferred
Career Path and Advancement
Many San Diego nurses start through a new-grad residency, such as Sharp's one-year program at hospitals including Sharp Chula Vista and the Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus. After a year or two in med-surg or telemetry, nurses move into ICU, emergency, labor and delivery or the operating room, then into charge nurse, clinical educator or nurse manager roles. A BSN opens leadership jobs at the big systems, and a graduate degree leads to nurse practitioner and CRNA roles.
Related Careers in San Diego
If nursing interests you, these related San Diego guides are close matches:
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do registered nurses make in San Diego?
Ranges posted by San Diego hospitals run from about $58 an hour at entry to about $92 at the top. Sharp's new-grad residency posts $61.74 to $90.16, and Rady Children's posts $64.39 to $92.09 for emergency RNs.
Who licenses registered nurses in California?
The California Board of Registered Nursing. You need to graduate from an approved nursing program and pass the NCLEX-RN, and San Diego hospitals require an active California license by your start date.
Do San Diego hospitals hire new graduate nurses?
Yes. Sharp runs a one-year Nurse Residency Program with several cohorts a year for nurses who graduated within the last 18 months. Application windows are short, often a week, so check the career sites often.
Where can I go to nursing school in San Diego?
San Diego City College and Grossmont College offer associate degree RN programs, and SDSU's School of Nursing offers a BS in Nursing. Both community college programs are approved by the Board of Registered Nursing.
What shifts do San Diego hospital nurses work?
Most hospital RNs work three 12-hour shifts a week, on days, evenings or nights. Part-time, per diem and float pool positions are common at Kaiser, Scripps and Palomar Health, and night shifts usually pay more.
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