Opinions and/or Information about Children's Hospital Colorado

U.S.A. Colorado

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Hello,

I'm in my last semester of the BSN program at Washington State University and looking at places I would like to work. I am considering applying to Children's Nurse Residency Program when they open up applications in a week or so.

Any nurses who have or do work there have any comments, opinions, suggestions?

I will be doing my senior practicum in a PICU and I have lots of experience with children as I am the mother of two both of whom are on the Autism Spectrum

klone, MSN, RN

14,790 Posts

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I work for Children's (I also have a daughter on the spectrum :)). It's a FABULOUS place to work, IMO. I have no complaints. My job is kind of unique in that, although I am a CHC employee, I spend most of my time at the University hospital next door. But I do spend about 30% of my time at CHC.

Do you have any specific questions?

klone, MSN, RN

14,790 Posts

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Also, I do know they recently changed their policies on hiring ADN-prepared nurses (not that this applies to you). When I was hired by them just over a year ago, they would sometimes hire experienced ADN nurses (which was good for me, as I was working on my BSN, but still had a year to go). Now they've changed their policies, and they will only hire BSN nurses, period.

Sinman

72 Posts

Awesome! Are you ready for the flood of questions? :laugh: So what are the schools like in the area do they provide good support for Autism? Do you like the overall community? What is the Cost of living like there? Crime rate? What was the interview process like? Do you happen to know if they offer a moving benefit? Do they support their nurses well? What is the overall culture of the hospital?

Do you happen to know anything about local churches?

Hmm that's all that leaps to mind immediately but I'm sure I'll have more questions later :smug: My teachers and fellow student will tell you I always have more questions

klone, MSN, RN

14,790 Posts

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I am only familiar with schools in Adams 50 school district, and our local community elementary school was very good for her. It was all about the individual teachers, IMO. She's having a bit of a rough time adjusting to middle school (she's 12 and in 6th grade now, but is more like an 8-year-old, socially and emotionally).

I'm not sure how to answer the question about cost of living. Depending on where you live, a '60s rambler, 1800 square feet and 3-4bed, 2bath, will cost you anywhere from 150K-200K (on average). Obviously it's greatly dependent upon where you live. I live on the west side. Living somewhere like LoDo or Highlands, it's going to be a lot more.

For me, the interview was done completely by the unit. Our unit is very small, so it's a group interview with all staff members, and we all decide, rather than just the manager. Other units, I'm sure do it differently. I do feel like the hospital supports its nurses, with regards to continuing education.

As far as local churches, I know of two on the west side that are pretty big. A lot of our friends go to Flatirons Church. Our neighbors/good friends are the leaders of the Vineyard Church, which has branches in Arvada and Denver. We go there once in a while simply because we love Jay, the head pastor, and it's a very welcoming, inviting atmosphere for us (I'm agnostic and my husband is atheist, but they still welcome us).

Hope this helps!

Sinman

72 Posts

Thank you so much for answering my questions!! I think I will be applying for the residency program and we will see what happens

GeneralJinjur

376 Posts

Specializes in Psych.

I don't know how old your kids are, but Cherry Creek School District has a great autism program for the pre-school and grade school crowd. We were very sad to move out of that district when my autistic son was still in the preschool program. I have heard from some of the moms that the later years weren't as good. My son has done very well in Douglas County, despite there not being the same quality of programming. He is now in high school and continues to get good individualized care. He fell further and further behind his grade level from 3-6th grade, but absolutely blossomed in middle school and caught up to grade level in most areas.

If I were moving to the Denver area to work at Children's, I would probably move to south Aurora in the Cherry Creek School District. Your commute would be about 15-20 minutes. Aurora Schools have a lousy reputation, particularly with the special needs crowd. I would stay out of there. Denver Schools are hit and miss for special ed.

Sinman

72 Posts

Thanks for the Info I appreciate it!

SE_BSN_RN, BSN

805 Posts

Specializes in LTC, Agency, HHC.

Are you doing an LPN-BSN? If so, Children's won't hire you. If WSU is your typical 4 year, you're good. Good Luck!

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