How does a hospital determine who to hire when it comes to new graduates?

heydelilah · Aug 7, 2012

Regarding schools, if you know which hospital you want to work at in the future, call the HR department and ask which schools they prefer to hire from and if there are any they refuse to hire from. Usually, HR is honest and up front. They don't want you to waste their time if you're from a school where they won't even look. Also ask about their preffered educational level beacuse many hospitals (including those in dade county) will only hire ADN nurses if they are internal candidates. The situation is the same near most big metros in Florida (tampa, jacksonville etc).

Also research who owns Dade Medical College. It should give you an idea of it's reputation in the community.

Best of luck to you!

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 7, 2012

I don't know the particular schools and hospitals in your region. So this answer consists of general principles that apply in most job market.

1. Yes. Some schools are better than others and the better hospitals usually prefer to hire new grads from the best schools. Look for a school that has an excellent academic reputation as well as one that offers extensive clinical rotations at the areas best hospitals. If a school does not have access to the best hospitals for their clinical rotations, that tells you what the hospitals think of that school -- and you should probably stear clear of it.

2. For many job markets, it is also true that the better hospitals prefer to hire new grads with BSN's rather than ADN's. That's not 100% true in every situation, but it is the current trend in most places. However, that doesn't mean that a BSN from a terrible school is always better off than an ADN from a good school. The level of education is just one of many factors.

3. Hospitals want to hire people who will be successful and stay at their facility for a long time. (It costs them a lot to orient a new grad and they don't want to waste their money.) So ... people who are already known to them in some way have an advantage in the hiring process over total strangers. For example, if you work for that hospital as a nursing assistant while you are in school -- and do a good job -- that leads them to believe you will be a good nurse and that you will become a long-term employee. Similarly, if you do a senior year practicum at that hospital and do well, it will help you get employed by that hospital. So you have to enter the job market as a new grad knowing that there are some new grads who already have their "foot in the door" at certain hospitals. They will have an advantage over those who are totally unknown by the hospital.

4. Some of the local people you will ask have biases for or against certain schools and/or hospitals. They may believe they are giving you good advice, but their opinions may be colored by those biases. Try to talk with a variety of people who see the situation from a variety of perspectives. For example, a graduate of a particular school will rarely tell you that their school was not one of the highly respected ones. Most people think that THEIR school is difficult and produces good graduates. An ADN grad will tell you that the ADN route is better and a BSN grad will tell you that the BSN route is better, etc. etc. etc. So be very careful to avoid getting sucked into any particular school's marketing.

Gotta go. I'm sure others will add to this thread.

yadi87 · Aug 11, 2012

DO NOT GO TO DADE MEDICAL COLLEGE...i am from miami and know who they are ....they cost more that going to miami dade college and miami dade college is one of the top nursing schools in miami along with barry and universit of miami. if your lookig at cost and reputation MDC is your bes choice, if you are looking for bsn degree upfront then Universit of miami is the best choice if you can afford it.

MDC program -$8,000 for entire ADN program (appr. 16 months)

Dade Medcial College - $60,100 (ADN) (program length 25 months) ..my bsn program didnt even cost this much at FIU its insane

Univeristy of Miami ( BSN program they do not offer ADN) Roughly between $40,000 to $50,000.00

sperkyperk · Aug 12, 2012

First, I would like to thank everyone who has thus far responded to my question. For sure you have all provided me with great info that really has me thinking and doing more research.

Yadi87, I wanted to ask you more about the MDC Nursing program. I'm not sure if you have detailed info or not, but I ran into a lady the other day who had nothing but bad news to pass on about their program. She never one time said it wasn't an exceptional program, she just wished me luck as far as getting accepted. She claimed that there was a two year waiting list and that she knows people who are still waiting to get in after a year and a half. Additionally, she discouraged me from going into nursing. She claimed that with the new changes in healthcare, nurses are not going to be in such high demand. She said that she has been an LPN for years. Oh, and just a side note, she hasn't finished her pre-requisites for the Nursing program nor has she sat for the TEAS exam. Thought that was kinda funny since she really isn't someone to be giving me that info. Sounds like she is trying to deter me from applying.

After doing some research through this site, I found out that many people have encountered that same rumor. What do you know about this? It is my understanding that MDC accepts a certain amount of students based on their Science GPA and TEAS score. With that being said, you basically get accepted or you don't. There is no waiting list for the next group of students. At that point, someone who wasn't accepted has to re-apply like everyone else and will be added to the pool of new applicants for them to make a decision from.

When you have time, please tell me your thoughts and possibly experience with that. I would be curious to know what others have to say about that.

Best!

carygt3 · Aug 13, 2012

MDC has one of the best nursing schools in Miami. I cannot speak about their actual classes, but I do know that they have clinicals at Jackson Memorial Hospital, which is one of the best learning hospitals. Yes, it is difficult to get in due to being public, low cost of tuition etc...making it very competitive, but definitely give it a shot!! & last I heard there is NO waiting list

I'm not sure if Dade Medical College is accredited...I would not recommend going there.

From the top of my head, the following colleges/universities have accredited nursing programs and a good reputation:

MDC- public

Barry University- private

Nova Southeastern University- private

Florida International Univeristy- public

University of Miami- private

Broward Community College- public

Florida Atlantic University- public

roso614 · Nov 5, 2012

Hello. Idk when this question was posted so idk if this info will Help. I currently go to. Mdc and know about dade medical college. Pls stay awar from dade medical. They do not have a great reputation and the cost is really high. Mdc is much cheaper and many of the hospitals in Miami hire you on the spot if your demo mdc. I'm not jut saying this cause I go there. I know it's ki d of tough to get in but once you do it's completely worth it.