Emory vs Piedmont Hospital for New Grad

U.S.A. Georgia

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Has anyone had an experience as a new grad at either of these hospitals? I want to get an idea of how the working environment is and education for new grads. Also, does anyone know how much they pay?

thanks for responding so quickly. Yes, you are right it is 5E. Is 5E and intermediate care unit or an intensive care unit? Basically is "intensive care unit" included in the title. I just ask because I really want specific "icu experience" Sorry to bombard you with questions, its just that when HR offered they weren't able to answer any of theses questions for me. :yeah:

Also, are any of the patients in 5E vented or being hemodynamically monitored?

Specializes in Cardiac Step-down Unit.

Its an intermediate ICU. But don't worry sometimes if census is low you will get floated to other ICUs. Its a great way to get your foot in the door. Not sure if the patients are vented.

I disagree with csweetooth about 5E. It IS an ICU, but the unit is connected to an intermediate unit that is staffed by the same group of nurses. So yes, you will get regular med/surg ICU experience, but you will also be staffing IMCU (intermediate care unit). They rotate assignments so that everyone gets their fair share of ICU vs. intermediate patients.

Patients on 5E can be vented, have swans, be on CRRT, etc. A bit of history about the unit (which is probably why csweetooth thought it was an intermediate unit) - maybe 8 months ago 12 beds of IMCU were converted to 5E ICU, and the nurses who worked in IMCU simply became ICU nurses. They have done a lot of training and education for these nurses, as now they see a lot of equipment/technology that isn't used at the intermediate level of care. They have lots of resources available, which probably would be great for a new grad.

I myself just went through the residency as a new graduate about a year ago and I would highly recommend it (see my previous post in this very thread!). There are a few other residency-graduates on 5E who are very friendly and great nurses...I'm sure you will have great co-workers if you chose Piedmont!

I have to disagree with csweetooth, 5E IS an ICU, but it is connected to IMCU (intermediate care unit) and is staffed by the same pool of nurses. They rotate who is assigned ICU vs. IMCU patients so everyone works both areas equally. Patients on 5E can be vented, have swans, CRRT, etc. They are definitely high-acuity, ICU patients.

A bit of history on this unit, about 8 months ago 12 IMCU beds were converted to ICU beds, creating 5E ICU. The nurses who worked IMCU simply became ICU nurses! They received a lot of training and education on equipment/technology that isn't seen at the intermediate level. That being said, they have a lot of resources at their disposal which I think would be great for a new grad.

In this very post I gave a pretty thorough review of the residency at Piedmont. I've been off orientation for about 6 months now and I feel very prepared and very supported by other staff (techs up to MDs) when I do need help or am unsure about anything. I can't say anything about other area hospitals because I have no experience there, but if you have any questions feel free to ask or PM me!

Sorry about the duplicate post...I'm past the editing/delete time frame. :/

Either one would rock

Can you give any info about how to be prepared for the interview?

FYI... Piedmont Atlanta Hospital pays the most in Metro Atlanta (base, night, and weekend pay). Weekend differential is an additional $6.00/hr and night is an additional $3.50-4.50/hr.

Specializes in NICU.

Do you know with the new nurse glad pay is at Piedmont Hospital?

I can only speak to conditions/pay at Piedmont, and the Critical Care Program at that - they only hire new graduates into their residency program which is described in detail on their website. Side note, they also hire nurses with experience who work on other floors who want to transfer into one of the ICUs, so it is not all new graduates in the program.

The Critical Care Program is five months long and involves rotation through five ICUs so you are able to gain experience in both Med/Surg ICUs and Cardiac ICUs. The preceptors are great, nearly all of them have been through the residency themselves (the program has been around for a long time!). Most nurses and I'd say ALL of the charge nurses are awesome and very supportive and available, in addition to your preceptor. You start just taking one patient and work up to taking two as you progress through the program. About half way through your five months of orientation you'll find out what unit you are going to be placed on - everyone starts on the night shift. The starting pay is $23.22, plus differentials (evening - $3.50, night - $4.50, weekend $2.94), which I think is probably near the top for Atlanta-area hospitals.

There are mini classes taught by MDs about common conditions seen in the ICU - ARDS, shock, sepsis, etc. They are great for getting up to speed on the rationale behind all of the protocols that are followed for treatment of these conditions. They also allow you to get to know the MDs a little better. I'd also like to mention that Piedmont utilizes an 'intensivist' approach in the ICU - they have an adequate, dedicated staff of critical care physicians and mid-levels that are available and on-site 24-7. Since I've never worked at another ICU I'm not sure if this is a common practice, but it makes getting someone to see your patient or getting orders pretty easy.

The program also requires completion of ECCO ( ECCO ), which is a comprehensive body-system-based review of anatomy and pathophysiology of common ICU issues. It was developed by the AACN, is computer based, and is worth a whopping 90-some hours of CE credits - and no it didn't take me 90 hours to complete but it did take about 2 months - it is definitely an endeavor.

Overall, I am very happy with Piedmont and the Residency program - it isn't easy and the expectations are very high, but there are a lot of resources to take advantage of if you have the motivation and the time to put into it.

Your post was one of the most inspirational I've read and certainly exemplifies why I'm praying for an interview and job offer in their ICU! If you have any insight to getting an interview den me a PM; currently I work part-time at a hospital in an ICU department out of state. Honestly praying I get contacted; thanks.

While you're waiting, apply to Emory's Neuro ICU. They have a ton of new grads there and they are expanding that department, so it'll be a good opportunity for you to get some experience under your belt.

While you're waiting, apply to Emory's Neuro ICU. They have a ton of new grads there and they are expanding that department, so it'll be a good opportunity for you to get some experience under your belt.

Thank you for the advice, I'm pleased to share I actually had two critical care interviews with Emory Friday, March 3rd. The locations were University and Midtown, so are you referring to one of these facilities? In addition, I had two interviews with WellStar for their critical care residency. The blessing was this week was our spring break due to Mardi Gras, which didn't require me to miss class so I actually traveled to Atlanta for the interviews.

It's my goal to start my career in Atlanta with a hospital that has a great reputation and will offer a great learning experience with a good work atmosphere, who values their new grads. In a perfect world the experienced nurses will impart their knowledge into the new nurses who are eager to work hard and learn how to be a good critical care nurses.

Tbutbu and others what department do you work in and have you worked in critical care (or what department) in more than one hospital in the area? The critical care residencies I applied to are: Piedmont, Emory, WellStar and CHOA. Thanking everyone in advance for any information shared.

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