Johns Hopkins or University of Maryland?? - Page 5

Not sure how many people this will reach, since the post is old, but...
Yes JHU has a huge name in the US, BUT...check your facts: U of M School of Nursing is rated higher AND is more competitive than JHU.

That's all.

I saw several "if you work there, then they pay..." posts, other hospitals have to pay more to get you in and some of them also pay 100% tuition. JHU and UMMC are the lowest paying facilities in the city, correct me if I'm wrong!

You're wrong. My sister, new grad RN at U of M, makes more than her best friend who works at Sinai and 100% tuition reimbursement towards her graduate. Sinai's reimbursement caps out at $5000/yr.

I think you can compare new grad salaries for weeks, but salary alone doesn't determine the value of the work placement. Does the nursing staff support and nurture its new hires? Does the hospital have a reputation for excellent patient safety? How about that particular unit? Do they have state of the art equipment? Interdisciplinary staffing? Ongoing research?

The point is, both UMB and JHU have nursing programs ranked in the top 10 nationally. Both programs will prepare their nurse graduates for employment. It is up to the students to search out the best opportunities at the best hospitals, and most of the competitive new grad positions will be filled based on the interview or clinical evaluations, not which program the student attended. You can't go wrong. Do your research and make the choice that is right for you. And then...go out there and be the best nurse you can be!

I don't put any particular nursing school or hospital up on a pillar especially since I have worked with some less than stellar new graduates from popular schools that have come into nursing with no experience and advanced degrees. They all have pros and cons. Keep in mind that impressive reputations aren't always all they are cracked up to be when you actually get behind the scenes. It does a disservice to patients and is an insult to professional nurses not to pay experienced RNs a competitive wage in an effort to retain them. That "nurturing" of new grads seems more like staffing the units with cheap labor who will be gone in a year or two while taxing your core staff, imo.

I worked through the same dilemma. I was looking to enter in the Spring and Hopkins starts in May. I was accepted to UMB but ultimately I went to Georgetown and despite a killer commute, I got a killer scholarship which garauntees me a job and I couldn't be happier.

hey TFL410--did you get the washington hospital scholarship or another one? are you really happy with georgetown?