ER at Childrens Hospital

U.S.A. Missouri

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Would it be insane to think about being a new grad in the ER at Childrens. Do they even except new grads? Any thoughts thanks:typing

listener

96 Posts

Would it be insane to think about being a new grad in the ER at Childrens. Do they even except new grads? Any thoughts thanks:typing

Check out this BJC link which lists NS graduate internships and fellowships.

http://www.barnesjewish.org/employment/default.asp?NavID=3179

I don't see anything specifically for Childrens but maybe it'll help with your search. Let us know what you find out. PS - careful with your spelling on any communications with BJC, or any prospective employers. :) First impressions mean a lot when it comes to ultimately being accepted to any program! Good luck.

mama_d, BSN, RN

1,187 Posts

Specializes in tele, oncology.

When my now toddler was two months old, he had to be admitted to Glennon for sepsis. The ER was incredibly hectic, and care was not up to par...even the residents realized it and were trying their best to be apologetic. Being a nurse, I could understand from just walking into the waiting room. It was incredibly frustrating though to know that my baby was not getting desperately needed care due to the overwork that the staff was facing. The demographics of the area lead to people who overuse the ED as a clinic. I imagine it would be the same at Children's; one of the nurses at Glennon admitted to me (professional to professional) that they run their butts off all shift long b/c idiots bring their kids in there instead of to urgent care or MD for things like "she's been coughing for a week" or "I dunno, her nose was running". There also were helicopters landing literally once every hour or two the entire three days we were there; the helipad was right outside our window. I don't know if those kids go through the ED or straight to the floor though. And it was RSV season.

Now that I complained about the care I got in the ED, I have to say that the care we got on the floor was phenomenal. And I do attribute a lot of the issues in the ED to poor staffing, not a lack of caring.

You may be interested in applying to work Glennon Care at St. Joe's West ED. I recently had to take our son there and the care was so much better, the docs and nurses had time to actually spend with us and attend to us without a long wait. It also is WAY closer to O'Fallon than either Children's or Glennon.

Good luck whatever you decide!

lholland

62 Posts

You may be interested in applying to work Glennon Care at St. Joe's West ED. I recently had to take our son there and the care was so much better, the docs and nurses had time to actually spend with us and attend to us without a long wait. It also is WAY closer to O'Fallon than either Children's or Glennon.

Good luck whatever you decide!

I would have to politely disagree about the care at SJW being so much better. I think there are a handful of staff that give good care there. The rest are just there for a paycheck. I would have to tell you to rethink this option. IMO :twocents:

mama_d, BSN, RN

1,187 Posts

Specializes in tele, oncology.

I was speaking specifically about the ED staff at St. Joe's West. Perhaps I've gotten lucky the times that we've had to go there for the kidlets. Going there for adult treatment has been a whole other story, I will admit.

I used to work there as agency on the floor, so I know what it was like then...I would hesitate to take my kids there if they had to be admitted for something. Hence the trip all the way to Glennon downtown when it was obvious that our baby was in extreme distress, even though we had to pass multiple hospitals on the way. Hopefully it's changed since then. I'll have to ask my sister about it, she's starting there as a tech soon.

DoeRN

941 Posts

Well I might add that if you interested in applying at Childrens then you may want to do so now. It is hard to get hired there. If you are already a BJC employee it does give you a slight advantage but not much. Speaking from experience. I was almost hired in the NICU but I had already accepted another position because Childrens took FOREVER to get back to me. I wish they hadn't because I would have loved to work in the NICU.

WDWpixieRN, RN

2,237 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

And hopefully you'll have at least a BSN for Children's. Myself and a couple of others applied for positions there and never even got a phone call or "sorry" from our apps.

I finally called and spoke to a recruiter who said she was sorry, but they had "more qualified" applicants and thanks but no thanks.

My friend and I both had tech experience -- she for 3+ years on a floor, me in a local ED. Without going in to a thorough background history of both of us, the only reason I could think we were so quickly dismissed is that they do an initial cut at the BSN level and we are ASN graduates. During our clinicals there we were told that BSN/ASN had no bearing on hiring however....

We were both hired very quickly at other facilities on adult floors.

Anyone care to add their thoughts to that line of reasoning? Am I totally off-base? We were both very disappointed....

Sillynicunurse

164 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg ICU, NICU.

WD I had a similar experience with Children's. In fact during the interview the nurse manager informed me that I would have to return to get a BSN if hired for the position. Needless to say I didn't get the position and a friend that works there said that all that were hired were BSN nurses.

luvs2readlotsRN

190 Posts

I do know of two grads from last semester that got hired at Children's straight out of our ADN Program. One went to the NICU, the other to Oncology. So they do hire ADN grads. One had worked at a hospital as a tech for many years(not at Children's)the other had no prior hospital working experience. The semester previous I know that they hired 2 or 3 new grads from our program. Not sure why they all have gotten the nod, but they do hire ADN's. One of the new hires said that they do want her to go back to school part-time ASAP and begin working on her BSN..so there is pressure there to get a BSN. But don't we all want to get one eventually anyway? :-)

luvs2readlotsRN

190 Posts

Oh...just thought of something else...my friend that got hired in the NICU was told that they had 150 applications for each position open in the NICU last semester at Children's. So apply early was her advice!

DoeRN

941 Posts

Oh...just thought of something else...my friend that got hired in the NICU was told that they had 150 applications for each position open in the NICU last semester at Children's. So apply early was her advice!

Oh she may have gotten the position that I applied for. Darn I wish they would have called me sooner. And I am also an ASN but have a lot of years of BJC experience. So no they do hire ASN's and in fact 4 of my classmates were hired there with their ASN's and are encouraged to get their BSN's and can use tuition assistance to help with that.

WonderRN

91 Posts

Specializes in ED.

Just finished a clinical at Children's and the nurse recruiter gave us tips on how to get hired there, especially NICU (most competitive area):

-previous tech/student nurse experience, preferably in a children's area AND/OR volunteering in a NICU

-internship experience

-shadowing experience in the NICU (or whatever area you desire there)

Most important I think was that the applicant showed a genuine interest in NICU through some kind of prior experience

She also mentioned "well roundedness" and good academics were also additional criteria. She also said the same thing about there being 150 applicants for NICU.

(I am not interested in peds, or else I think I might not be willing to share this with others:D)

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