St. Louis Children's hospital?

Specialties NICU

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Specializes in NICU.

Do any of you know anything about the NICU at St. Louis Children's hospital? How about Cardinal Glennon? Thoughts...:idea:

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I have a co-worker who has moved to St. Louis and is working at St. Louis Children's as an Assistant Unit Manager. She still stays on Part time at our hospital in Dallas and flys in once a month to keep her status and work a couple of shifts.....she misses our craziness, but likes her new unit!

Jamie

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Specializes in NICU.

Is she on the NICU? Can you give me any more specifics on what she likes about Children's? It is a large hospital, are you just a number, are they team oriented etc.. Thanks for your response.

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Yes, she's in the NICU....She said it's currently a 50 bed Level III, that usually houses around 68 babies, they are building a new unit that will increase capacity to 75. She said it's very family centered, private rooms....working in the local county hospital, I can only imagine how heavenly that might be, since we have 8-10 per room! Many babies are transferred to them, acuity is high, many on high frequency ventilation, etc. Because she's fairly new there, she's not had the opportunity to make many friends, but feels that the staff is very qualified and friendly to boot. Go for it! I'm a recent grad (12/04) who immediately entered a NICU residency program that was 5 months long. I love the NICU and can't imagine every wiping a big hairy adult behind again!

Jamie

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Specializes in NICU.
Yes, she's in the NICU....She said it's currently a 50 bed Level III, that usually houses around 68 babies, they are building a new unit that will increase capacity to 75. She said it's very family centered, private rooms....working in the local county hospital, I can only imagine how heavenly that might be, since we have 8-10 per room! Many babies are transferred to them, acuity is high, many on high frequency ventilation, etc. Because she's fairly new there, she's not had the opportunity to make many friends, but feels that the staff is very qualified and friendly to boot. Go for it! I'm a recent grad (12/04) who immediately entered a NICU residency program that was 5 months long. I love the NICU and can't imagine every wiping a big hairy adult behind again!

Jamie

Jamie,

Thanks for your reply. I just got off the phone with the nurse recruiter for that hospital. I am very excited to get a day on the unit shadowing. :w00t: She affirmed that they are expanding to have 72 beds which will be private rooms for their patients and families. She said this is due to open October 06. This would be pretty good timing for me because I would be just finishing the orientation which is 12 weeks long there. I am really anxious to get in there and check it out. I will probably wait until either Thanksgiving or Christmas break to do that. It is hard to take time away right now because of studying and family.:specs: :typing

Thanks again for your reply! I appreciate it!:yelclap:

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Specializes in oncology.

Hello, I don't know a lot about little details about St. Louis Children's NICU but I am in nursing school at Barnes Jewish College (Barnes and St.Louis Children's Hospital are right besides each other) and our pediatric rotation is there and it is a really great hospital. It has a very good reputation and is amoung the best children's hospital in the country. I really recommend it!!

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Specializes in NICU.
Hello, I don't know a lot about little details about St. Louis Children's NICU but I am in nursing school at Barnes Jewish College (Barnes and St.Louis Children's Hospital are right besides each other) and our pediatric rotation is there and it is a really great hospital. It has a very good reputation and is amoung the best children's hospital in the country. I really recommend it!!

Thanks for the input. :p Which floor did you do your clinical on? How much further do you have until graduation?

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Dear Tiny1,

I worked at Children's for 10 years in the NICU. Of course that was 18 years ago. It was a great hospital while I was there. I left because we moved and the drive downtown was a hassel.

When I left there were 3 large nurseries, I'm sure that has changed. The work was challenging and the camradrie between nurses was terrific. Down-side; new interns on a regular basis and the parking garage. Alot of building has gone on so the parking situation may be better now. We were always well equiped with the latest technology. The pay was the best in the St. Louis area too. Children's is a hugh transplant center and they used to do alot of ECMO. All babies must be transported to Children's since there is no L&D in the hospital so infants can be in pretty rough shape by the time they arrive.

There are two other comparable nurseries, Cardinal Glennon-excellent childrens's hospital run by the Sister of St. Mary's located in the city and St. John's Mercy- a suburban west county hospital (the only unionized hospital in the area) currently suffering administration and management problems, but the best NICU in the county with in-house L&D.

Hope that helps you in your search. :nurse:

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Specializes in NICU.
Dear Tiny1,

I worked at Children's for 10 years in the NICU. Of course that was 18 years ago. It was a great hospital while I was there. I left because we moved and the drive downtown was a hassel.

When I left there were 3 large nurseries, I'm sure that has changed. The work was challenging and the camradrie between nurses was terrific. Down-side; new interns on a regular basis and the parking garage. Alot of building has gone on so the parking situation may be better now. We were always well equiped with the latest technology. The pay was the best in the St. Louis area too. Children's is a hugh transplant center and they used to do alot of ECMO. All babies must be transported to Children's since there is no L&D in the hospital so infants can be in pretty rough shape by the time they arrive.

There are two other comparable nurseries, Cardinal Glennon-excellent childrens's hospital run by the Sister of St. Mary's located in the city and St. John's Mercy- a suburban west county hospital (the only unionized hospital in the area) currently suffering administration and management problems, but the best NICU in the county with in-house L&D.

Hope that helps you in your search. :nurse:

Thanks so much for your reply.:kiss Yes, Glennon is a great hospital. I shadowed there during my peds rotation. I was instantly in love. They are definately in the running. I looked at St. John's also but was a little hesitant for a couple of reasons: first, they offer a great 12 week "fellowship" however, they request a two year service agreement, second, they are about 10 miles farther than Children's. This 10 miles could be significant during rush hour. Anyway, I will probably shadow a day there as well just to be certain.

The recruiter I spoke to from Children's said they offer a 12 week orientation period and they now shuttle you from the parking lot to the hospital.

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