I am a senior nursing student and am looking to apply to the new graduate RN residency program at All Children's Hospital in St. Pete, FL for Fall 2014. I am hoping to get some advice from people who have done this program in the past or people who currently work there now. Also hoping to connect with people who plan on applying! This is my first post on this website, but I hear that it is a great place to find out lots of information about various nursing topics, so I am excited to see what this post generates!
I completed my pediatric clinical at ACH. Get ready to work your tail off: it was by far the most exhausting clinical I had during my BSN. It is an amazing facility physically, but the pay is the worst for hospitals in the Tampa area because they get so many applicants. I would also avoid the ED night shift like the plague: the night nurses are downright abusive. Some of the nurses I met were happy there, but quite a few felt belittled and infantalized by ACH's rewards program (they earn movie tickets and trinkets like they're in kindergarten). And move to a home very close to the hospital: they consider a tardy to be the same as an absence during your evaluation. Nurses have called in sick when accidents happen on the road due to this dumb policy. With the traffic, endless road construction and constant accidents in the Tampa area, this could be a big problem for some people.
The head of Tampa General just came to talk to us. She said their nurses average 13.4 hours a shift, and getting people out of work on time is a serious problem for them. Also,TGH is right on the water and floods easily during hurricanes/tropical storms and it's a nightmare to move patients to higher floors. If I worked there, I'd be very worried about my car during a storm, and the looters. You'll live there for two days or so during an emergency. The location is absolutely horrible, so I wouldn't recommend them at all.
Good luck applicants! You will not be competing with me, I'm leaving FL for new adventures.
I haven't. Their website said today they will be notifying those accepted into the cohort. Which means that those that they are notifying have probably already been interviewed. Seeing as how I never got a call or an interview I am not expecting anything from them.
Well word on the street is they only selected 5 people so don't take it too hard. I've learned finding a job is all about who you know and how much butt you can kiss
Yes I was so upset on Monday, I put so much time and energy into those interviews (and travel time since I'm not from Florida) BUT I'm keeping my head up, we'll all find our place :)
NewYorkerGirl
348 Posts
I completed my pediatric clinical at ACH. Get ready to work your tail off: it was by far the most exhausting clinical I had during my BSN. It is an amazing facility physically, but the pay is the worst for hospitals in the Tampa area because they get so many applicants. I would also avoid the ED night shift like the plague: the night nurses are downright abusive. Some of the nurses I met were happy there, but quite a few felt belittled and infantalized by ACH's rewards program (they earn movie tickets and trinkets like they're in kindergarten). And move to a home very close to the hospital: they consider a tardy to be the same as an absence during your evaluation. Nurses have called in sick when accidents happen on the road due to this dumb policy. With the traffic, endless road construction and constant accidents in the Tampa area, this could be a big problem for some people.
The head of Tampa General just came to talk to us. She said their nurses average 13.4 hours a shift, and getting people out of work on time is a serious problem for them. Also,TGH is right on the water and floods easily during hurricanes/tropical storms and it's a nightmare to move patients to higher floors. If I worked there, I'd be very worried about my car during a storm, and the looters. You'll live there for two days or so during an emergency. The location is absolutely horrible, so I wouldn't recommend them at all.
Good luck applicants! You will not be competing with me, I'm leaving FL for new adventures.