Children's Hospital Colorado Nurse Residency August 2021

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Hello Everyone,

I wanted to start this thread for those who applied to CHC Nurse Residency Program for August 2021. Good luck to everyone!

Just now, stephaileen said:

How'd the interviews go for you guys?  ?

Did they say anything about when you might get an offer or if there are any other steps in the selection process?

Hey!! Thanks for asking, they went really well:) the typical interview questions, nothing I didn’t prepare for! NICU said next step is for me to talk with day and night staff nurses (kinda like a second round interview) on the 16th! PICU and MedSurg were one interview with managers and educators from both units. That one went very well too!! I think in a week or two they said they’d let me know. No second round interview with them:) Good luck with your interview on the 16th!! You got this!!

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5 minutes ago, ekh10293 said:

Hey!! Thanks for asking, they went really well:) the typical interview questions, nothing I didn’t prepare for! NICU said next step is for me to talk with day and night staff nurses (kinda like a second round interview) on the 16th! PICU and MedSurg were one interview with managers and educators from both units. That one went very well too!! I think in a week or two they said they’d let me know. No second round interview with them:) Good luck with your interview on the 16th!! You got this!!

That’s awesome, I’m glad they both went well for you! Thanks so much for the info and good luck on the 16th to you too!

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The PICU at Colorado Springs called yesterday and offered me a position!! I’m big time taking it!

I’m not moving forward with the NICU or MedSurg since PICU is my top choice :,) I’m sooo pumped

 

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15 hours ago, ekh10293 said:

The PICU at Colorado Springs called yesterday and offered me a position!! I’m big time taking it!

I’m not moving forward with the NICU or MedSurg since PICU is my top choice :,) I’m sooo pumped

 

YAY Congratulations! 

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On 5/27/2021 at 4:04 PM, Trinity2659 said:

I just got an email for an interview for a position on the medical unit at Anschutz

How was the interview? I got an interview offer with them too

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I got an offer for the Emergency Dept. in Colorado Springs! I'm so excited and can't wait to start!

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On 6/27/2021 at 8:01 PM, stephaileen said:

I got an offer for the Emergency Dept. in Colorado Springs! I'm so excited and can't wait to start!

Congrats!! I'm looking to apply to this program after I'm done with my ABSN program in December. I'm wondering if you guys could shed some light on what your previous experience was. Did you have previous hospital experience and did you have previous pediatric experience? I am just wondering what they look for on paper for candidates to get an interview. 

On 6/12/2021 at 7:27 PM, ekh10293 said:

The PICU at Colorado Springs called yesterday and offered me a position!! I’m big time taking it!

I’m not moving forward with the NICU or MedSurg since PICU is my top choice :,) I’m sooo pumped

 

So excited for you! Could you share some of your previous experience with me? I really would love to get an interview for this program and want to know what kind of experience they are looking for. 

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@eliz32

Thank you and of course! I did my final semester preceptorship during my ABSN in a level 2 emergency department at another pediatric hospital (out of state), and I also did research working with preschool children with developmental delays during my first bachelor's. That's probably the most relevant experience I had, along with some unpaid hospital volunteering and being a Summer camp counselor.

While I can't speak for the hiring manager(s) or anyone, I'd recommend focusing less on the specific jobs you had and more on what you learned from those roles or what attitudes/values/skills you demonstrated during the experience. Any customer service job or job working with kids (really any job or internship) can be valuable for experience and relevant life lessons. In my supplemental application, I really tried to convey the kind of person I am and how much/why I love nursing, pediatrics, and emergency dept. I think it's more important to show why you're passionate and what you value, and the supplemental really gives a space to show that. Of course they want skills and experience too, but it's a new grad position during COVID so they know we don't have years of nursing experience. 

Good luck with the rest of your ABSN and on your residency applications!!

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56 minutes ago, eliz32 said:

Congrats!! I'm looking to apply to this program after I'm done with my ABSN program in December. I'm wondering if you guys could shed some light on what your previous experience was. Did you have previous hospital experience and did you have previous pediatric experience? I am just wondering what they look for on paper for candidates to get an interview. 

So excited for you! Could you share some of your previous experience with me? I really would love to get an interview for this program and want to know what kind of experience they are looking for. 

Hi friend! That’s so exciting— you’re almost a nurse!! Keep chugging along, graduation is RIGHT around the corner:)

For background, I got job offers in the PICU and NICU at the COS location, but no interview offers at all for the anschutz location.

I gotta say, @stephaileen summed it up very well— it doesn’t seem to matter *quite* as much how much peds experience you have, but how you convey its significance to your passions and why CHCO!! I personally worked as a student nurse extern in the PICU at children’s hospital of Michigan for 2 years, which I’m sure helped a bit, but what mattered more imo was pulling experiences and scenarios from that PICU externship to show what kind of a person I am and what kind of a nurse I’ll be. I also babysat practically my whole life and worked as a CNA with retired priests (not peds at all!!) and pulled experiences from those in my supplemental app. The supplemental app is on CHCO’s website right now and it’s the same each year, so you can definitely get started on it early and just keep proof reading it in months to come.

Let me know what else I can do to help you!! 

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@stephaileen @ekh10293 Thank you both so much for the replies!! This is super helpful information! I will definitely get started on the supplemental so that I have plenty of time to revise. Did you both take the NCLEX in CO or did you guys take the NCLEX in your home states and then just transfer your license to CO? I'm set on moving to CO when I graduate so I was thinking about just trying to take the NCLEX there. 

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Just now, eliz32 said:

@stephaileen @ekh10293 Thank you both so much for the replies!! This is super helpful information! I will definitely get started on the supplemental so that I have plenty of time to revise. Did you both take the NCLEX in CO or did you guys take the NCLEX in your home states and then just transfer your license to CO? I'm set on moving to CO when I graduate so I was thinking about just trying to take the NCLEX there. 

You’re welcome!! I took the NCLEX in Michigan but chose the state for my license to be Colorado. This was before I even applied and was a rather ballsy move for me because if I got denied I’d have to transfer my license to whatever state I’d end up being at. Michigan isn’t a compact state so I couldn’t apply for a compact license either. I did this to show them I’m committed to relocating and that I really mean it when I say CHCO is my top choice hospital. As an out of state candidate, I was also trying to stand out considering they mostly take in state students who worked at CHCO as CNAs or did their senior preceptorship there. I feel like it also was a good talking point in the interview because I could confidently say “yeah I’m already a registered nurse in the state of Colorado” and they didn’t have to worry about me being a risk in re: to failing NCLEX and having to retake it or transfer licenses. If you can, I suggest registering for your Colorado license! It’s great info for your cover letter/resume to stand out as well, especially if you’re an out of stater like me!!

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