Children's Hospital Info

Specialties PICU

Published

Specializes in Pediatrics & Telemetry.

Has anyone worked for Children's Medical Center Dallas in their PICU? If so how different are the PICUs between the Plano & Dallas locations and the acuity of patients they see? Also would love to hear feedback on just working for the company in general. Thanks in advance for any input.

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I'm actually considering traveling there this January! Any input is helpful!

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I will be working in the PICU at Children's Dallas come February so I will keep you up to date

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I am also interested in the PICU at CMC but for the July 2016 cohort. Bent1993, I look forward to hearing about your experiences there.

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

I worked there in the PICU a few years ago (CMCD). I loved it. I started in an internship that lasted about 6mos. You learn soooo much. At that campus, you float between all 4 ICU's, while you have a home base (mine was PICU). At that time to work at Plano, you needed 2 years PICU experience. More tenured nurses who would PRN in Plano said it wasn't the same acuity; the kinda did it cuz it was a brake. A lot has changed since then, so I can't tell you how it is now, but it was a great experience for sure.

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Thank you so much for that information! I was curious how the 4 ICUs worked. I know they have a PICU, CICU, NICU, and then a trauma ICU. They have a level II PICU, right? Is that just like a step-down unit? Do you float between all 4 ICU's for just the residency, or indefinitely? I love that you can float around, because as a new nurse, I want to learn everything haha.

Are you saying Plano or Dallas has the higher acuity conditions? I figured Dallas would, since it also has a Level 1 trauma center and it's the main campus.

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

Yes, I worked at the Dallas location. It was a level 1 PICU, not sure about Plano. During nurse residency, you have a boat load of classes mixed with floor work. Some weeks were 40-44 hrs. Be prepared for intense sim-labs, EEG classes, and a bunch of mandatory online modules. There was also a progress book that we each had that stayed on the unit to track our progress. Most orientation is done on your home unit. We floated to the other units for orientation as well. And sometimes you'd come in thinking you were precepting on your home unit, and your preceptor got floated...gotta learn to roll with it. There was lots of ECMO and CVVH when I was there. There are mandatory day and night shifts at least during the residency so you can see what happens on both shifts. And not everyone got out of orientation at the same time (as to be expected). The educators and preceptors were awesome. I hope you enjoy it.

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Very cool! I hope I am able to practice there.

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Do any of you know about the residency program start dates? I was aware of February and July but I saw a listening on their website for a May 2016 internship. Is this a mistake or do they really offer a May start?

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Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

I wouldn't assume it's an error. Their start dates can change. When I did their residency, it was a September start date.

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Cool! I applied as soon as a I saw it! I was skeptical since the staff I've been talking to have only ever mentioned February and July. Thanks for letting me know. [emoji4][emoji295]️

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Hi everyone!

I plan on applying to CMC-Dallas for the summer 2016 residency. Does anyone know who I can address my cover letter to? I am hoping to get into the NICU!

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