Children's National Medical Center Experience - Washington DC

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Hello Everyone!

I was recently offered a position at Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC in the Nurse Residency Program. I was curious if anyone currently (or previously) working in this hospital could tell me their experiences(culture, residency program, management, staffing, etc) and if they would recommend it for a new graduate. Specifically, the PICU but I would love to hear about experiences on any units. I was not able to shadow on the unit so I was hoping someone would have some insight ?

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Specializes in NICU.

Heyy!! I was offered position in the NICU starting April 18! When do you start? 
 

I don’t really have any experience with CNMC to share but I did ask my educator if I could come up for a tour and she let me come same day!! I was able to walk the unit, meet the other educator and manager, ask questions I didn’t ask during my interview, she gave me a run down of the unit and the orientation process, I got to meet 1 of new nurse that would be starting with me in my cohort! It already works there as a tech but is transitioning to a nurse!

 

it also helped that I currently work in another NICU in MD! So one of the nurses that use to work at my current job, started in the residency program at childrens! So I was able to reach out to her and ask a bunch of questions I wasn’t comfortable asking on the tour or during the interviewing! I also was able to find someone on here that just finished her orientation, and for every question I asked, she sent a longggg detailed explanation/ answer and I really appreciate her for that!… but search the boards and look! A lot of the nurses here are all about nurses helping nurses! 

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Hi!! I'm a soon to be new grad and got a job on the surgical care unit at Childrens!! Would love to meet some fellow new grads in the residency program this year ?

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On 3/12/2022 at 2:01 AM, Voiceofbeauty said:

Heyy!! I was offered position in the NICU starting April 18! When do you start? 
 

I don’t really have any experience with CNMC to share but I did ask my educator if I could come up for a tour and she let me come same day!! I was able to walk the unit, meet the other educator and manager, ask questions I didn’t ask during my interview, she gave me a run down of the unit and the orientation process, I got to meet 1 of new nurse that would be starting with me in my cohort! It already works there as a tech but is transitioning to a nurse!

 

it also helped that I currently work in another NICU in MD! So one of the nurses that use to work at my current job, started in the residency program at childrens! So I was able to reach out to her and ask a bunch of questions I wasn’t comfortable asking on the tour or during the interviewing! I also was able to find someone on here that just finished her orientation, and for every question I asked, she sent a longggg detailed explanation/ answer and I really appreciate her for that!… but search the boards and look! A lot of the nurses here are all about nurses helping nurses! 

Congratulations!! So glad to hear you got a job as well. I start on August 8th since I graduate in May (so ready to be DONE). I have seen some other posts on here about the NICU at Children's and it seems like a great unit. I'm pretty excited to do the cross-training there.  When did they start reaching out about onboarding and how was that process for you? 

On 3/24/2022 at 2:41 PM, bbnurserek said:

Hi!! I'm a soon to be new grad and got a job on the surgical care unit at Childrens!! Would love to meet some fellow new grads in the residency program this year ?

Congratulations!! When are you starting?  How was the interview process for you? Were you able to shadow the unit? 

 

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Specializes in NICU.
15 minutes ago, smm4392 said:

Congratulations!! So glad to hear you got a job as well. I start on August 8th since I graduate in May (so ready to be DONE). I have seen some other posts on here about the NICU at Children's and it seems like a great unit. I'm pretty excited to do the cross-training there.  When did they start reaching out about onboarding and how was that process for you? 

Congratulations!! When are you starting?  How was the interview process for you? Were you able to shadow the unit? 

 

Graduation is gonna be here before you know it! I graduated October 2020 and can’t believe it’s going on 2 years already!! Not to mention in May I’ll be officially 1 year as a nurse! Time really does fly when your having fun!! They started reaching out exactly 1 month before my start date… so I accepted my offer on February 4, and didn’t here anything until March 18 ?? the longest month and a half of my life! But once they did reach out, it was quick and easy! The hardest part was the pre employment physical because the place they send you is soooooo slow, I waited 2 hours just for my appointment to take 10 mins… the very last piece of onboarding was me getting them my NRP card which I was waiting to take at my old job. I did the April 5, and sent it in the same day! Now I’m just waiting on my orientation schedule 

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Specializes in NICU.

Hey! I actually volunteered at this hospital for a year and a half several years ago. I loved it. I have been a level IV NICU nurse for a year now at a different hospital. I recently went on three interviews at Children's National a month ago because I have always wanted to explore working with older kids. The hospital was not what I remembered. I personally did not feel like the environment was team oriented and it seemed very disorganized on the three units I went to. I also did not feel like the nurses were very friendly and lacked customer service skills. After shadowing for 2 hours on each unit, I realized that I did not like the culture of the hospital. I think that working at my current hospital really showed me what team work and support is. So now that I had a "taste of the good life," I have high expectations. I was offered jobs at Children's after I interviewed, but respectfully declined the offers.

You will be fine though and I don't think Children's is horrible. I just don't think it was the right place for me or what I was looking for.

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Specializes in NICU.
On 4/20/2022 at 2:04 AM, healthxo33 said:

Hey! I actually volunteered at this hospital for a year and a half several years ago. I loved it. I have been a level IV NICU nurse for a year now at a different hospital. I recently went on three interviews at Children's National a month ago because I have always wanted to explore working with older kids. The hospital was not what I remembered. I personally did not feel like the environment was team oriented and it seemed very disorganized on the three units I went to. I also did not feel like the nurses were very friendly and lacked customer service skills. After shadowing for 2 hours on each unit, I realized that I did not like the culture of the hospital. I think that working at my current hospital really showed me what team work and support is. So now that I had a "taste of the good life," I have high expectations. I was offered jobs at Children's after I interviewed, but respectfully declined the offers.

You will be fine though and I don't think Children's is horrible. I just don't think it was the right place for me or what I was looking for.

So I have been there for about a month, and completely get what you are saying! I came from another NICU as well and my expectations were also high and I was pretty let down by the environment on the night shift... so much so I was ready to quit... but being on the day shift, it was been extremely better and I know it will be much better once I’m off orientation and know how to do things the “Children’s” way

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