Cook Childrens Winter Plan 2019

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

Hi all!
I am a Med-Surg/tele nurse with 5 years of experience. Currently, I work part time at a wonderful unit that I have no interest in leaving at this time. I work exclusively Friday/Saturdays (although I might could switch this to some other days, possibly).

My husband is self-emplyed and his work slows down considerably in the winter, so I was thinking of some options to kind of pick up the slack. I've heard of the Cooks winter plan, and I was able to find an old job listing for it from a few years ago, and it looks like it would work well for us, except that it doesn't start until October, at least the listing that I saw.

I just have a few questions for those that have done this:

When is the earliest that you can begin and how long does it last?

Do you have to work weekends? Or would they accept a Monday/Tuesday?

Is switching from adults to pediatrics doable? Or was it really stressful for you?

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

You might get more traffic in the Texas forum.

I just googled it out of curiosity, and several of the jobs cite that you have to have at least two years of peds or ICU/ed experience. There's a real chance that they won't even consider your application without a peds background (much like typical PRN jobs or travel positions that require 2+ years of related experience); even if they do make you an offer, I'd make absolutely certain that you're getting a thorough orientation. Peds patients aren't just tiny adults, and they can 'fall off the cliff' and decompensate way faster than adults do (case and point, I had a kiddo last week who was snuggling in bed with her mom one minute and getting compressions two minutes later). Especially if you don't have PALS, doing PRN work in peds may not be a safe choice.

As far as scheduling and start dates, the best people to answer that question will be managers and HR, so you'll probably get more info by reaching out to them directly.

Have you considered agency work? It's basically the same concept, but you could work with your own population. You could see if other hospitals in your area are hiring PRN. Do you float to other units through your current job? You could reach out to managers on those units to see if you could pick up extra shifts when they're short.

[tama18, BSN]

Try Children's in Dallas too. They have multiple kinds of winter plans available. CRT (Clinical Resource Team AKA float pool) acute and critical care. Sounds like the acute care track would be better for you. I've been told their winter plan pays like $55/hour. I currently work as a nurse for Children's at their Our Children's House inpatient rehab and pulmonary facility. Children's is an awesome organization. In the next year I am planning on applying to CRT. I hear great things about it and am interested in all the different kinds of exposure and experience it would give.