Emory vs Piedmont Hospital for New Grad

maryland88 · Mar 1, 2011

Has anyone had an experience as a new grad at either of these hospitals? I want to get an idea of how the working environment is and education for new grads. Also, does anyone know how much they pay?

oh I wish someone would answer this question...

optimusRN · Mar 2, 2011

Me too. I want to know how comparable these facilities are.

gracieD · Mar 3, 2011

I can only speak to conditions/pay at Piedmont, and the Critical Care Program at that - they only hire new graduates into their residency program which is described in detail on their website. Side note, they also hire nurses with experience who work on other floors who want to transfer into one of the ICUs, so it is not all new graduates in the program.

The Critical Care Program is five months long and involves rotation through five ICUs so you are able to gain experience in both Med/Surg ICUs and Cardiac ICUs. The preceptors are great, nearly all of them have been through the residency themselves (the program has been around for a long time!). Most nurses and I'd say ALL of the charge nurses are awesome and very supportive and available, in addition to your preceptor. You start just taking one patient and work up to taking two as you progress through the program. About half way through your five months of orientation you'll find out what unit you are going to be placed on - everyone starts on the night shift. The starting pay is $23.22, plus differentials (evening - $3.50, night - $4.50, weekend $2.94), which I think is probably near the top for Atlanta-area hospitals.

There are mini classes taught by MDs about common conditions seen in the ICU - ARDS, shock, sepsis, etc. They are great for getting up to speed on the rationale behind all of the protocols that are followed for treatment of these conditions. They also allow you to get to know the MDs a little better. I'd also like to mention that Piedmont utilizes an 'intensivist' approach in the ICU - they have an adequate, dedicated staff of critical care physicians and mid-levels that are available and on-site 24-7. Since I've never worked at another ICU I'm not sure if this is a common practice, but it makes getting someone to see your patient or getting orders pretty easy.

The program also requires completion of ECCO ( ECCO ), which is a comprehensive body-system-based review of anatomy and pathophysiology of common ICU issues. It was developed by the AACN, is computer based, and is worth a whopping 90-some hours of CE credits - and no it didn't take me 90 hours to complete but it did take about 2 months - it is definitely an endeavor.

Overall, I am very happy with Piedmont and the Residency program - it isn't easy and the expectations are very high, but there are a lot of resources to take advantage of if you have the motivation and the time to put into it.

optimusRN · Mar 3, 2011

Wow thanks for the response! Sounds like a really good program. I never heard anything from them about their critical care residency even though my application says forwarded to manager. Ill keep them in mind after I get some experience.

jallen12 · Aug 10, 2011

Thanks alot GracieD! Anyone from Emory who can compare?... Difficulty to get in, pay, etc? It says on the site a 3.0 is required but as well all know some places really require higher due to high volume of applicants... Any info is appreciated!!

(And GracieD how difficult was it for you to get into Piedmont's residency?)

-Jared

csweetooth · Aug 11, 2011

Update on Piedmont pay:

The new grads that started this month are getting $23.55 per hour. Piedmont has adjusted their extra pay for nurses to $3.50 evening $4.50 night and $4.00 weekends.

For now ICU is not hiring new grads due to the decrease in the program months from 5 to 3 months.

MedicMommy · Aug 14, 2011

i LOVE piedmont atlanta....LOVE IT. have a lot of experience with the ER and from what i've seen they are my tops - i'm only consider AMC to work level 1 trauma team

sunny314 · Sep 10, 2011

I just received an offer for Piedmont's critical care residency program. I am very excited and have a few questions. As the pp stated, the residency program was cut from 5 to 3 months. What was eliminated? Also, on the website it states that we will rotate through all of the icu's as part of the residency program will this still happen? With the offer I was already assigned a unit, does this mean that I will only get to orient to this unit as opposed to rotating through all of the icu's as listed on the website.

Thanks in advance for your response

csweetooth · Sep 10, 2011

Congrats! Usually you are not given a unit and the decison is made half way during the program. I believe you will still rotate. The change is made to the amount of classes you will take during orientation. Some classes you wiL take when you're on you're own to save time. What unit did you get? When is your start date? Are you a new grad?

sunny314 · Sep 10, 2011

I was told that my unit was 5G. I asked HR if that was the final decision and she said yes. I was pretty confused. I hoped to rotate through all of the units as indicated on the website. They are unsure of the start date either 9/26 or 10/10. I'm super confused. Have you already completed the residency? What shifts did you usually work. What is your overall opinion of the hospital? How are the benefits? Thanks!

csweetooth · Sep 10, 2011

Hey

There's no 5G she must have meant 5E. That's an intermediate med surg ICU. I got into the CV program & I have been waiting for them to hire you guys so we can all start together. The HR is suppose to send you an offer letter detailing your income, contract, & etc... You will have to comme in to sign it before starting. 2nd day of general nurse orientation you will learn about benefits. Congrats again!