Icu orientatations for new grads?

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Does anyone know of any hospitals that offer great orientations prog for new grad in the Icu, specifically in NJ,DE,MD,VA,PA?

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Hi. After graduating from nursing school, I took a position at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Their orientation lasts between 4-6 months, which consists of classroom instruction as well as a small group of preceptors. I had friends from school that started in the Cardiothoracic ICU and the Neuro ICU, and none of us felt as though nursing school really prepared us for the challenge. I started the SICU with 4 other people in my class and only 2 others and myself made it through orientation. Don't let this scare you, however, as I gained some incredible experience and gave me a leg up on the competitive application process for anesthesia school. If you want it, you can do it. Good Luck!

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immediately after graduation i started the sicu "new grad fellowship program" at the washington hospital center in d.c. it was about 3-4 months in length too. in the beginning, it's only classroom & learning, w/ tests pretty often. i have to admit it was rigorous, since i had absolutely no prior knowledge about critical care nursing. (i felt like i was back in school!) they slowly transition you into the clinical setting, to the unit you're hired on. you work w/ 1-3 preceptors & work days & nights. by the end, you're just doing clinicals & your preceptor lets you handle most of the work, until you're ready to get off orientation. you even get a 2 week experience at the cardiovascular recovery room, which i thought was invaluable.

i started there & i'm still there after 4.5 yrs.

they're very supportive & good about self evaluations & preceptor evaluations.

i believe i had one of the best preceptors. he's now a crna & ended up writing a recommendation letter for me for crna school, which i got in! good luck!!

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that's wonderful that you've been accepted to crna school. i see ur in maryland, i'm actually in nj but i was thinking about moving to maryland once i graduate nursing school especially if a hospital is going to offer me an intensive orientation in to icu. are u comfortable in the icu now after all these years? just out of curiosity are u a female or male?

immediately after graduation i started the sicu "new grad fellowship program" at the washington hospital center in d.c. it was about 3-4 months in length too. in the beginning, it's only classroom & learning, w/ tests pretty often. i have to admit it was rigorous, since i had absolutely no prior knowledge about critical care nursing. (i felt like i was back in school!) they slowly transition you into the clinical setting, to the unit you're hired on. you work w/ 1-3 preceptors & work days & nights. by the end, you're just doing clinicals & your preceptor lets you handle most of the work, until you're ready to get off orientation. you even get a 2 week experience at the cardiovascular recovery room, which i thought was invaluable.

i started there & i'm still there after 4.5 yrs.

they're very supportive & good about self evaluations & preceptor evaluations.

i believe i had one of the best preceptors. he's now a crna & ended up writing a recommendation letter for me for crna school, which i got in! good luck!!

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yes, after 4.5 years i'm defininitely comfortable there. about after a year off orientation, i became "just comfortable & familiarized" working on the unit, but you still have many things to learn. the couple of years after that, you strengthen your icu nursing skills, become for familiar w/ certain patient populations & what to expect (complications, etc). i would say that now i am one of the more "experienced" nurses, although certainly not senior. oh, & i'm female. if you have more questions about my hospital & the program, feel free to email me: [email protected].

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I Just Went To Washington Hospital Center's Website And I Must Say I Am Very Impressed, They Seem Really Organized And Serious About Orienting New Grads, That Is Very Comforting. This Will Definitely Be A Place That I Will Consider When Applying For My First Job. Can U Believe That Where I Live No One Really Hires New Grads Out Of School And If They Do It Is Not As Thourough As Washington Sounds. So I'm Willing To Move Out Of Nj For It, I Think It's Worth It. Are U Considering Crna And If So What Schools Are U Interested In?

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I apologize I do see that u got into Crna school. CONGRATS!! Where did u get in at and when do u start?

I Just Went To Washington Hospital Center's Website And I Must Say I Am Very Impressed, They Seem Really Organized And Serious About Orienting New Grads, That Is Very Comforting. This Will Definitely Be A Place That I Will Consider When Applying For My First Job. Can U Believe That Where I Live No One Really Hires New Grads Out Of School And If They Do It Is Not As Thourough As Washington Sounds. So I'm Willing To Move Out Of Nj For It, I Think It's Worth It. Are U Considering Crna And If So What Schools Are U Interested In?
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i got into georgetown & i will interview at umab next month (i just applied to those 2). i'll be starting this fall (woohoo :rotfl: )

also, the reasons why a certain hospital may be more open to new grads entering sicus & critical care units may be because: 1) there's simply a high demand 2) it's a large teaching hospital w/ multiple critical care units not just one 3) it's in a urban location/city where there's competition w/ other hospitals.

in my opinion, in some ways it's much easier for a new grad to become an excellent critical care nurse. since you start nursing there, you begin to think like a icu nurse, which is very different from a floor nurse (i know, because i float to floors on occasion). sometimes, when floor nurses transition into icu nursing, it's very hard for them to change that mentality. sorry if this is too much info! :uhoh21:

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Specializes in Neurology, Cardiology.

Was just wondering...is it possible for RN's to get into a program such as this one in Maryland, or do they look for BSNs only.

I have a BSBA (marketing) and am working toward a BSN, but the first milestone will be an RN. Just wondering...does anyone know?

Darlene

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with regards to umab, it says the admission requirements for master's applicants is a "baccalaureate degree with an upper division nursing major from an nlnac-accredited program" as well as "current licensure for the practice of nursing in at least one state in the u.s."

check out this thread also: https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95397

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Does anyone know of any hospitals that offer great orientations prog for new grad in the Icu, specifically in NJ,DE,MD,VA,PA?

Skysthelimit,

Did you investigate RWJ or Cooper Hospital? What kind of ICU orientation are they suppose to have?

Classicaldreams

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Specializes in Critical Care, ER.
with regards to umab, it says the admission requirements for master's applicants is a "baccalaureate degree with an upper division nursing major from an nlnac-accredited program" as well as "current licensure for the practice of nursing in at least one state in the u.s."

check out this thread also: https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95397

just curious, what unit are you on? i work on 4g!

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