Illinois Masonic RN residency

[BelleP]

Hello all. I looked at the site for RN residency information and I know that it is now open for applications for the February cohort. I would love to apply for this but I won't have my license by the deadline (I graduate December of this year). My question would be...are there any other cohorts after the February one? Has anyone been through the process? Thanks again!

[Wildflower8 RN, CCRN]

There is a July cohort and a August/September cohort. Why do you think you cannot get your license by the deadline? I was in one of the previous Feb. cohorts, graduated at the end of December, took my NCLEX at the end of Jan, then started the residency a week into Feb.

[BelleP]

The last class before mine had a tough time scheduling their board exams. I would love to apply for this for the February cohort. December 17th is my last day and I am hoping to take the boards as soon as they will allow us to take it. Do you have any tips for me?

[simvee]

One of Masonic's sister Advocate hospitals has serial residency programs, like two a year. It's a new thing but I think Masonic's doing the same thing.

[Wildflower8 RN, CCRN]

BelleP,

I think you should go ahead and apply for the Feb. cohort, if you get accepted then you will probably know right before or around the same time you are supposed to graduate. Once you get your ATT, schedule your NCLEX asap because if you don't take it and pass it before the start date in Feb., you will lose the job. If this happens, you can still try to apply for the other two cohorts but there is no guarantee that you will get offered a position again. I don't have much advice for how to get your stuff processed quickly because that is based on the school you attend and how fast they submit your materials to make you eligible to take NCLEX. Maybe you can have a discussion with your dean and see what he/she says about how fast they send in your stuff. Jobs in Chicago aren't so easy to come by for new grads so take every opportunity you can get. I think the residency program at Masonic is a really good program to go through and I am glad I got to do it. Best of luck to you!

[BelleP]

Thanks! And yes, the situation isn't all that promising here either, but oh well.

[MedOncIllinoisRN]

I won't be looking for nurse residency programs until summer of 2012, but if one of you could post a link to the residency program information, that would be great. I tried looking for information about it on Illinois Masonic's site, but didn't see anything.