Pediatric New Graduate Internship Programs?

xstarsfallingx · Jun 24, 2011

Personally I would recommend any hospital that has a Versant Residency program. There are several childrens hospitals in California that do. Without your location, it is difficult to recommend...unless relocation is not an issue.

gkvegan, MSN · Jun 24, 2011

I am in the DC area. I know Children's National Medical Center as one, which I am going to apply for. I am not tied to the area and relocation is an option. So I would like to apply to as many programs as possible.

A&OxNone, MSN, RN · Jun 25, 2011

Check out Children's Hospital of Atlanta! It's one of the best children's hospitals in the country for several specialties, plus the benefits are awesome. It's 3 children's hospitals in Atlanta in one organization. I know they have a new nurse program, but they may only do it in the summer? It is really awesome though - would probably be worth the wait.

www.choa.org

cindyloowho · Jun 27, 2011

http://WWW.phoenixchildrens.com

elizanne · Jun 27, 2011

Check out Children's Hospital of Atlanta! It's one of the best children's hospitals in the country for several specialties, plus the benefits are awesome. It's 3 children's hospitals in Atlanta in one organization. I know they have a new nurse program, but they may only do it in the summer? It is really awesome though - would probably be worth the wait.
www.choa.org

CHOA's big hiring times for new grads (per the nursing recruiter) are around October and March each year, a few months before most students graduate. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship that comes with a new grad residency, so I'll be starting after December 2011 graduation. If you have any questions about the interview process and all that, PM and I'll tell you what I know. Good luck!

GenieSofia · Jul 7, 2011

Also check out Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and Boston Childrens.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2011

Hershey Medical Center has a residency program and one of the tracks is pediatrics.

MeganNYRN · Jul 18, 2011

CHOP(in Philly) is a terrific hospital with a new grad program but its tough to get in without doing an externship or clinical there. NYU Langone medical center has a general peds floor and PICU with a nurse residency program for new grads. Good Luck!

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2011

I am in the DC area. I know Children's National Medical Center as one, which I am going to apply for. I am not tied to the area and relocation is an option. So I would like to apply to as many programs as possible.

Children's National Med Center does have a program, but I would not recommend going there. While their acute care and ICU ratios are amazing (1:3 for med-surg), the nurses are very dissatisfied, there is a constant turn over, and very little support from management. I worked there briefly, and my floor had 20 RN's quit in a 6 month period, which is normal.

I would recommend seeing if John Hopkins has a program. Also, Georgetown will start their new grads in the summer, but they also have a great peds program, including the only peds transplant program in the area. Fairfax Hospital in NOVA has a 200 bed pediatric hospital including hem/onc, PICU, and a cardiac step-down unit, but they have eliminated their new grad internship programs.

If you are willing to relocate, I highly recommend looking at CHOP in Philly.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 18, 2011

Don't limit yourself to only those hospitals that you the phrases, "Residency" or "Internship." A lot of hospitals offer excellent orientation programs for new grads but don't use that terminology. In fact, I don't know of any children's hospitals that don't have a suitable orientation/transition program for new grads. Start visiting the websites of hospitals in areas where you would like to live and look at their descriptions of their programs.

And don't be fooled by fancy marketing and/or "fashionable" terminology. Sometimes, hospitals will use words such as "residency" or "internship" to describe programs that are horrible. They have good marketing, but lousy programs.

You have to look at the details of the actual programs to know whether and orientation program is what you are looking for or not.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2011

Don't limit yourself to only those hospitals that you the phrases, "Residency" or "Internship." A lot of hospitals offer excellent orientation programs for new grads but don't use that terminology. In fact, I don't know of any children's hospitals that don't have a suitable orientation/transition program for new grads. Start visiting the websites of hospitals in areas where you would like to live and look at their descriptions of their programs.
And don't be fooled by fancy marketing and/or "fashionable" terminology. Sometimes, hospitals will use words such as "residency" or "internship" to describe programs that are horrible. They have good marketing, but lousy programs.
You have to look at the details of the actual programs to know whether and orientation program is what you are looking for or not.

Agreed. My hospital offers an unadvertized "residency" component and it's....mostly a pain in the butt (like, return of group projects from nursing school, mess up your schedule because sometimes you get out early and lose hours, rather be on the floor pain). I got an extensive on unit orientation with an excellent preceptor, had the opportunity to extend my orientation if needed, got PALS and PEARS, have gone to unit-specific continuing ed lectures provided by the hospital, and work with a very supportive staff and management. The residency at my hospital is new so maybe in a few rounds of new grads it will be fantastic and flashy and super awesome, but at this point....I feel like I'd probably be just fine with the regular orientation they've previously offered to new grads. But definitely don't limit yourself to residency programs if you're already limiting yourself to a specialty (peds) PARTICULARLY in this economy.