Thank you in advance for your help... this is a long post and I appreciate your HONEST and experienced answers. :)
Okay here goes... I am graduating nursing school in May and have an interview on Friday at a big children's hospital in my home state. I am really interested in working here but am trying not to get my hopes up too much.
My questions are:
Is it going to be a major drawback that I have not had a LOT of pediatric clinical experience? I have worked with children some in other ways and I love kids, but have not in nursing much- our clinicals in Peds were short, and an externship I applied for put me on an adult unit... etc. etc. I am going to have my specialty rotation (April-May) in a Shriners pediatrics hospital, so I will get more experience but I don't have it right now. I did love our Peds rotation. And I got some great care from nurses when I was a kid which is a lot of why I want to do pediatrics. I just don't know how to approach if they ask about my limited peds experience.
Also... what are some questions specific to a children's hospital that I should be prepared for? I know this may seem an obvious question to some of you, but I am not that great at interviews and want to be totally prepared... at least as much as possible!
I thank you in advance for your answers... you are awesome. :Melody:
I just had my interview today as well for a pediatric nursing position (due to graduate in May!). Its a unit I work on already as a nursing assistant (cardiac/trach/med-surg overflow) with a 2-4 patient/nurse ratio and I was very nervous about it all. Their responses to my answers were encouraging but I still have that bit of doubt in my mind. They told me they will be making their decision in April (they're interviewing 6 new grads for ? positions)...its going to be a very nerve wracking time! Hopefully I will have some good news to report as well!
Again, congrats on your new job!
Congratulations to you too!! GOOD LUCK and let us know what happens! I am eager to hear about all the other folks who have worked so hard and graduating FINALLY this spring! Take care, we can make it... :)
Good luck to you!! It sounds like you really want the job and I am sure that will show through to the people interviewing you! Let us know how it goes, take care! :)
And hey FarmRN2B!!! Congratulations, a little belatedly- you rock!! That is really exciting! We will have to keep each other posted on how the jobs turn out to be!
your advice really helped me out in my interview! :) :) :)
take care!
This is late...but just stumbled upon this post. Congratulations to you. It's so nice to be able to get the job you truely want right out of school. I was afraid I would have to do the "mandatory" 1 year of med-surg. I already worked as a nurse aide 4 years on a tele/medsurg floor and was ready to move on. Anyway CONGRATS to you, hope you love your job! You sound like your going to be a very dedicated nurse!
Well I did 2 interviews today with 2 different ped's hospitals and I feel good about both of them. They both told me that I should hear something in about 2 weeks. I can't wait for the response!!! Thanks everyone for the support.
Well just a quick update. I got the job. I will be working in St. Joseph's Childrens hospital starting May 9th. I am so excited I will be able to work in pediatrics. I did my practicum in peds and loved every minute of it.
congratulations john! wow, you are starting soon- good luck! let us know how it goes! we will be eager to hear all about it, to know what to expect... :)
Just wanted to update, and also hear from all the other new peds nurses out there.
I finished the classroom part of my orientation today, then have some teaching on my unit next week and the week after that start having "real patients" with a preceptor. This hospital seems to be an incredible place to work. Many of the other new nurses seem so great too. They really support us and have worked so hard to make our orientation beneficial and positive. I am excited although a bit nervous about actually having patients.
Anyway, enough about me, how are the rest of you doing? :)
I just finished up the the classroom portion of my orientation on Wednesday and tomorrow is my first real day on the floor w/my preceptor. I decided to stay on the same unit that I worked on as a NA during school so I know almost everybody up there. I've been hearing lots of "congratulations!" from everybody. For some reason it makes me feel king of weird to hear it; I think that reality is still sinking in!
I'm really nervous about tomorrow; I hope that I don't look stupid. Its been 2 months since the last time I touched a patient and Peds is a whole new ballpark compared to adults (where most of my education was concentrated). I still have lots of classes mixed in with my orientation for the next 12 weeks so I guess I'll catch some breaks there!
perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN
1,016 Posts
Congratulations to you too!! GOOD LUCK and let us know what happens! I am eager to hear about all the other folks who have worked so hard and graduating FINALLY this spring! Take care, we can make it... :)