Phoenix Children's Hospital New Grad Program (GAPP) Summer 2011

Nurses New Nurse

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This thread is for anyone applying to the Phoenix Children's Hospital Graduate Advancement Program in Pediatrics (GAPP) which is scheduled to start in July 2011. :nurse:

Has anyone applied or heard anything yet? My application still says HR is reviewing it.

Are there any current or past GAPP graduates out there that can give some advice to us hopeful new grads?!

Good luck to all those applying to this program. The job market is harsh right now for new grads.

Hey everybody,

Just found the thread the other day and thought I would share my experience applying for the GAPP program. I had an interview on May 27th with both Med/Surg and PICU/CVICU/ER. The gal on the phone was asking me to pick one or the other, but I honestly had an interest in both areas so I managed to snag a double interview. Both interview panels were extremely kind and easy to talk to. After what seemed like a light year and a half I got a call from a recruiter yesterday around 11am offering me a position in either the PICU or CVICU. I accepted the PICU position this morning (hopefully one of you gets the CVICU call!) and am extremely excited to start/meet all of you in a month. Best of luck to everyone still waiting! Stay strong and positive, your call will come! :cool:

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Hey guys!! I was also offered my choice of PICU or CVICU... I chose CVICU!! YAAAY I'm so excited to start... now only to pass the NCLEX! :coollook:

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Congrats, you two! I'm excited and looking forward to meeting you all. Anyone else get word?

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congrats everyone! did they tell you the exact start date of the program???? also, when are all of you taking your NCLEX?

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Yup they said we start July 11th. I'm taking NCLEX June 17th... and frankly, I'm terrified!! But I just keep thinking positive thoughts :)

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I took NCLEX earlier this year. It really was no big deal!

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Yep July 11th is the first day. Should be getting some pre-employment stuff via email in the next few weeks. I took the NCLEX back in April. Best advice is to do as many practice questions as possible. I ended up using 3 different resources for test questions (I would highly recommend using Kaplans book to learn how to tackle each type of question). Stay positive! My question seemed so hard and it shut off very early so I thought I failed. Also check the AZ board of nursing website for results rather than pay for the early results. I paid for mine the 48 hours after and received my license in the mail later that day :p

Good luck everyone on your test!

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Congrats to everyone who applied and received a job! I am graduating from school in August and want to apply for the next new grad wave. I have had a terrible time even locating where I would apply or anything! Any advice or direction on where that information might be? I didn't see a link to it from the hospital career page. Thanks!

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Congrats to everyone who applied and received a job! I am graduating from school in August and want to apply for the next new grad wave. I have had a terrible time even locating where I would apply or anything! Any advice or direction on where that information might be? I didn't see a link to it from the hospital career page. Thanks!

UofA, the job will show up in the "Open Positions" page once listed. It will be under a "patient care:nursing" category and ours was listed as something like GAPP and new graduate nurse, etc. I have found that HR tends to be tight lipped about when and for how long the positions fly, so my best bit of advice is to start checking the open positions page EVERY SINGLE day from now on!

I don't think that one will be flown for the next few months, but you should get in the habit of checking now because while ours was up for a few weeks, I know that that time fram may differ from each session. I actually was a part of a new grad program at another facility and that position was only listed for 3 days total. So some people didn't know that and even though they saw it one day, they figured they'd fill out the application a few days later after they got their resume cleaned up...and voila..gone:crying2:. Get your resume and letters of rec ready to go, and check every day for a posting. Good luck :D.

I had actually been checking every day for months, but then kinda got out of habit and gave up for a month or so. And then one day I checked, and you don't even know how lucky I feel that I did because look at me now...I'm soon to be a PCH nurse!!! :yeah:

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Also, this is just a side note, but once you apply, answer every phone call! I know of at least two people from my program who missed the call from the recruiter and by the time they returned it I think all of the interviews had been scheduled. Now they have been leaving messages for the recruiter and aren't getting a call back and it seems as the positions have been filled. It I usually don't answer unknown numbers but something told me to answer this one and I'm so glad I did. Once they move on this I think they move to fill positions FAST.

As for being notified. I had created a search on the Job Search engine indeed for "new grad RN" and had them emailing daily with alerts. Unfortunately this gets you a ton of job listings that are not really new grad jobs, but I looked at them every day anyway just in case and that is how I was notified that the GAPP program had opened up. I think Cindy's advice is sound though, I was also manually checking each hospital system's employment sites every second or third day starting about two months prior to graduation. I feel like the stars were truly aligned for me to get this position as I have amazing classmates who missed out for various reasons.

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Also become a fan of PCH facebook page. That's actually where I first saw mention of when new info on the GAPP program would be coming and also when they finally posted the positions. It's a great resource and also a way for the HR department to get to know you a bit before you apply. You can also catch wind of social functions like nurse's night or job fairs and meet with recruiters.

Other than that I think Mayo and Abrazo healthcare also have New Grad programs open to external applicants. Places like Scottsdale Health and CHW tend to hire internally for new grad programs from what I can tell. Good luck!

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Wow! This is the first time I've ever used this site and the feedback was so quick and great! Thank you!

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