stell917

Really not a problem rn_to_be07! I wish you the best of luck!! As far as tracks, I think they'll email those who were specifically chosen for "special" tracks like critical care, L&D, and cardiac sometime before the start date. I don't think anyone knew the day of the interview. At least that's how they did it for our group!

Yeah, you don't get to pick a track unfortunately. When you interview, really emphasize that you're interested in critical care. They tend to mostly hire techs who have already been working in the ICU for the critical care track, but I know in my cohort they chose some more who hadn't. It depends on how many openings they have. The majority are put on the med/surg track so just make it really clear you want to do critical care and that's your best shot.

They do offer right on the spot for the residency program. I didn't even wait 5 minutes before someone from HR came to me and said I had been offered. There's a good mix of in and out of state, so that's not really a factor. I also didn't have any work experience as a CNA or anything. It's honestly really easy to get hired here. You can accept the job without signing the contract, but tread carefully. Someone was walking around saying the people who wanted to "think about it" clearly weren't committed and there were other people who wanted to take their place. I think they give you a couple days tops to think about it. But it won't go into effect until the start date. Just be really, really careful. The culture at this hospital is not good right now. Once you complete your 15 weeks of rotations you're basically on your own. Don't expect to have much support unless you have a fabulous manager. It's not good for a new nurse. But if it feels like a really good fit for you, go for it. Trust your gut. Some advice I got recently and I wish I had had it before I signed the dang contract--Have an attorney look at it for you. They should have sent you a copy with the interview invitation or shortly thereafter. Ask for it if they haven't. Don't sign anything without legal advice. It's kind of a fishy thing to do and no other residency program in Nashville that I know of makes anyone sign a contract and hold you to an $8000 "training cost".

rn_to_be07, my honest advice: Stay away from this residency. I just went through it, and it is a bunch of empty promises. They don't have enough staff to have an effective residency. Each liason has way too many people to deal with to be properly supportive and preceptors are hit or miss (mine were fine). The only upside is that you get to rotate through 3 different floors and get a feel for a few different parts of the hospital. Despite vows to place you where you "fit best", however, nurse residents are warm bodies who fill very short-staffed units. A lot of people in the program at Midtown were asked to go to West, a large number of us were not placed where we felt we fit best, and some were even permanently placed where they had never been rotated. I ended up stuck in the last place I wanted to be with no hope for advancing my career where I am. I've been told a lot of people take sign on bonuses from elsewhere and buy out their 2-year contract. It's probably worth it. The fact that they make you sign that contract is a sign that something is wrong. As far as the interview, it's the easiest one you'll have. I don't know how in the world they decide if they want to hire you through a five-minute question and answer but they do. Just practice behavioral questions and they'll ask the stereotypical ones. You'll be offered (or rejected) on the spot. Be warned: They will pressure you to sign that contract right then and there. The good news is they shred it if you back out before the start of the residency. They gave people grief for wanting to think for a couple days before signing as well. If you go through with the hiring process, they'll get a lot of the HR and Employee Health stuff out of the way that day, so it makes for a really long day but saves time later on. Then you'll deal with the technical forms and offer a few weeks later. Some people are very happy, but I've also met some disgruntled people too. There are better residency programs that are more effectively managed and run. This one just isn't.