mackenziec85

You might want to call HR to ask them about the New Grad program. As for trauma experience, I'm not sure. All I know is they want I think at least 3 years ER experience first. But our ER doesn't typically hire New Grads. Just gotta work your way up!

VH, Unfortunately, I think it's difficult to get a job anywhere as a new grad. If you can get a job somewhere else I would say do it and get the experience. SHC pretty much wants at least a year of experience (for a med/surg floor) before hiring a non-new grad RN. We do have great benefits, and as far as the locations, yeah, Shea and Thompson Peak have great locations and are very nice facilities. I work at Osborn, which is the oldest of the three, and the only one not in North Scottsdale. We, however, are the only facility with a trauma center, which is kind of cool. Let me know if you have any other questions! M

Hi veryhopeful, I work for SHC. Like patientlywaiting said, they hire most of their new grads internally. It took me seven months to get a new grad job there, even though I was already an established employee with over two years of employment with them. I'm not too familiar with the Nurse Residency Program. If I remember correctly, it's a one year program, but they are not required to offer you a full time job when it's over. Everyone I know who has gotten a new grad job at SHC has been an employee beforehand. My best advice would be, even if you already have your license, to try to get a job in the cafeteria or housekeeping. Start somewhere to get your foot in the door and get to know the managers. The nice thing about working in the cafeteria (I worked there for a year) is that you see pretty much everyone and can make small talk with them. I know from experience that HR won't even look at your resume if you apply for a regular RN position. Good luck to you! M

No, it's Scottsdale Osborn.

Yeah, that's how the staffing is for the med surg floors. I don't think I've ever seen an ER nurse with more than 4 patients, either. They're usually pretty well staffed, too. We have something like 60 ER/trauma rooms, and I think they usually have 6-8 PCT/HUCs there at any given time.

Wow...I'm not working as a nurse (can't find a darn job!), but I do work at Scottsdale Healthcare (http://www.shc.org). Our day nurses typically have 3-4 patients. Night nurses have 4-5. Depending on the floor, the day shift usually has 1-2 aides and a HUC who enters the orders. I'm not sure how the night staffing is. Our new grad pay is $25.50/hour for day shift and $32/hour for night shift.

I took mine yesterday...I had 87 questions and probably 8 or 9 SATA. I found out earlier today that I passed!

iversonmourning - So far the program hasn't been too bad. I took Block 2 over the summer, and that was pretty brutal. This semester though, our schedule is pretty nice. We only have one day of lecture (only 4 hours) and one 12 hour clinical shift a week. You should be fine working weekends...just make sure you have time to study and work on your care plans, because they will take you a while at first. Once you get used to them, you'll be able to do them in a few hours. I definitely recommend going to the facility in the morning the day before clinicals to get your information, because then you have the whole day in case the patient has a lot of meds or abnormal labs because those are the things that take the longest. Hopefully this is helpful! I remember when I found out I got in, I wanted to know every little thing about the program...it's hard to believe that I'm already halfway through it! Everyone says this, and it doesn't seem true, but it will FLY by!

I bought all the books on the required (and recommended) list, and I've used probably four or five of them. The books we use the most are the Lewis Med/Surg, the Lippincott book, definitely Fundamentals in Block 1, the drug guide, and the nursing diagnosis book. I may have briefly used my psych book (that will probably be used more in Block 4 though), and I think I've opened my Calculate with Confidence book twice - and I'm NOT a math person. I really haven't used any of the recommended books. And yes, in Block 3 they added 3 books. Peds, OB, and an IV drug book. I bought most of my books through Amazon and/or eBay...a couple came from the bookstore. I think I've spent probably $800 or so.

Hey there...don't know if you've already done your PO check off, so this may be too late... On my check off, we had to know what the med is for, what the classification is (anticoagulant, ACE inhibitor, loop diuretic), when you give it, when you hold it, and what to assess (ie on Lasix you're going to assess daily weights, I&O, BP). Some instructors may want the mechanism of action. But before you do any of that, you need to check the order and do the math, look at the patient's vitals to make sure you don't need to hold anything (ie hold Digoxin if the HR is less than 60 or greater than 100), and make sure it matches up to the MAR. Some of the instructors let you just talk and do it on your own, and others ask questions and prompt you for answers. And don't forget the 3 checks. I'd say about half our class didn't pass on the first try (I was one of them). It's definitely intimidating going in there in front of the instructors, because they're pretty much watching your every move. So if you haven't done it yet, good luck!

Hey folks, I may be able answer a question or two...I'm in Block 3 of the SCC/SHC partnership. Block 1 will be a long term care facility. For our group, Block 2 was at SHC. They split our class of 40 in half, so half of us went to Osborn, and the other half went to Shea. Block 3 is where it gets funky. I think pretty much everyone does a couple weeks at SHC, but we're also at Chandler Regional and County. I think med/surg stuff is all at SHC, but for us, we had Peds at County, and I know the traditional group was at Phoenix Children's Hospital. It all depends where the school can fit your class. As for the externship...I'm not too sure what that is, exactly. I'm thinking it may be the preceptorship, which is part of Block 4. Or it may be the New Grad program...not too sure. I know with the New Grad program they pretty much only take employees, which is a good reason to try to get a job there. That plus the tuition reimbursement (and yes, they'll pay for your books) is pretty awesome.

Hi Toppermost. My advice to you would be to look up the SHC mission statement and values. Don't tell them the main reason you want to work there is for tuition...say you'd like to create a long lasting relationship with a company that has a good reputation and has values that you agree with. Mention that you're trying to get into nursing school and would like to further your career with the hospital. I had three separate interviews at the hospital (telling all of them I eventually wanted to work there as a nurse), and the third one was the winner. And FYI - on-call positions don't get tuition reimbursement or benefits. Just keep looking and keep applying. New positions pop up all the time. Good luck!

I don't know about Banner, but I work for Scottsdale Healthcare and got into the SCC/SHC partnership very quickly. My time stamp was February 20, 2009. I waited less than a year. With that program, they dedicate 25 of their 50 spots to employees. But like I said, I'm not sure about Banner...

Yes, exactly.

Hello! Just wondering if anyone has taken the Block 1 HESI Exit Exam before. Mine is scheduled for Monday, May 3rd, but our teachers haven't really given us much information about it. Anyone have any info as to what the heck is on it? Thanks!

Hey alliphx! Like you, I'm also in Block 1. I did take a CNA class, but I don't have anything fancy after my name (I actually failed my skills test on my CNA exam...taking it again next month). But of my class (50 students), at least half are CNA's or PCT's. Now, I do know how to do a good amount of what we're doing now because of my CNA class, but let me tell you this. It took me almost three months to master BP. I made it so much harder than it really is. And when I took my skills test, I got really nervous and bombed. Making an occupied bed terrified me. Repositioning a patient freaked me out. But yesterday in our lab day, we made an occupied bed, and I had no problem with it. We did BP, and I did it perfectly. This stuff just takes practice and CONFIDENCE. My clinical instructor in my CNA class actually singled my friend and me out one day, saying that we were intimidated. I laughed it off at the time, but after a while, I realized that I was. I didn't think I could do these things, so I acted like I couldn't. And it is hard doing this stuff in front of so many people who already know what they're doing. But you know, they had to learn it all at some point, too. And our teachers keep repeating that you have to practice a skill 17 times before you're finally good at it. So keep your head up! You'll learn the organization stuff...you just have to find the best organization skills for you. Some people like separate binders for each discussion (lab, theory, pharm), or some people just throw everything in one folder. So good luck to you, and I hope this helped a little bit! We'll be done with Block 1 before we know it!

Scottsdale Healthcare pays for employees to go to school. They reimburse for degrees like business, but they pay tuition up front for degrees like nursing. They pay $5,250 a year, which, since the program is sixteen months to two years, covers the whole program. They don't pay up front for books, but they supposedly reimburse. And they do this all with no strings attached. There is no obligation to work for them when you graduate. I think you just have to be employed for 90 days in either a part time (at least 16 hours a week) or full time position before they'll pay. On call positions do not get the benefit. Check out http://www.shc.org It really is a great company to work for, and they have new job openings all the time.

Technically, yes, you do have to wait six months. I know a few people who transferred to other departments before their six months were up, but they got permission from the supervisors. From what I've heard, if you do apply for another position before your six months in one department, you'll get an email saying you haven't worked in that position long enough.

Hey Koala, I also work at SHC. I spent about six months trying to get a job there for the same reason you are. And it paid off. After about ten applications and three interviews, I got a job there. Three months after applying to the RN program as an employee (I was already on the public list for about eight months), I got into the accelerated program. I'm not sure about the reimbursement for classes already paid for if you're a new employee. But they do upfront payment for nursing, no strings attached, which is nice. I haven't technically started school yet, so I can't tell you how it's going. But I will tell you that I've talked to a lot of nursing students who come in while I'm working (I work in the cafeteria) and they've all said to work as little as possible. I'm going to be cutting my hours from 32 to 16 a week when classes start. So keep checking the website (shc.org...I'm sure you already knew that though). Even if you get a job in one department, you can transfer to another six months later. It really is a great place to work. Good luck!

Congrats! I got placed today at SCC. My timestamp is from February 2009. The only reason I got in so soon is because I'm an employee at Scottsdale Healthcare. I was completely shocked when I got the email because they only had 2 employee positions available. I actually scared my boyfriend because I started yelling! So congrats again, and good luck!

Yeah, I didn't remember how to do a lot of the problems...and I probably couldn't do them now, almost a year after taking the test, hah. I had a bit of an advantage though, as my dad is a former math teacher. He was able to show me how to do the problems, so I know he definitely had something to do with my good score. But you could always bring some of the examples to a tutor and have him/her show you how to do it. Good luck!

I got an 89 in reading and a 90 in math, I believe. I used a website to study, and it was EXACTLY like the math questions on the actual test. I believe the website is http://www.testprepreview.com. You'll have to kind of search around to find the NET practice test, but I highly recommend it if you are going to retake the test.

So they're calling people?! I was stressed out enough checking my e-mail multiple times a day and anxiously awaiting the snail mail....now I have another method of communication to stress out over! Is a phone call the only way they go about notifying you that you've been selected for an interview?

No worries. We all get blabby at one point or another. :)

Uhhh, I've never been charged with any kind of crime. I've never even been pulled over...it still took me six weeks to get mine. Not to be rude, but please don't make assumptions like that. Maybe you just sent it in at a good time.