Snafu13

Girrrrlll I am with you! I'm in the same boat. I love my manager and my crew but the acuity of the patients as of late has me dreading coming to work every day. I am thankful that I have a job and grateful that I found my way into a residency program, but I am just not a fan of med/surg. Now, I say that with a hitch: I actually love my post-op patients. It's the medical patients that I simply do not enjoy. I am very lucky in that I spoke with my manager multiple times and was upfront and honest with her that my heart was in another field of nursing and that my intent was to get to that particular area as soon as I could. Fortunately, because I have been able to make good connections in my residency program and be honest with my manager, I've been given the opportunity to move to that specialty this July, just shy of my year on the floor. Perhaps this might be a good avenue for you? Have you tried speaking to your manager about your interest in another unit? If you have a good manager, they are all about growing you as a nurse. There is nothing wrong with having a goal or dream. It's helping me incredibly to have a light at the end of this tunnel. And I know that this experience will be useful for me when I do make my way over to my new unit. I hope that helps!!!

Logan_ann, Yes, they do hire ADN new grads. The starting salary we were offered was base rate of $23. There is an additional 1$ differential for BSN, $5 weekend diff and $3.25 night diff. I started in the first cohort and did not sign a contract, so I'm unsure as to how the new cohorts are being handled in regards to a contract of service.

At my hospital, the standard order is 12.5 mg phenergan IVP diluted in 10 mL of NS if the patient has an IV running, or diluted in 50 mL of NS ran over 30 minutes if they are not receiving IVF.

Hi Jbholsom! Our cohort is full for this year. There are 3 groups in total, 115 of us new grads. The starts were 8/14, 8/31 and I believe 9/14. The next opening won't be until January, but I'd keep my eyes open for that posting. There was about 1/4 of the group assigned to different units throughout Wolfson's, so if you really want pedi, definitely check that box off when you apply to the program. From what we know, it's very competitive. Over 400 people applied, and they accepted 115, but this may be the largest cohort they allow and I do believe they had mentioned that the following cohorts will most likely be smaller in size moving forward. Two weeks of orientation in the beginning as all nurses have, then you work 2 12-hour shifts on your unit with your clinical coach and on Wednesdays and Thursdays, we have training and guest speakers for an 8-hour (ish) day. They have lots of plans for us including simulation days and multiple projects and what not. Sounds pretty exciting. There is a huge group with the ED and several other people scattered throughout neruo, CCU, ICU, Med-Surg and Tele. On the Wolfson's side there is NICU, PICU, PACU and general Pedi floors. The program is a year long and because we're the first group, we don't have much information regarding how it's going to break down in regards to how long we're with our preceptors, and when we are out on our own, etc. From what I've heard, we're with our preceptors for about 4-6 months, then pretty much on our own with 1 4-hour training day each week and 3 12-hour shifts. I'm on days, but there are several who are on nights. I think it just depends on what your preceptor's hours are. There are people all over the system from South, downtown, Beaches, Nassau and Wolfson's, so keep that in mind that if you are accepted to the program, you may not be at the hospital closest to where you live. Also, I know that the ED people rotate into different hospitals now and again. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Hi Nursesk711! I'm on a specialty unit and couldn't be happier! It was the one unit I REALLY wanted. My husband and I settled on a 3 bedroom in Banyan Bay on San Pablo Rd. It liked the layout of the place, that it had a pool and allows pets. It's kind of on the pricey side for what I was expecting, but it's similar to CT prices. There are TONS of apartment in the area, so don't worry about finding a place. There are a plethora of options depending on what you're looking for. We, personally, wanted to be closer to the beach, so we opted for a place about 25 minutes away from Baptist downtown and I don't think the commute will be an issue. I commuted over an hour each way for school so I'm used to it lol.

I felt EXACTLY the same way walking away from the interview for the job I have now. I was certain that I was by far and large the WORST interviewee ever. At one point, I was certain that the NM I was interviewing with was giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look and thinking in her head about how idiotic I sound. But in the end, after I really thought about it, I couldn't have done that bad, since I got a great job out of what seemed like an ocean of qualified candidates!

I just spoke with HR and there's just a few issues with the computer systems that's creating a delay in getting our offers and information to us. No biggie. I did ask about the scrubs and was told that we would be measured and fitted for them during our physical and background check and we should have them before our start date!!! Yay!!!

I haven't gotten the orientation paperwork yet. Did it come via mail or email?

I received the call today with all of the information regarding pay, orientation dates and times as well as some shift information during the residency program. The pay is surprisingly good and I'm super happy with what they've offered. The differentials for nights and weekends is fantastic at an additional $3.25 for nights and $5.00 for weekends. There is an additional $1.00 differential for having a BSN. The orientation is 3 weeks long from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F for the first 2 weeks and may be at many different locations throughout the Baptist system. The full orientation is 3 weeks, then the residency program starts. After that, the times/shifts spent on the unit will vary and won't be a set days or nights shift. Your shift won't be determined until after the year-long residency program and could be days or nights, depending on what they have to offer. There will be class schedule time as well as time on your unit and time with your residency cohort. The very nice woman I spoke with today told me I should have the official job offer in the system within 48 hours so I can accept it online. She also said that someone from HR will be in touch no later than the end of July with more specifics such as benefits, uniforms, etc. I hope that helps!!

I'm actually in the same boat!! I plan on pursuing my degree in nurse midwifery and my minor is in women's studies. I took all but one of my required courses before entering the nursing program, otherwise, it would've been impossible to finish. I'm not sure if it will help me get into graduate school, but since I don't plan on applying for a few years, I'm thinking it won't sway the admission decision very much at all. However, I think the knowledge I've gained from the courses I took is immensely valuable for my future.

It took me a little over a month to land my first job in a nurse residency program, but it was not without tons of legwork and rejection. I'm relocating cross-country and it's been tough to even get an interview with an out-of-state address. After about 15 rejections, I finally landed an interview for the new grad program that I flew down for (which was almost a disaster on it's own). The whole application process took about a month. I applied in late May, the interview was June 24th in Florida and I heard back just a few days ago that I was accepted to the program. If it weren't for this incredible program, there is no way I would have a job right now. I still have 8 resumes/applications that have been submitted (I can't retract them online, so I just follow them to see where they go lol) and several have been rejected within the last several days. I have another phone interview (which the poor woman wasn't super excited about having as she voiced she really doesn't like doing interviews over the phone) for a residency program that I will politely decline next week when she calls, but I don't think it was very promising from the get-go.

Oh wow!! I didn't get any of those!! Interesting! You obviously nailed it though :-)

Hi Budra3, This particular interview session was actually a vast departure from a "traditional" interview, so it's hard to say. For our interview, it was set up similar to speed dating. We only had a few minutes to answer questions with the nurse manager of the 2 units we were interested in, then 2 peers that were, I believe, nurse navigators. If we made it to the next round, we then met two other nurse administrators in another room at different times. All of the questions were behavioral. What helped me is searching "difficult interview questions" and making notes as to how to answer them. A few of the exact same questions did pop up during my interview. My assumption is that the format for interviewing is pretty standard throughout the agency, so that may help you as well. Good luck! I'm so thrilled to be working for Baptist. I have a great friend there who LOVES working there.

I'm downtown! Did you get the unit you wanted at Beaches??

Cheers to that!