hapahaole

I did not work as an extern. I was living in San Francisco when I applied and I flew out for the interview. So it is possible to get hired externally!

I am working full time in the PICU.... 3 12-hour shifts a week! I work every third weekend and rotate 3 weeks of day shift and 3 weeks of night shift.

If you're wiling to relocate to Philadelphia and work at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (ranked #1 children's hospital in US) the PICU will train you to work in ICU. (or NICU....but I work in the PICU so that's what I know the most about). Since you are experienced you would undergo a 12 week intensive training orientation and be assigned a preceptor for that time. You would attend supplemental classes and become PALS certified as well.

I work at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the PICU and there is rolling admissions for new graduates. I was hired with 3 other new grads just for their december '12 cohort. Since summer of last year, there've been 30 new grads hired hospital wide (in ER, PICU, NICU to name a few units). The 30 of us meet in a nurse residency class every 6 weeks to support and learn from one another. We will "graduate" together at the end of 18 months together. We take supplemental classes, get certifications for things like PALS, and are lectured by experts in different specialties within the hospital (ex: social work, resp therapy, MD residents, etc). It's a great program for new grads and I'd highly recommend you apply! I moved from California for this job... CHOP is #1 ranked children's hospital in the US!

I'm making $26/hr at CHOP in philadelphia as a new graduate.

CM-RNBSN CONGRATS!! That's a huge accomplishment, I'm thrilled to hear you'll be interviewing. What unit are you interested in working on? I'd prepare for questions like: a time you coped with a difficult situation w coworker, why did you choose the area you want to work in, why PA if you're moving from out of state. Expressing enthusiasm for peds is an obvious must. I've found that practicing and perfecting "storytelling" to illustrate answers to interview questions has been profoundly impactful. I've memorized 5 stories (one to highlight a difficult situation and how I coped with it, one to demonstrate why I chose the PICU, so on and so forth...) and they are often applicable to any number of questions they throw your way. So, that way you can sound polished and your stories are more memorable than any generic, cliche answer they've probably already heard. For my first hospital interview (not CHOP) I video-taped myself going through each of my five practiced "stories" and answering other probable interview questions. I watched the tape over and was able to assess what needed to change in terms of speech, movement, facial expression, etc. I found it to be immensely helpful in critiquing myself. Best of luck, keep us updated!

no worries i didn't take it as rude! as far as experience, i did my senior preceptorship in the PICU and also worked at a pediatric urgent care clinic while i was still in nursing school. i am currently employed as a nurse's aide on an adult medical-surgical floor at UCSF Medical Center but i'm not sure if that would have been a pertinent part of why they contacted me. hope that helps -

like i said before, i'd submitted my resume online for one of the new grad positions. (i'd actually applied for a CVICU position but my resume got forwarded to PICU who contacted me). i didn't have any inside or prior connections.

1. How many hours a day did you study for NCLEX, and for how long? I studied Mon-Fri for about 5 hours each day. I did this for 2 weeks before taking the test. I found that taking NCLEX right after graduation worked best for me - graduated May 18, took NCLEX June 5th. 2. What books did you read? Any book in particular you focused on? I found Elsevier/HESI book most helpful! 3. Did you take a classroom/online review from Kaplan, Hurst, etc.? No. Too expensive. 4. Did you answer practice questions? How many per day? YES! This is what I focused most on. 150-200/day. 5. Please share any other study habits/tips/resources/books that you feel has greatly helped you in passing NCLEX. I didn't find reading review books very helpful. To nail the questions you gotta practice the questions! Best piece of advice I can give.

SF/Bay Area: Graduated May 2012, took NCLEX in June. Started applying for jobs after NCLEX, 2 interviews (1 in SF and 1 in Philadelphia) and about 30 applications. I accepted a job offer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in their PICU. I originally was only looking in CA but it's brutal finding hospital jobs around here! I ended up applying almost exclusively west coast/east coast.

Philadelphia - $26/hr for new grad

hey! what floor are you precepting on? I submitted my resume online and the talent strategist contacted me about a week later to set up an interview... i'm currently living in san francisco so i flew out for the interview. i was interviewed by an HR representative, one of the charge nurses on the floor, and shadowed a nurse for 5 hours on the floor. it was about a 7 hour interview (usually the shadow day is separate but since i was flying from so far they clumped it into one day). i didn't hear anything for about a week and last night i got a call that i got the job! now it's just making sure that i'd completed fingerprinting, the child abuse screen, etc... you can pm me if you want more details. i graduated from the university of san francisco with my BSN in may 2012

I'd made a list of the top children's hospitals in the US and periodically went to each of their job sites. I applied to jobs that were eligible to hire new grads. I applied for a CVICU job at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) despite my interest being in PICU. But it was the only job that allowed new grads to apply! It was a miracle that whoever saw my resume forwarded it to the PICU talent strategist who called me to see if I was interested in scheduling an interview. I flew out to PA on my own dime and endured a nerve-wrecking 7 hour interview. They called me a week and a half later to offer me the job. No prior connections, simply an online application from their website. Anything can happen!

PA - PICU, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

I still think 29 is a lot of applications, particularly if the field you're interested in is very specific: ie PICU. Finding new grad positions in an area like that can be tedious and time-consuming. I sent out around 35 applications and had 2 interviews: UCSF and CHOP. I landed the PICU job at CHOP but had to fly myself to PA on my dime. I had no connections to the hospital and was very surprised to have even been considered! So, it is possible.