Would like to shadow a nurse in Dallas/Fort Worth area!

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Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care.

Hey everyone!

I am taking the pre-reqs right now to get into nursing school (hopefully Brookhaven Spring or Fall 2012!) and I'm sure that nursing is what I want to do, but I am getting really antsy knowing that I have a while still until I actually start the nursing program (even longer if I have to wait until next Fall! :eek:) I'd love to shadow a nurse in the DFW area but I'm not really sure how to go about doing this - do I just turn in a volunteer application to the hospital? Can I choose which department I'd prefer to volunteer in? Any info would be helpful, especially if any DFW area nurses know if their hospitals are looking for volunteers in their department (L&D would be top choice, then NICU or peds). Thanks!!

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I'm new to the DFW area so I don't have any specific contact information but when I was in your shoes I called the hospital's HR department. (You can find this contact number on the hospital's website) HR directed me to the appropriate person which I believe was a nurse manager. I left a quick message saying who I was, what I wanted, and what days I was free. Be prepared to tell HR just one department in case they want you to pick. Teaching facilities will be more accustom to students so you will probably have a better experience there.

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Try Parkland or JPS...UT southwestern hospitals Zale Lipshy and I forget the other one's name. Those are all teaching hospitals you might have luck with. I agree you should prob. try to contact HR

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Shadowing for a day and volunteering are two totally different entities. Though I do recommend it for anyone with the spare time who plans to go into the field, for simple exposure to the runnings of a department just talk to the Nurse Manager in the Dept of the nearest teaching hospital and let them know you're going into nursing school and would like to shadow for a day to be sure you're making the right choice. I'm sure you'll have no troubles from there.

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Specializes in Infusion, Med/Surg/Tele, Outpatient.

Call HR and also the Education department. What part of DFW? Check out your local hospital. The educator in charge of the internships is who I'd look for, they will pair you with a more receptive nurse. Almost all non-HCA hospitals will work something out. (not that HCA is bad, they're just really into the grow-your-own el centro program.)

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Parkland will only let you shadow if you are a nursing student that has clinical rotations with them (I tried and asked), but they do have volunteer programs there, and you can pick ICU, ER, Burn Unit. Try their website. UTSW might, as well as Childrens. I suggest you just start looking at hospital websites and try to find email addresses of people in HR or nurse recruiters, floor managers, that may be able to point you in the right direction. That's what I did. The worst they can say is no, and at least you tried. Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care.

Thanks for all the replies y'all!! I really appreciate it, and I'll definitely take those suggestions!

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