Hailey Duong-Tran, a senior nursing student at Arizona State University’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, recently tallied her clinical hours for a job application. She is one of 160 students participating in a partnership between ASU and Phoenix Children’s Hospital that offers hands-on experience in pediatric nursing.
The Phoenix Children’s cohort began in 2019 to give nursing students practical experience in pediatric care. Over the last three semesters, Duong-Tran logged 240 hours at the hospital. “It has solidified the fact that I really want to work in pediatrics,” Duong-Tran said. “I had a few experiences at other adult hospitals throughout nursing school, and this has helped show me how important it is to be working with kids and how different it really is. I really love it.”
Since the program started, 166 out of 205 participating students have been hired by Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The retention rate for these new hires is 97% at six months and 87% after one year. Dianna Bodine, nursing student program manager at Phoenix Children’s, said, “That retention rate helps with our culture, patient care and growth. For us, that’s huge.”
The partnership was created to address the need for more pediatric nurses. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 40% growth in demand for nurse practitioners through 2031. However, only about 3.7% of nurse practitioners are certified in pediatrics.
Leslie Barnum, program coordinator and instructor at Edson College, explained that before the cohort was implemented, students had only 24 hours of pediatric clinical rotations. Now, they spend nearly 300 hours at Phoenix Children’s. “That’s the difference of showing up and kind of seeing what it’s like to learning what it’s like to be a nurse,” Barnum said.
Starting in their junior year, students focus on basic pediatric care. Bodine noted, “Disease processes are different, how we treat them is different, how we communicate is different. A lot of it is the communication piece. Just how do you communicate with a 2-year-old versus an 18-year-old? How do you communicate to a 2-year-old, ‘Hey, I’m going to give you a shot?’ We also emphasize family-centered care. That is a big difference in pediatrics. It’s a soft skill, but very much what we do in pediatrics is working with an entire family. I might have a baby in the bed, but then I also have parents that I’m educating.”
Students also learn techniques like music therapy to help children feel safe during their hospital stay.
Madi Dominguez, an ASU graduate recently hired by Phoenix Children’s, described the program as a “unique experience.” She said, “You get a greater appreciation for holistic health care, including the family, the emotional and developmental needs of the child, rather than just the physical needs.”
In their final semester, called Transition to Practice, students select a specific unit to work in full-time, often leading to employment in that area after graduation. Barnum said, “They choose an area that they’re gravitating towards. And I would say for the large majority of our students, that’s also where they get hired as a new grad.”
Dominguez said all eight students on her team were hired by Phoenix Children’s and she received a job offer before graduating. She added, “I can reach out to people I know for help. You build really good relationships with the staff, so if that’s the unit you choose to work on, you have a good rapport going in.”
Bodine explained that while there are no hiring guarantees, ASU students are given priority due to their familiarity with the hospital’s practices. “Definitely priority goes to these students because they come with experience,” Bodine said. “They know our communication style, how our pharmacy works, how medicine and everything works in the pediatric world. It is very different. But they already know that. So they come with a better resume than a traditional student.”
Duong-Tran hopes to be hired by Phoenix Children’s after graduation. “I’m so extremely appreciative of this program,” she said. “I think if it wasn’t for ASU’s connection with Phoenix Children’s Hospital, it would be so much harder for me to kind of step into the pediatrics world. A lot of pediatric hospitals don’t want to hire new grad nurses because they’re kind of inexperienced. So I think it’s amazing that ASU has allowed us to have this opportunity.”
Arizona State University was named number one in innovation for eight consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. The university also ranks among the top institutions for undergraduate business, nursing, and engineering programs. More information is available at https://news.asu.edu/20220911-university-news-asu-no-1-innovation-us-news-world-report-eighth-year?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=asu&utm_campaign=ASURankings&utm_term=USNWR.
