Impacts & Innovations. The Central Staffing Office Intensive Care Nurse Residency Program: A Pilot Program.

CLINICAL competence; EMPLOYEE orientation; WORKING hours; INTENSIVE care nursing; INTERNSHIP programs

The article focuses on the effort by the nursing leadership team at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to create a central staffing office intensive care (IC) nurse residency program to deal with the issues of growing patient acuity, shifting census patterns, and urgent staffing needs. Topics mentioned include the recruitment and selection process, and the core IC unit competencies for nurse applicants including thermoregulation and sedation management.