Educational Opportunities

Nurses at Children's have a number of opportunities to advance their education. Tuition may be reimbursed up to the current maximum tuition rate for Texas residents, and this benefit is available to nurses and other employees who are regular part-time employees or full-time employees

Expenses for academically accredited courses of a job-related degree program (undergraduate and graduate) may be reimbursed if the course:

Relates to a nurse's present job
Prepares a nurse for additional responsibility
Relates to a future potential assignment within Children's

Professional certification

Children's provides Professional Certification Assistance to help nurses develop their careers with continuing educational courses, professional development courses and/or professional certification. Nurses are eligible for tuition reimbursement of up to $350 once the certification course is completed or the nurse has passed the exam.

Nurses can work on additional professional certifications, continuing education or even tailoring of their own schedules through the Clinical Resource Team. Forty-seven percent of nurse leaders at Children's have professional certification, surpassing the average for many Magnet institutions. More than 430 nurses have certifications at Children's.

Certification helps nurses stay at the top of their profession by learning the most up-to-date information applicable to their specialty. This cutting edge knowledge can then be transferred to patient care.

Federally funded grants

Another option available to nurses is continuing education supported by federal grants.

The PEERS (Pediatric Expertise, Education and Retention with Support) Program is a federally funded grant designed to help minority and/or disadvantaged Children's employees the opportunity to obtain a nursing degree by providing financial and school support in the form of stipends, mentoring, tutoring and more. Children's is one of only two hospital organizations in the country to receive funding in 2007 for the three-year grant, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

UTA partnership

Children's also has partnered with the University of Texas at Arlington to offer a program for those RNs wishing to obtain their BSN degree. The program is completely online and requires no additional clinical time.