New Graduate Nursing Opportunities

As one of the nation’s leading teaching hospitals, UAB Medicine has a long history of providing excellent education for nurses. Our RN internship programs are available to new graduates of an accredited nursing program who have fewer than six months of nursing experience.

Inpatient RN Intern Program

Our unique, paid, 13-week inpatient RN Intern Program allows you to experience three different nursing units, each with its own specialized focus and stimulating environment. With over 30 participating nursing units, the inpatient RN Intern Program is an ideal way to see firsthand all that UAB has to offer and determine which area may be best for you.

How does it work?

Interns choose three acute care units, or they choose two acute care units and either the Emergency Department, an ICU, or a Women’s Services unit to rotate through for approximately four weeks each. If a non-acute care unit is selected as a part of the rotation, it will be the third rotation. During the rotations, interns learn about specific disease processes, navigate the care plan, and develop the skills needed to provide high-quality, evidence-based patient care.

Interns meet with the nurse manager to review preceptor feedback after each rotation, to assess their progress and provide direction. Interns select an available staff nurse position after completing the inpatient RN Intern Program.

For more information, please contact Natalie Fortson at 205-996-7449 or nafortson@uabmc.edu.

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Outpatient programs

UAB Medicine offers two unique outpatient RN Clinic Intern programs for nurses, and each focuses on different areas of clinical practice at UAB Medicine.

If you have an interest in ambulatory nursing and have not identified your calling within the nursing field, these paid internship programs are a great way to see firsthand all that UAB Medicine has to offer and determine which area may be best for you. UAB Medicine has more than 200 clinics, so we encourage you to explore your options.

Interns will select an available clinic nurse position upon completing the RN Clinic Intern Program. Our two RN Clinic Intern programs are summarized below:

RN Clinic Intern – Primary Care Track

Our outpatient RN Clinic Intern Program allows you to experience three different areas of ambulatory nursing within primary care, each with its own specialized focus and stimulating environment. Rotation areas include UAB Medicine Primary Care, the UAB Family and Community Medicine Clinic, the Heart FailuRe Transitional Care Services for Adults (HRTSA) Clinic, and other primary care clinics.

How does it work?

Interns rotate through three ambulatory clinic settings for approximately four weeks each. During the rotations, you will learn about specific disease processes, navigate the care plan, and develop the skills needed to provide high-quality, evidence-based patient care.

For more information, please email Connie White-Williams at cwwilli@uabmc.edu.

RN Clinic Intern – Specialty Track

Our outpatient RN Clinic Intern Program is a 12-week, paid program with a specialized focus on procedural and specialty clinics. Rotation areas include pulmonary/bronchoscopy, cardiology/cath lab, GI/endoscopy, the Ambulatory Intermediate Care Clinic, the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, the Otolaryngology (ENT) Clinic, and a variety of other specialties and clinics.

How does it work?

Interns select three ambulatory specialty clinic settings and rotate through them for approximately four weeks each. During the rotations, you will learn about specific disease processes, navigate the care plan, and develop the skills needed to provide high-quality, evidence-based patient care.

For more information, please email Tacoa Ball at tball@uabmc.edu.

UAB Nursing and the Center for Nursing Excellence are excited to partner with Vizient and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to offer a one-year Nurse Residency Program (NRP). New RN nursing graduates and LPN hires are automatically entered into this required program, which is designed to ease the transition from the classroom setting to the clinical practice environment by providing a wide range of learning opportunities.

The evidence-based curriculum focuses on three key areas: leadership, patient outcomes, and professional development. It is supported by three themes:

1. Improving the Patient Experience. Developing relationship-based care and making personal connections with patients and their family members
2. Thinking in Action. Focusing on recognizing changes in a patient’s condition and knowing the proper action to take
3. Professionalism. Shaping nurses into compassionate, engaged caregivers who are committed to delivering excellent service and pursuing opportunities for professional development, advanced degrees, and certifications

Our residency Nursing Professional Development Specialists (NPDS) ­– along with the unit-based NPDS – will teach, coach, and mentor new nurses as they transition into practice. The program includes a combination of didactic learning sessions and hands-on clinical training, all under the guidance and support of our NPDS staff. Resident groups will meet each month for one year. Each meeting lasts four hours.

The NRP offers many benefits, including:

• A committed team that helps you stay on course for delivering safe, effective, quality patient care as you onboard into the clinical setting.
• Support for your orientation and ongoing professional development needs.
• Guidance that helps you focus on delegation and time management, patient engagement, diversity, nursing quality and safety, research- and evidence-based practice, ethical decision-making, and building your own emotional toolkit.

For more information, please contact the UAB Center for Nursing Excellence at 205-996-5713 or nrp@uabmc.edu.