St. Louis Children's Hospital has a long history of supporting pediatric nursing education. The hospital actually began its own nurses training school in 1907. The school was only in operation until 1910 when Washington University began a nursing education program. This commitment to nursing education has continued throughout the hospital's history and remains an integral part of the hospital's philosophy today. Currently over 1000 students annually complete their pediatric clinical experiences at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Schools Currently Using St. Louis Children's Hospital as a Clinical Site

  • Graduate Programs
    • Barnes-Jewish College – Goldfarb School of Nursing
    • Baylor University
    • Capella University
    • Creighton University
    • Duke University
    • Emory University
    • Maryville University
    • Rush University
    • Saint Louis University
    • Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
    • University of Central Missouri
    • University of Cincinnati
    • University of Missouri-Columbia School of Nursing
    • University of Missouri-Kansas City
    • University of Missouri-St. Louis
    • University of South Alabama
    • Vanderbilt University
    • Webster University
    • Western Governors University
  • Baccalaureate Programs
    • Barnes-Jewish College – Goldfarb School of Nursing
    • Chamberlain College of Nursing
    • Maryville University
    • Saint Louis University
    • Southeast Missouri State University
    • Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
    • Truman State University
    • University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Associate Degree Programs
    • Jefferson College Nursing Program
    • St. Louis Community College

Clinical Experiences for Students

Observations

Observation experiences are available for nursing students exploring career interest. All patient care units and many specialty areas are open to allowing student observations. These are to be scheduled separate from your clinical time at the hospital. Applications for observation experiences are available by clicking on the links listed below and submitting to Sue Marten ([email protected]).

Precepting Experiences for Senior Level Nursing Students

Senior level precepting experiences are available for nursing students who are in programs that St. Louis Children's Hospital has a student agreement. Precepting experiences at St. Louis Children's Hospital are highly sought, and can be very competitive. Applications for preceptorships are submitted by your school of nursing. For further information please contact Angie Viehl at [email protected].

Placement is based on application completeness, faculty approval, student skills and knowledge, program type, and appropriate unit match for student interest and skill level. Attempts are made to place as many students as possible requesting preceptorships. The number of students accepted is based on the availability of preceptors and hospital ability to support the volume of students.

Precepting Experiences for Graduate Nursing Students

Precepting experiences exist with many of the Advanced Practice Nurses that work at the hospital. It is necessary for interested students to coordinate these clinical activities through the office of Clinical Education. For further information or to apply for a graduate experience, please contact Angie Viehl at [email protected].

Summer Externship Program

St. Louis Children's Hospital participates in a paid collaborative Summer Nurse Externship program with the College of Nursing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Applications for this program are available to nursing students enrolled in an approved BSN program in the U.S. between their junior and senior years of study. For information regarding this program please go to the program website at http://www.umsl.edu/~nurseexternweb/.

General Information for Student Experiences

Dress Code

As a general rule, follow the dress code of your school when on the unit for clinical experience. Students completing their pre-work assignments on the unit should dress in an appropriate manner (i.e., business casual). Denim jeans of any color, denim skirts, denim jumpers, and shorts of any type are not allowed. At any time the student is in the hospital they should wear the St. Louis Children's Hospital student badge they were issued at the beginning of their clinical rotation.

Parking

St. Louis Children's Hospital provides free parking for students completing their clinical rotation or preceptorship at the hospital. Free parking is provided in St. Louis Children's Hospital Employee Parking Garage located at 321 Newstead, St. Louis, MO 63110.  Maps to the garage are available from the instructors.  The student badges allow access to this parking garage. Students will need to ride a shuttle bus to the shuttle depot or walk on the enclosed pedestrian link. On night shifts the student badge will allow access to park in the Laclede Garage located at 4929 Forest Park Ave.  A pedestrian link is available from the garage into St. Louis Children’s Hospital.  The St. Louis Children’s Hospital visitor garage is not to be used for any day or night shift experiences.

Resources Available for Students at the Hospital

Unit Personnel

  • Staff nurses assigned to patient
  • Charge Nurses
  • Staff Preceptors
  • Clinical Educator
  • Clinical Nurse Specialists
  • Advanced Practice Nurses
  • Clinical Pharmacists
  • Nursing Manager
  • Assistant Managers
  • House staff/Physicians

On-Line Resources

  • St. Louis Children's Hospital Website
  • Nursing Intranet Site (Only available on BJC system computers)
  • Nursing Policies and Procedures
  • Guidelines
  • Medication Guidelines
  • Administrative Policy Manual
  • Infection Control Manual
  • Emergency Preparedness Manual
  • Laboratory Manual
  • Teaching Tools for patients and families

Additional Hospital Resources

  • St. Louis Children's Hospital Library (3rd Floor)
  • Center for Families (3rd Floor)
  • Department of Clinical Education (Mid-Campus Center Building)

Inservices/Conferences

St. Louis Children's Hospital welcomes student attendance at unit and house-wide inservices as applicable. Students and instructors are also welcome to participate in any scheduled St. Louis Children's Hospital conference. Most conferences are free of charge or offered at a reduced rate to staff and students. Conferences are listed in the Education section of our website.

Job Opportunities/Information for Students

Human Resource Office – 3N11

Located in the Human Resources suite on the third floor of the hospital in the corridor down from the tower elevators. The Human Resource Office has several computers that allow access to the employment section of our website.

Graduate Nurse: Job Opportunities

When you are graduating from your nursing program and ready to pursue a Graduate Nurse position at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, please search https://www.bjc.org/jobs for “Graduate Nurse,” and apply to the “New Graduate Nurse – All Graduates” position. You will select your hospital and department preferences inside the application.

Patient Care Tech: Job Opportunities 

If you are currently enrolled in a nursing program or completing nursing pre-requisites you may be interested in working at St. Louis Children's Hospital as a Patient Care Tech (PCT). For more information on this role please contact Robin Toney at [email protected]. She will be able to answer any questions you may have regarding the role and the application process. When emailing Robin regarding a PCT position, please inform her that you are a nursing student.

Susan Goddard Scholarship

The St. Louis Children's Hospital Susan K. Goddard Nursing Scholarship is offered in the spring of each year.  Susan retired from Children's in 2001, after 37 years of dedication to caring for kids.  Over the course of her career, Susan held a variety of nursing leadership roles with the most recent being the Director of Pediatrics.

As a way to honor Susan's years of service and to support future generations of pediatric nurses, the hospital created an endowment fund in her name.  The Susan K. Goddard Nursing Scholarship Fund allows the hospital to give an annual scholarship to an outstanding nursing student who embodies the nursing values so deeply held by Susan.  Application information is sent to the schools of nursing each year in January/February.