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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Home
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Nursing
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a place of healing, determination, and hope. Our nurses reflect that in everything they do.
Nurses at St. Jude give excellent care, practice their calling with passion, and celebrate life every day.
St. Jude nurses work together and with patients and families to do their best work. They learn and grow together. They advance nursing care through research-based practices and sharing knowledge across the globe.
For patients
What sets St. Jude nursing apart?
Nurses are the heart and soul of St. Jude. They put patients and families at the center of everything they do. At St. Jude, nurses have opportunities to grow, use new research, explore the latest technologies, and be recognized for extraordinary work.
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Magnet designation
St. Jude is a Magnet-designated hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. This is the most prestigious award a hospital can receive related to nursing.
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DAISY Award
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is a way for patients, families, and colleagues to honor nurses within St. Jude.
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Nurse of the Year Award
Each year, a St. Jude nurse is honored with the Nurse of the Year Award. This individual personifies what it means to be a nurse: compassionate, knowledgeable, ethical, helpful, and thoughtful.
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Advanced Practice Provider of the Year Award
The Advanced Practice Provider of the Year Award is given to someone who shows leadership by serving as a role model and mentor to their peers.
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Friend of Nursing Award
The Friend of Nursing Award goes to someone who shows excellence through their ability to collaborate with nurses and provide compassionate care.
- More than 800 nurses work in 32 departments.
- About 550 of those nurses work in direct patient care.
- Overall nurse-to-patient ratio: 1:2
- ICU nurse-to-patient ratio: 1:1
- Nurse with the longest tenure has worked at St. Jude 41 years.
- Percentage of RNs with baccalaureate or higher degree: 91% (national average 55%)
- Percentage of RNs with a specialty certification: 70% (national average 39%)
- Percentage of nursing leaders with specialty certification: 81%
Testimonials
Nurses at St. Jude are an extraordinary group. They bring compassion, focus, and skill to their work. Nurses share why St. Jude is such a special place to be.
We are there from Day One, when a child arrives as a brand-new patient, all the way through their care. I’m that child’s nurse, no matter where they go in the hospital … My job is to take care of the children and their families, and I do the best that I can.
One mom once told me, ‘You know, I used to be anxious about my child during surgery. But when I know that you’re in there, I know she’s going to be taken care of.
It is now such an honor, a gift and privilege to be able to work among some of the same nurses and doctors who took care of me as a patient and to help give hope and fulfill the mission of St. Jude … I am so blessed, so honored, to be a part of this wonderful hospital, the one that saved my life and now is giving me the great privilege and great responsibility to care for others walking the same path.
For applicants
Career opportunities in nursing
Explore nursing jobs at St. Jude in pediatric oncology, hematology, research, and other areas. St. Jude offers a supportive work environment that promotes excellence and growth.
Nursing Research Division
St. Jude Nursing has a robust research division that constantly develops new ways to care for patients and improve health outcomes. They do this by creating, applying, measuring, and sharing the highest quality clinical care research.
The Division of Nursing Research conducts clinical care research to improve patient care and outcomes for children with life-threatening diseases.
Nursing Research clinical trials
Nursing Research clinical trials help improve the care and treatment of patients at St. Jude and around the world. Non-therapeutic protocols address such issues as side effects or long-term effects of therapy, quality of life, making testing easier on the children, prevention of pain, and issues related to nutrition and stress. There are also tissue and blood banking protocols for lab researchers who study diseases and search for underlying causes and cures. The research at St. Jude is designed to include all aspects related to the care of sick children and their families.
Nursing at St. Jude
Nurses at St. Jude are highly valued as expert members of the clinical team. The team provides a supportive environment that promotes excellence as well as employee growth, retention, and teamwork. Our employee satisfaction and nursing engagement scores exceed national benchmarks.
Nurses at St. Jude have access to state-of-the-art resources and equipment—as well as constant opportunities for education, learning, and professional development.
St. Jude Nursing prizes research, innovation, and creativity. Their vision is to set the global standard for pediatric oncology nursing practice. To fulfill this vision, they aim to achieve the highest quality in patient care through evidence-based practice.
Other St. Jude Nursing benefits include:
- Low nurse-to-patient ratios in all units
- Shared governance model
- Individualized onboarding plan to ensure confident and competent nursing care. This includes classroom learning, simulation sessions, and precepted unit-based orientation.
- Excellent fringe benefits, including 3 weeks of paid vacation plus sick days, personal days, holiday time, and unmatched insurance benefits
- Excellent compensation program, including competitive salary, direct patient care differential, and 5-step clinical ladder advancement program
- Non-rotating shifts and full-time/part-time weekend staffing option
- Nursing research opportunities
- Generous opportunities for continued learning and professional growth, as well as certification resources, mentorship programs, and leadership development
- Opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of pediatric patients and their families
Testimonials
“At St. Jude, the doctors and nurse practitioners seek out my opinion. I’m on committees where I have a chance to help make important decisions. That’s really refreshing.”
“When I go home at the end of each day, I know I have done what I’m supposed to be doing. This is how health care is supposed to work. I think the adult community and the community outside of St. Jude could learn a lot from us.”
“One of the greatest things about working at St. Jude is that my point of view and my input is taken into account. Because of our incredible resources, St. Jude nurses don’t need to worry about things that most nurses outside of this institution worry about. I can just focus on my patient and provide safe patient care.”