Published on: 8/28/2014

MIAMI – An internship program created by Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) to train recent nursing graduates in advanced care settings has been recognized as a best practice program for nursing education by the Nursing Executive Center of The Advisory Board Company, a global research, technology and consulting firm. The MCH Horizons Internship Program was created in 2010 and has since provided training to over 30 nurses in a variety of different areas of service at MCH.  The program was featured as a case study that was shared nationally among nursing leaders who are members of the Nursing Executive Center.
 

“The Horizons Internship Program has been an invaluable tool for recruiting and retaining flexible exemplary nurses with a broad base of knowledge at Miami Children’s,” said Jackie Gonzalez, DNP, ARNP, MBA, NEA-BC, FAAN, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at MCH.  “This is a beneficial training model that can be replicated by other hospitals and institutions in their efforts to support and assimilate new nursing graduates.”

 
Through the MCH Horizons Internship Program, nurses are given the opportunity to cross-train in a variety of different units, including all three of MCH’s intensive care units, with the ability to select an area of focus. Nurses rotate through designated areas every three to four months, on average, and remain in the float pool program for a total of 18 months. To date, 33 RNs have been hired as a result of the program and 30 continue to work within the organization after two years of completing the internship and several have moved into entry level leadership roles.
 
View the case study on MCH’s Horizons Internship Program for nurses.

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Your Child Matters Most ™ (2025)

For 75 years, Nicklaus Children's has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children serving close to 70 percent of children in the Miami metropolitan community. In addition, Nicklaus Children's offers care within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center's De George Pediatric Unit and select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units. The hospital and its network of more of nearly 35 outpatient care locations offer lifesaving care in in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin, and Palm Beach counties. These outpatient locations include an array of urgent care, pediatric primary care, and subspecialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS). Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Nicklaus Children's is home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children's Orthopedic, Sports Medicine and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children's Neuroscience Institute and Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute. The 325-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with over 40 specialties, and an ambulatory surgery center.