Per Diem Nurse - Pediatric ICU

UW Health

American Family Children’s Hospital

Madison, Wisconsin

Help care for sick children with a variety of illnesses.

Posted Sep 24 · New grads welcomed

Shift and hours: One shift per 6 weeks should be an evening, night, weekend or holiday As applicable to operations, one shift should be an evening, night, weekend or holiday.
Unit and setting: PICU / CVPICU · Hospital Problems include: acute head injuries, critical neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, cardiac anomalies, organ transplantation, multi system organ failure, and ECMO.
License: RN license Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the State of WI or holds a license issued by a jurisdiction that has adopted the nurse licensure compact Upon Hire RequiredRN license in WI or compact state upon hire
Term: Per Diem Option 1A Per Diem Registered Nurses must commit to work a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours, per six (6) week scheduling period in direct patient care.Per Diem (minimum 24 hours per 6-⁠week period)

Do you qualify?

New grads: Welcomed, residency program
License: RN license in WI or compact state upon hire Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the State of WI or holds a license issued by a jurisdiction that has adopted the nurse licensure compact Upon Hire Required Check your license
Certification: CPR/BLS certification upon hire Current CPR/BLS Certification Upon Hire Required
Experience: six months nursing experience or Nurse Residency completion

Preferred

Certification: relevant certification Relevant certification Preferred
Education: Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) Preferred
Experience: relevant RN experience Relevant RN Experience Preferred

Let us help you check

Your six-month RN application plan

Start about six months before graduation. Some programs open earlier; use each employer’s application dates.

Graduation month

6 months before
Shortlist units
Check application windows. Gather clinical experience, references and your expected graduation date.
Find residencies
4–6 months before
Apply as windows open
Apply before graduation when the program allows it. Keep the cohort date and license deadline with each application.
Explore new grad jobs
2–3 months before
Meet the unit manager
Ask about overtime, a shadow shift, preceptor continuity and the schedule after orientation.
Prepare your questions
Around graduation
Confirm your start
Coordinate NCLEX, the required license and your start date. Get relocation and repayment terms in writing.
Plan your license

Why start this early?

Advocate describes a 6–9 month application runway for several regional RN programs. These milestones are a planning guide, not deadlines for every employer. See program calendars.

What it pays

Against similar roles: In range for Wisconsin PRN rolesWisconsin PRN postings that state pay run $33/hr to $56/hr, the middle half $39/hr to $50/hr, across 90 postings.

Benefits

BenefitsUW Health Employee Wellbeing Department resources for emotional, financial, and physical well-beingAccess to great resources through the UW Health Employee Wellbeing Department that supports your emotional, financial, and physical well-being.
Employee Wellbeing Department

The role and schedule

Day to day: provide family-centered care to critically ill or injured children and their families
Day to day: provide comprehensive care for patients admitted with medical and surgical problems Provide comprehensive care for patients admitted with a wide variety of both medical and surgical problems.
Patients: acute head injuries, critical neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, cardiac anomalies, organ transplantation, multi system organ failure, and ECMO Problems include: acute head injuries, critical neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, cardiac anomalies, organ transplantation, multi system organ failure, and ECMO.
Day to day: provide high quality care to complex cardiac conditions Provide high quality care to complex cardiac conditions.
Patients: complex congenital heart defects, Ventricular Assisted Devices, and heart transplant Including complex congenital heart defects, Ventricular Assisted Devices, and heart transplant.
Unit size: 21-bed unit
Weekends: Weekends required
Details: Level One Pediatric Trauma Center and Level IV NICU It is also home to our Level One Pediatric Trauma Center and Level IV NICU, which cares for the tiniest patients throughout Wisconsin and beyond

Support on this unit

Nurse to patient: acuity-based staffing ratios Acuity based staffing ratios for optimal safety.
Orientation: Residency program

The workplace

UW Health

Hospital: American Family Children’s Hospital
Address: 1675 Highland Ave., Madison, WI, 53792

Directions to the workplace Organization profile Workplace website

About American Family Children’s Hospital

Worth asking

Can you walk me through base pay range and differentials?
What should I expect for shifts, weekly hours, holiday, call, and rotation?

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Your fit

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On your path

Pediatrics is open from year one. Children's hospitals run their own new grad residencies.

See your windows →Check first: New-grad residency fine print

Original listing

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Work Schedule

Option 1A Per Diem Registered Nurses must commit to work a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours, per six (6) week scheduling period in direct patient care. As applicable to operations, one shift should be an evening, night, weekend or holiday. You will be working at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, WI.

Be part of something remarkable!

Help care for sick children with a variety of illnesses.

We are seeking a Registered Nurse (RN) - PICU / CVPICU to

Join our remarkable highly skilled and committed multidisciplinary team, to provide family-centered care to critically ill or injured children and their families in this state-of-the art 21-bed unit.

Provide comprehensive care for patients admitted with a wide variety of both medical and surgical problems. Problems include: acute head injuries, critical neurological disorders, pulmonary diseases, cardiac anomalies, organ transplantation, multi system organ failure, and ECMO.

Provide high quality care to complex cardiac conditions. Including complex congenital heart defects, Ventricular Assisted Devices, and heart transplant.

Learn more about the PICU!

At UW Health, you will have

Options for a variety of schedules and shifts that offer flexibility and allow for work-life balance.

Access to great resources through the UW Health Employee Wellbeing Department that supports your emotional, financial, and physical well-being.

Acuity based staffing ratios for optimal safety.

A strong shared governance structure which assures every nurse has a voice.

A place where nursing excellence is recognized and celebrated in our inpatient and outpatient settings through several award programs.

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) Preferred

Work Experience

Inpatient Units: Six (6) months nursing experience or current participant in UW Health’s Nurse Residency Program with successful completion of the Nurse Residency Orientation on unit/similar unit. Required

Relevant RN Experience Preferred

Licenses & Certifications

Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the State of WI or holds a license issued by a jurisdiction that has adopted the nurse licensure compact Upon Hire Required

Current CPR/BLS Certification Upon Hire Required

PALS within 6 months Required

Relevant certification Preferred

Our Commitment to Social Impact and Belonging

UW Health is committed to fostering a workplace that creates belonging for everyone and is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. Our respect for people shines through patient care interactions and our daily work practices as we work to embrace the knowledge, unique perspectives and qualities each employee and faculty member brings to work each day. It is the policy of UW Health to provide equal opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin —also a Magnet®-designated facility—provides specialized care in a healing environment designed especially for pediatric patients and their families. American Family Children’s Hospital is a comprehensive pediatric medical and surgical center, with nationally recognized pediatric specialists in a wide range of fields. It is also home to our Level One Pediatric Trauma Center and Level IV NICU, which cares for the tiniest patients throughout Wisconsin and beyond

UW Hospital and Clinic Benefits

What's around it?

American Family Children’s Hospital · Madison, WI

Madison, WIFrom Census ACS 2024.

Living costs about 3% below the US average

Median rent: $1,413/mo
Household income: $78,050/yr, all local households, not nurse pay

Life in Madison, WI

NeighborhoodsRecent grads and young professionals on Reddit often look at East Washington Avenue and blocks right by the Capitol, plus East Side pockets that stay cheaper than the near-east even as they gentrify; Sun Prairie comes up as a cheaper bedroom-community commute. Extra Space’s 2026 roundup flags Hill Farms-University as the in-city budget option (median home $274,000, median rent $708), Marquette for historic charm and lakeside recreation ($298,833 / $1,186), Vilas near UW–Madison ($393,950 / $1,475), and Dudgeon-Monroe as a tree-lined mix of families and young pros with more than a mile and a half of Monroe Street shops ($423,567 / $1,287). Families are frequently pointed toward suburbs Verona, Middleton, and Waunakee.

Recent grads and young professionals on Reddit often look at East Washington Avenue and blocks right by the Capitol, plus East Side pockets that stay cheaper than the near-east even as they gentrify; Sun Prairie comes up as a cheaper bedroom-community commute. Extra Space’s 2026 roundup flags Hill Farms-University as the in-city budget option (median home $274,000, median rent $708), Marquette for historic charm and lakeside recreation ($298,833 / $1,186), Vilas near UW–Madison ($393,950 / $1,475), and Dudgeon-Monroe as a tree-lined mix of families and young pros with more than a mile and a half of Monroe Street shops ($423,567 / $1,287).

Families are frequently pointed toward suburbs Verona, Middleton, and Waunakee.

Sources

As of Sep 11, 2026Source 1: reddit.com Source 2: extraspace.com Source 3: facebook.com

Getting aroundU.S. News puts the typical Madison commute at about 18.31 minutes. Metro Transit’s Rapid Route A BRT runs east-west from the Sun Prairie Park and Ride to Junction Road with 15-minute weekday service until 8:00 p.m. and 15-minute Saturday service until 7:00 p.m.; Routes B and F also board along that corridor, so a home near a BRT station can feel closer than the map suggests. Redfin scores transit 35/100 and flags limited, inconsistent buses especially in the suburbs, so most nurses will still want a car. The west side holds about 33,000 residents and more than 23,000 jobs concentrated around University Research Park; UW Hospital and Clinics is the named major healthcare hub. Hospital parking and shift-specific routes are not covered in these sources.

U.S. News puts the typical Madison commute at about 18.31 minutes. Metro Transit’s Rapid Route A BRT runs east-west from the Sun Prairie Park and Ride to Junction Road with 15-minute weekday service until 8:00 p.m. and 15-minute Saturday service until 7:00 p.m.; Routes B and F also board along that corridor, so a home near a BRT station can feel closer than the map suggests.

Redfin scores transit 35/100 and flags limited, inconsistent buses especially in the suburbs, so most nurses will still want a car. The west side holds about 33,000 residents and more than 23,000 jobs concentrated around University Research Park; UW Hospital and Clinics is the named major healthcare hub.

Hospital parking and shift-specific routes are not covered in these sources.

Sources

As of Sep 11, 2026Source 1: realestate.usnews.com Source 2: susansuttonhomes.com Source 3: redfin.com Source 4: apartmentguide.com

OutdoorsMadison sits between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona among five area lakes, with 307 parks, a free Henry Vilas Zoo, and more than 200 miles of biking and hiking trails including the Capital City State Trail. Named greenspaces include Olbrich Park and Hillington Green Park in Dudgeon-Monroe; residents kayak, fish, boat, and paddleboard the lakes, and state parks sit within about an hour’s drive. Winters shut down much of this, but summers turn the lakes, beer gardens, and trail network into daily life rather than weekend trips.

Madison sits between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona among five area lakes, with 307 parks, a free Henry Vilas Zoo, and more than 200 miles of biking and hiking trails including the Capital City State Trail. Named greenspaces include Olbrich Park and Hillington Green Park in Dudgeon-Monroe; residents kayak, fish, boat, and paddleboard the lakes, and state parks sit within about an hour’s drive.

Winters shut down much of this, but summers turn the lakes, beer gardens, and trail network into daily life rather than weekend trips.

Sources

As of Sep 11, 2026Source 1: visitmadison.com Source 2: redfin.com Source 3: youtube.com Source 4: apartmentguide.com Source 5: extraspace.com

Others hiring in Madison, WI

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Moving for this role?

Check the commute at your shift’s start and end, upfront housing costs, and whether moving assistance must be repaid if you leave.

Living in Madison

Madison is a mid-size capital and Big Ten town squeezed between Lakes Mendota and Monona, with 307 parks, 200-plus miles of trails, a free Henry Vilas Zoo, and the Dane County Farmers' Market on the Capitol Square. Nurses get UW Hospital and Clinics plus west-side jobs at University Research Park; typical commute is about 18 minutes, but Rapid Route A is the only frequent BRT spine and Transit Score is 35, so most still drive. Young professionals land on the East Side, East Wash, and near the Capitol; Hill Farms-University is the budget in-city option, Dudgeon-Monroe and Vilas cost more near Monroe Street and campus. Food is a genuine draw—The Old Fashioned, Graze, State Street Brats, Olbrich Biergarten, and a thick brewery circuit. Locals are blunt about tradeoffs: winters can run November through March, listings hit about $486k in 2026, diversity is limited, and this is not a big city. If you bike, boat, and can handle a long winter, daily quality of life is the pitch.

AI area guide

Sources

As of 2026Source 1: visitmadison.com Source 2: realestate.usnews.com Source 3: susansuttonhomes.com Source 4: extraspace.com Source 5: redfin.com Source 6: concoursehotel.com Source 7: youtube.com Source 8: thehonestlocal.com

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Do you qualify?

Preferred

Shortlist units

Apply as windows open

Meet the unit manager

Confirm your start

What it pays

Benefits

The role and schedule

Support on this unit

The workplace

Worth asking

Ask Mira

Your fit

On your path

Original listing

Work Schedule

We are seeking a Registered Nurse (RN) - PICU / CVPICU to

At UW Health, you will have

Qualifications

Work Experience

Licenses & Certifications

Our Commitment to Social Impact and Belonging

What's around it?

Madison, WIiFrom Census ACS 2024.

Life in Madison, WI

Moving for this role?

Nurses on this role

Nurses on this role

Life in Madison, WI

Moving for this role?

Nurses on this role

Madison, WIFrom Census ACS 2024.