How did you break into CTICU?

Specialties CCU

Published

To all the CTICU nurses -- How did you end up breaking into CTICU? I know the job market is pretty tight right now but jeesh! I am having a really hard time even scoring an interview for a CTICU.

Example -- I applied for a FT nights position that was posted for external applicants at an inner city hospital not far from my home. A week went by and I didnt hear anything so I contacted the recruiter...she simply stated that I was not selected.

I, in my opinion, have a pretty impressive resume for a "young" nurse. I have two years of SICU experience, my BSN, CCRN, and CMC certs. you would think that I would have at least gotten to interview??

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Specializes in Flight RN, Trauma1 CVICU STICU MICU CCU.

Move to Tucson. My CVI is hiring.

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic ICU.

yea you should be able to at least interview with your experience. Maybe the job was already given to somebody but posted online. I know places have to post jobs to the public even if they already have selected someone.

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yea you should be able to at least interview with your experience. Maybe the job was already given to somebody but posted online. I know places have to post jobs to the public even if they already have selected someone.
That's the law in New Zealand too.
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I know this is a cliche but many times it's NOT about what you know, rather, WHO you know! Good luck!

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Sorry to hear about that. I don't know where you live, but you should try other hospitals. I had to semi-move/commute to get into a level 1 trauma, but it was worth it. Also, it sounds like the position probably was already given away in house and they forgot to update. You seem to be really qualified and now of people who have had less and gotten in. Please don't give up.

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Are you applying to a CT-ICU as an internal transfer or applying to other hospitals? I'd say, try to find out who the nurse manager is and contact them directly. HR can be super slow in getting your info to the nurse manager and a job posting online may be gone by the time you apply. Get in contact with the NM directly, talk about your strengths and reasons for wanting to get into CVICU... ask about shadowing, and make a good impression on staff. AND, follow up constantly... it may feel like you're being a pester, but it's all about keeping your name at the forefront of their memory.

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Specializes in CT ICU, Med Surg.

Where do you live? I live in Los Angeles, here if you apply to one government hospital, it sends out your resume to all-- but it is a slooooooow process. I kept following up with the recruiter and one of the positions that opened up was CT ICU. The turnaround on nights is a bit high, and my unit needs people on nights-- they ended up hiring 6 new grads, most with just an associates but put them in med surg first.( I'm one of those. )The training process for CT ICU was 2 mos. alone which isn't enough I think.

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