Critical care for new grads without critical care senior practicum?

1. Anyone heard of this? I know someone who didn't get the placement they wanted for senior practicum, but still really wants to find a critical care new grad program. This person is quite literally top tier in every other respect. I don't want them to lose all hope. Is there hope for the person to enter directly into the specialty of their design?

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2. 5 Comments

   Comment
3. 
   Feb 27, '13

   I never even had an ICU experience in nursing school and I'm an ICU nurse now! I'm not sure why so many students are fixated on the fact that they didn't get the senior preceptorship of their choice and now bemoan never getting to do the area of their choice. It's not a foregone conclusion that your senior preceptorship will lead you to a job anymore. If your friend wants to ICU, have them apply! If they can't get an ICU new grad position, start off in med-surg-tele for a year or two before trying again.
4. 
   Feb 27, '13

   Could she at least become a tech in an ICU? I have heard of some ICU's hiring their techs as nurses after they graduate.
5. 
   Jun 9, '13

   The closest thing to "critical" that I had in nursing school was a PACU clinical. As a new grad (and not at the top of my class) I got job offers for neuro ICU, a step down telemetry unit and peds CVICU. I took the peds CVICU at a large pediatric hospital and I'm loving it!
6. 
   Jul 1, '13

   I had placements in orthopedics, diabetic/renal, and surgical post op. Any new grad will need a thorough orientation whether or not they were precepted in critical care. A solid interview is more likely to land you a critical care position than school experience.
7. 
   Jul 1, '13

   Our hospital's critical care nurse residency program does not take what clinical experience students had in school into account. It simply doesn't matter.

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