ICU Interview Questions to Anticipate

Specialties Critical

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I was hoping to get some advice for two telephone interviews that I have scheduled for late September. I am graduating in December, and I am trying to line up a job at a couple ICU's (planning for the shotgun approach). What types of questions should I anticipate during the interview? Are there any questions that I should ask when given the opportunity? I am pretty nervous about this development, and I would really appreciate any help in order to not blow my chance at getting my shot in an ICU.

Specializes in ICU.

Were you ever in a stressful situation? WHat was it and how did you handle it?

What would be your biggest weakness coming in?

If you had problems with a nursing assistant, how would you handle it?

If you had problems with family members, how would you handle it?

Why should we hire you?

Need more? :lol2:

I know that i am not supposed to say that i don't have a weakness, so what kind of weaknesses might they be looking for as a disqualified. What would be important to mention as a weakness. Obviously I don't want to say that I am a homicidal maniac, but I want to make sure that I have a response without scaring the daylights out of them.

Specializes in ICU.

Got me. You asked for questions, and those are the questions that I've been asked lately.

Thanks!

Specializes in All forms of pediatric care.

Yeah! Got anything else? :bowingpur

The one that got a few of the nurses when we were applying for the critical care fellowship was "your patient is post op 2 hours. His blood pressure is 75/40. What would you do first?" Almost everyone said "call the doctor". They were looking for a more "critical care" answer such as "how are you getting the pressure, via a manual cuff, dynamap, or arterial line?" Also, they wanted to know if the patient was stable, what their heart rate was doing...stuff like that. They want to make sure that you see the BIG PICTURE of your patient, and not just the fact that their pressure is low.

Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care, Trauma.

As a new grad you have an easy and effective "weakness" you can list if the question comes up. Delegation.

"As someone who has been in a position of learning until this point in my life, I've had less experience delegating tasks. I'm not in a position where I feel comfortable delegating even the more menial tasks because I won't know the people around me or how they do things compared to how I was taught. It's something I'll have to work into once people know what they can expect from me as well as what I can expect from them."

Say, chansen, that's a really good response!

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