Nurse Intern/CNA Position with St. Agnes

I just went to an interview there last week. I expected it to be sort of community hospital-ish...(whatever that means...) and I got my hat handed to me!!

They were really sharp. I went into a small room for a group interview with 7 people there asking me questions at a round table. 2 HR people, 3 RN's from the unit, 1 tech, the unit manager. Intimidating, and not what I was prepared for.

I have a new found respect for them though.

They had a Student Nurse position open in the ED. ED is not my first choice, but it's something I'm interested in. I thought I could go, get a feel for the position, and let them get to know me; but it was hard core. I think the person they were looking for was someone with ED experiance and who knew in their heart this was where they wanted to be. I'm no shrinking violet, but I couldn't honestly sell myself on this one. I've never even done an ED rotation yet, so I don't think I was their best candidate. I think they were looking for a student nurse who had some tech experiance in ED. Very nice people though.

Classic interview stuff. Why ED? Why you? What can you bring to the unit? Why St Agnes? Also, a few of those annoying questions, "Tell me about a time you were challenged by a clinical situation and how you handled that?" "What would your best friend say you're biggest opportunity area for growth is?" I hate that stuff. It makes me think I ought to dig out my copy of What Color is Your Parachute though and start prepping for the interview that REALLY want!

Northwest Hospital, I feel, has a better reputation for customer service than St. Agnes, which may translate into better employee satisfaction. Sinai also is worth checking out. These are just my impressions. I think you may be treated better at one of these other hospitals. I enjoyed my nursing school rotations at Sinai and Harbor.

I graduated from Howard Community College. Regarding Northwest, keep trying, cause ya never know...good luck!

Just for the record, most nurse intern positions require or recommend that you finish fundamentals so you can "test out" of taking the CNA test. Hospitals also consider that you have some hands on experience and knowledge at that point, versus being a pre-nursing/new student.