Critical Care Interview Reference

SaraStrong · Jan 2, 2014

I recently had a series of interviews for a position in the MICU. First was with HR (nurse recruiter,) the second was with the Nurse Manager, and the third was a 'peer interview' with two nurses from the unit. I still don't know if I landed the job, but I was SO nervous about the whole process, and this site has been such a wonderful reference for me, I thought I'd jot down the questions I was asked as help for others that are facing the interview process.

In the HR interview, most questions were behaviorally oriented, I was asked:

1. Why do you want to come to this hospital, and this unit?

2. What descriptors would your manager/preceptor use to describe you?

3. What type of person do you have trouble getting along with? Name a time you had a conflict and what you did to resolve it?

4. What is one of your weaknesses?

In the Managerial interview I was asked:

1. Why are you interested in coming to the MICU?

2. Tell me a little about what your background is and your experience so far.

3. Name a time when you were caught off guard clinically, and had to change your course of action?

4. What do you like most about your current job? What do you like least/what would you change?

5. Name a time when you were presented with a challenge, and how you handled it.

In the peer interview I was asked almost exclusively scenario type questions:

1. Why are you interested in coming to the MICU?

2. Name a time when you committed to something that you ended up not being able to follow through with. How did you handle this?

3. Name a time when you made a mistake. What did you do and how did you handle it?

4. Name a time when you were asked to do something that wasn't in your job description. What did you do and how did you handle it?

5. Name a time when you helped someone out, and it made a difference.

6. Name a time when you had to prioritize, and choose doing one thing over doing another?

7. Name a time when your input affected the plan of care. What happened and how did things turn out?

I was asked two more questions in the last interview, too, but can't recall them.

I hope this helps someone! Haha.. I searched high and low on here prior to interviewing and it really helped me prepare. :)