Cleveland clinic sicu and cvicu interview

[Nickc512]

Hi, I have 2 interviews at cleveland clinic in a couple of weeks. One is in the sicu and one is in the cvicu and I am shadowing after both. I am a new grad and wonder if anyone has any tips and what to expect for these interviews? Also if you work on any of these units how do you like it?

Thanks,

Nick

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

Which CVICU do you have an interview on?

[Nickc512]

J6-5 cardiovascular surgical ICU and I don`t want to sound like an idiot but what is the difference between the different cvicu`s there?

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

Well, from what I was told they each have different specialties (but all act as overflows for one another). 3-1 is coronary ICU, 3-2 is heart failure ICU, 5-4 is surgical cv ICU, 5-5 is device ICU (LVAD's, total artificial hearts), 5-6 I think is another surgical cv ICU, 6-6 is vascular ICU....I wanna say 6-4 and 6-5 are cardiothoracic ICU's?

[Nickc512]

Okay great, thanks for clearing that up!

[ChipNurse]

I work in SICU and I would highly recommend. The cardiovascular ICU have a reputation for being a hard place to work (difficult docs/ hard personalities). The SICU has great staffing, awesome management and we have docs in unit 24/7...it's a great place to work!

[Nickc512]

Okay great thanks for your input, what kind of patients do you typically see in the SICU there since there is so many different specialty units at the cleveland clinic? Also do you have any tips for my interview? Any material to brush up on prior to my interview? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

I've heard it depends on the type of ICU. I shadowed in J 3-1 and heard great things about it. I can see the cardiac surgical ICU's being a hard place to work. Plus a lot of the cardiac ICU's have a high turnover since everyone uses it as a stepping stone to get into CRNA school.

[ChipNurse]

We get liver transplant, multi visceral transplant, bowel transplant, occassionally kidney transplant. We have had 2 face transplants as well. We get anything surgical (other than cardiovascular) that gets sick. We see a lot of pneumonia, sepsis, afib with rvr, post op codes, PE, etc. We also float to neuro icu and medical icu, so there is plenty of opportunity to learn a ton!

[danilups]

Hello,

just reading this thread now... i'm wondering how your interview went and if you got hired?

Im currently scheduled for an SICU interview in the next month and its my dream position. I'm nervous about how the floor experience will go. I want to make a good impression on the nurse that I shadow. Please let me know any tips and if as a shadow interviewee you are allowed to do stuff?

Thank you!!

[Doglover16]

@danilupsDid you get the job? If so, what was your experience as a new grad in the SICU? Was the team environment supportive and was it new grad friendly?