Help! PICU interview and no experience

Specialties PICU

Published

Hi there!

I've been a nurse for a little over three years but only have 10 months of experience (adult telemetry/IMC). I quit my telemetry job in January 2015 and haven't worked since then due to family reasons. My ideal job is in the NICU but after getting rejected so many times I decided to just randomly apply to several positions at the children's hospital and was happily surprised this morning when I got an interview for the PICU.

I have no idea how this interview is gonna go? I definitely feel like I'm not qualified at all. I even feel worse than a new grad cause it's been forever since I graduated and worked. I assume that if they called me out of all the applicants is because they're looking for somebody eager to learn and train?

Could you give me any advice or tips? I really want this job.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

I think that although your last work experience was a couple of years ago, your telemetry background is what got you in the door. My advice? Don't downplay the gap in your employment but also don't offer too many details either. Indicate your willingness to work hard to catch up, your burning desire to learn and your strong interest in children's health. Many of the patients you'd work with in PICU will be infants and toddlers, airway issues will be involved for most of them. To prepare for the clinical part of the interview, check out some of the interview-related threads in this forum and do some reviewing. Also prepare to be asked about family-centered care principles, because all of those kids have families.

Thank you so much for your response!

I think I'm more worried about the clinical part of the interview, so I definitely need to review a bunch of stuff :/

You receive a post op patient and their blood pressure drops, what actions do you take ?

I feel like this is a popular interview question for ICU

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