HELP super nervous for my NICU Interview

Specialties NICU

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Hello, 

I am a new grad and I have a NICU interview in two days. I'm super nervous about what kind of patient care scenarios they might ask. What patient scenarios do you think they are likely to ask me?

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Specializes in NICU.
On 9/27/2020 at 12:03 AM, AnaBanana.RN said:

I'm super nervous about what kind of patient care scenarios they might ask.

They shouldn't ask NICU patient scenarios because nursing school does not cover NICU type patients, so you would not have any knowledge about a patient scenario.

The interview should focus on you. "Why do you want to work in the NICU?" and  "What do you know about the NICU?" They might go through the generic interview type question "Tell me about a time when..." or  "You see a co-worker doing a procedure incorrectly. What do you do?"

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Specializes in Cosmetic RN.

How did your go?

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The interview was hard. They asked 5 behavioral scenarios and I completely blanked on 2 of them and I don't feel the other 3 were adequate answers. For instance one question was tell me about a time you had a crucial patient and tell me how you used critical thinking to care for this patient? What actions did you take and what was the result? What would you have done differently? Being a new grad this was really difficult for me to answer. They then asked 4 more similar questions and then that was it. I was like thats it? And they said that they only ask 5 behavioral questions. I was trying to save the interview and I said I know this interview wasn't great but I want to tell you about myself and why I want the job. They were very nice and the unit manager gave me his business card and he said he wanted me to know that I'm still in the running. I'm just hoping he isn't giving me false hope because he felt bad for me. I made 5 nursing portfolios and gave them 5 letters of recommendation from my previous clinical instructors who work at that hospital and I spent a year of my clinicals there, I'm really hoping that is enough to save me. 

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Specializes in Cosmetic RN.
On 9/28/2020 at 8:32 PM, AnaBanana.RN said:

The interview was hard. They asked 5 behavioral scenarios and I completely blanked on 2 of them and I don't feel the other 3 were adequate answers. For instance one question was tell me about a time you had a crucial patient and tell me how you used critical thinking to care for this patient? What actions did you take and what was the result? What would you have done differently? Being a new grad this was really difficult for me to answer. They then asked 4 more similar questions and then that was it. I was like thats it? And they said that they only ask 5 behavioral questions. I was trying to save the interview and I said I know this interview wasn't great but I want to tell you about myself and why I want the job. They were very nice and the unit manager gave me his business card and he said he wanted me to know that I'm still in the running. I'm just hoping he isn't giving me false hope because he felt bad for me. I made 5 nursing portfolios and gave them 5 letters of recommendation from my previous clinical instructors who work at that hospital and I spent a year of my clinicals there, I'm really hoping that is enough to save me. 

Sorry your interview didn't go as well as you hoped. I recently interviewed too  and the director only asked me 1 behavioral question. It was, tell me about a time you did an assessment and found something in the assessment that was critical to the patient care. My interview went well but it’s like the 3rd one I had. The first one was terrible ...so I know exactly how you feel . Wishing you luck! 

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Specializes in NICU.
On 9/28/2020 at 9:32 PM, AnaBanana.RN said:

I'm just hoping he isn't giving me false hope because he felt bad for me. I made 5 nursing portfolios and gave them 5 letters of recommendation from my previous clinical instructors who work at that hospital and I spent a year of my clinicals there, I'm really hoping that is

I have sat in on many a behavioral interview, it is all baloney ,a new grad can only present what she knows, her work ethic, loyalty to commit to at least a year in the unit before  requesting a transfer, this is important because the orientation is expensive and longer than some others, do not forget it is an ICU and being that remember NICU is also like the emergency room for those very vulnerable babies, so you have to be sharp ,know your stuff cold and bring your A game every single day. Be Willing to do almost any task regardless if it is  below your pay grade education whatever. I have emptied garbage, changed paper towel dispensers, changed soap dispensers, called engineering to fix from phones to doctors on call rooms, anything and everything to keep the unit running smoothly. don't talk about yourself ,learn  by listening  attentively,do not pretend to know  what you do not .

 

Good luck,you will do well.

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Hello Everyone, 

Sorry it took me so long to give an update. Unfortunately, I did not get the job and I took it really hard initially, but I realized although I'm not a NICU nurse yet, I will get there. I got hired at a long term acute care hospital and I know this is my first stepping stone towards my goal of becoming a NICU nurse. Thank you all for your support and advice. 

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Specializes in NICU.

As a new graduate nurse there are not a ton of patient scenario questions they can ask you.  Very few nursing students have enough experience in their capstone projects to be able to answer a lot of patient scenario questions.  Mostly they want to make sure that you are reasonably intelligent and mature and that you have integrity.  So be honest if you don't know the answer or haven't been in that situation yet.  

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did you find out if you got it?

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