How do I stand out above the crowd?

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).

I am a nursing student and I am hoping to graduate and then go directly into an ICU. Being a new grad, I know it may be more difficult to get into the ICU directly out of school but I know it has been done and I am going to try. What would you suggest I do to make myself stand out more above the other applicants? My grades are excellent. I have a 3.86 GPA but I know I'm not the only person doing well in school. So I need to stand out. I know I can do some volunteer work and shadowing at the hospital but I'm not sure if that will do the trick. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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Specializes in ICU.

If possible, try to find an externship in an ICU. Actual experience, even as a student is very helpful.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Yep....try to find an summer externship or schedule your preceptorship in an ICU.

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Specializes in ER, ICU cath lab, remote med.

I did a summer externship, got a job as a tech, and then did my senior preceptorship in the ICU. After all that, I didn't even have to interview for the job!

Good luck!

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I am graduating in December with an ADN and, like you, I hope to go straight to ICU. I'm doing some extra things to try to make myself a better candidate.

I'm doing my 6th quarter preceptorship in an ICU (starting in September). Over the summer break, I'm taking ACLS and an EKG interpretation course. I'm also going to a nursing symposium in Las Vegas, which has a critical care track. On my own, I'm studying some books on critical care and hemodynamic monitoring in order to be well prepared for my preceptorship.

If I can wow and impress them during my preceptorship, I hope I can get a good recommendation and get selected for the New Grad Critical Care internship. I know it is competitive for new grads out there...they aren't just handing out jobs on a silver platter. ;)

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).

Thanks for the advice everyone! My program hasn't started yet so I don't know how preceptorships work at my school or if we even have them. It seems that most people have said their school has them so it would stand to reason that my school would. I signed up for some volunteering with United Way and the YWCA for the summer. I really would like to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity at some point. So it is a start.

I guess I just need to wait until my program starts to get more information. I am in a 2 year ADN program and after the first year we can get our LPN. Maybe I will get that and see if I could work in or close to the ICU over the summer before school starts up again. That is, of course, if my school doesn't have us do summer preceptorships.

Thanks again everyone!

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Specializes in CCU/CVU/ICU.
I am graduating in December with an ADN and, like you, I hope to go straight to ICU. I'm doing some extra things to try to make myself a better candidate.

I'm doing my 6th quarter preceptorship in an ICU (starting in September). Over the summer break, I'm taking ACLS and an EKG interpretation course. I'm also going to a nursing symposium in Las Vegas, which has a critical care track. On my own, I'm studying some books on critical care and hemodynamic monitoring in order to be well prepared for my preceptorship.

If I can wow and impress them during my preceptorship, I hope I can get a good recommendation and get selected for the New Grad Critical Care internship. I know it is competitive for new grads out there...they aren't just handing out jobs on a silver platter. ;)

The best way to get hired as a new grad in ICU is to get a job there as a tech/intern/aid/whatever and 'gel' with the staff, display a good work ethic...and be a likeable person. All the ICU-smart stuff'll come with experience...and 'classes' provided by the hospital

New-Grad hires into ICU are *usually* known by the staff/management...not outside hires. *usually*

reading ICU books and getting acls and ekg-classed and all of that as a student/tech is good...but trying to'wow' the icu management with your intelli-smart-critical-care-prepared-student/grad-wanna-be-ICU-nurse wont impress any seasoned icu nurse at all. Or at least not as much as proving to them that you're a team-player, open to suggestions, willingness to learn, and the knowledge that you're a person with POTENTIAL.

(new grads are new grads...no matter what class/prep they've had or A+'s they've earned...respect from ICU nurses will come when/after you make your bones)

Staff nurses usually (if unofficially) communicate their opinions/assessments of potential hires to the management...which can/will influence their decisions...

This is a generalization of course...BUT is fairly accurate in most cases...

Good Luck to all of you eager new-grad ICU nurses to be!

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The best way to get hired as a new grad in ICU is to get a job there as a tech/intern/aid/whatever and 'gel' with the staff, display a good work ethic...and be a likeable person. All the ICU-smart stuff'll come with experience...and 'classes' provided by the hospital

New-Grad hires into ICU are *usually* known by the staff/management...not outside hires. *usually*

reading ICU books and getting acls and ekg-classed and all of that as a student/tech is good...but trying to'wow' the icu management with your intelli-smart-critical-care-prepared-student/grad-wanna-be-ICU-nurse wont impress any seasoned icu nurse at all. Or at least not as much as proving to them that you're a team-player, open to suggestions, willingness to learn, and the knowledge that you're a person with POTENTIAL.

(new grads are new grads...no matter what class/prep they've had or A+'s they've earned...respect from ICU nurses will come when/after you make your bones)

Staff nurses usually (if unofficially) communicate their opinions/assessments of potential hires to the management...which can/will influence their decisions...

This is a generalization of course...BUT is fairly accurate in most cases...

Good Luck to all of you eager new-grad ICU nurses to be!

(I didn't really mean to thank your post, because I thought you were a little condescending toward my post about the things I'm trying to do to be more attractive as a new grad hoping to get into the ICU. However, I cannot "unthank" even though I hit the button accidentally.)

Your point about job experience is noted but not all of us have the opportunity to work in an ICU while in nursing school. I have spoken with some ICU nurses I know and they all say that doing extra things like taking ACLS and understanding EKGs and understanding hemodynamics will help flatten the learning curve a bit once you get in there.

The team player stuff goes without saying. I always operate like that in the clinical setting and will show that same team player attitude during my preceptorship. But without the knowledge base, it is hard to be a constructive member of the team. The more confident I am in my understanding of the pathophysiology and technology, the more confident I will be giving patient care.

I will take a full patient load during my 6th quarter preceptorship, so I guess that will be as close as will get to showing my work ethic to potential managers and coworkers. If I don't get hired into the critical care new grad internship, I'll get a year of med-surg and try again.

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Oh and I would think that displaying motivation and eagerness to learn would also be valued traits in an aspiring ICU nurse, along with all those other nice qualities you mentioned. But what do I know, I'm just a newbie who's yet to prove myself....

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I didn't think his post was condescending in the least, and I thanked him for it because it was spot on.

If you have ACLS and good grades, and you are up against someone who was a tech or CNA in that ICU, and it's only one slot, then you probably won't get the job. I was a straight A student, references from my teachers...all that. But the one and only reason I was hired as the only new grad was due to my experience as a PCT. That was explained very clearly to me in my interview. I also did my preceptorship in an ICU. They liked that as well. Both were important.

Not to say that learning EKGs, hemodynamics isn't helpful, of course. It is. It's something you will have to learn anyway.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
(I didn't really mean to thank your post, because I thought you were a little condescending toward my post about the things I'm trying to do to be more attractive as a new grad hoping to get into the ICU. However, I cannot "unthank" even though I hit the button accidentally.)

Grrrr, don't you hate it when that happens? I hate accidental 'thank you's'....

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I didn't find that post condescending. Dinith is speaking the truth. All that stuff makes you look good on paper and in an interview but ICUs are looking for individuals who are team players and are willing to learn and participate. Many ICUs including the one I work in are having staff nurses interview potential employees to see who would be a good fit for the ICU. The best way to get into an ICU after graduation is to do an externship after you complete your med/surg rotation or to get hired into an internship. Taking ACLS and EKG courses are a good start too.

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