I have a ICU & Med Surg interview next week....How to prepare!!! any advice?

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I have a ICU and Med Surg interview next week. I was wondering if you guys can give me some advice. I do fairly well with interviews, never really get nervous about it. I had several offers in different position but I have been holding out for this ICU job. Should I tell the DON that I have other offers but that I decided this is what I wanted to do and that ICU is my passion, or would that come off to forward.

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Specializes in ICU.
I have a ICU and Med Surg interview next week. I was wondering if you guys can give me some advice. I do fairly well with interviews, never really get nervous about it. I had several offers in different position but I have been holding out for this ICU job. Should I tell the DON that I have other offers but that I decided this is what I wanted to do and that ICU is my passion, or would that come off to forward.

Telling the DON (if this is someone who is over the ICU) that you WANT to do ICU is not forward - it's very reasonable. If the DON is over med/surg and ICU, then a little song & dance will be required - tell the person how you'd be excited to take either position, but you are drawn to ICU.

All I know is based on my single ICU interview, and from talking with members of the interview panel weeks after the fact (after I started in the unit). That being said, they want somebody who is intelligent, driven, detail oriented/anal, passionate about giving good nursing care, drawn to caring for critically ill patients, and also people who are not just using the ICU as a "stepping stone" to CRNA school or whatever. They do not want people who are drawn to the "easy" 1:1 or 1:2 nurse: patient ratios, assuming that it will be easier than taking care of 5-6 pts on a med/surg floor. It is not easier - you will have your butt handed to you from time to time.

Be aggressive in selling yourself, but not arrogant. Expect to be hit with questions for which you DO NOT know the answer. Don't BS - give it your best shot, tell them that you don't know the answer, but also how you would find out the answer (coworkers, your charge RN,...). The interview panel can smell a BS'er a mile away.

Don't just answer the questions with yes/know/short answers. Into your answers during the interview, sell yourself - tell them WHY you are convinced that their ICU is what you want. Tell them what you want to see/do/learn on the unit. Have some idea of what you want to do a while down the road (precept newbies, get CCRN certified, go for a masters in whatever,...).

Have a list of questions ready to ask the panel - stuff like staffing ratios, average length of stay of the patients, percentage of folks on vents, on-call obligations, length of orientation,....

If you have the time and can arrange it before your interview, see if you can shadow a nurse on the unit before your interview. Spend a shift, get a feel for the unit, your future fellow employees, and the patients served. This will show the interviewers that you're serious about the opportunity, and expect them to get feedback about you from the nurse with whom you shadowed. Treat any shadowing experience as sort of a pre-interview.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in L & D, Med-Surge, Dialysis.

Pray and be positive!!

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Nailed the ICU internship!!! Apparently I was the only candidate interviewing. I guess going in face to face with a nurse recruiter is much better then applying online....

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Way to go!!! Great job.

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Congrats!

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Specializes in ICU.
Nailed the ICU internship!!! Apparently I was the only candidate interviewing. I guess going in face to face with a nurse recruiter is much better then applying online....

Congrats!:up: Now all the "fun" begins.....

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Specializes in ICU, Adult & Pediatric Open Heart.

what state are you in?

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