ICU interview--what do they really ask?

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Hi everyone.

I'm just wondering if there is anyone out there who has recently been interviewed for the ICU department or a step down.

I'm planning to apply for those departments and I just want to know what kind of questions they might ask.

I'm actually going to apply to Kaiser Permanente's ICU department.

thanks!

look at the info on here! it's a great resource.

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Specializes in CVICU, Transplant ICU, CCRN.
I would be prepared to answer some of the following:

Why do you want to work in the acute care setting?

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Name a time you failed and what you did about it?

What makes you the stronger canidate?

What experience do you have in the critical/acute care setting?

Where do you see yourself in 5 yrs?

What are your goals if given this opportunity?

I was also asked a very weird question not that anyone would ever get it again. Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? hmmmmmm

Anyway good luck with your interviews. Those are just a few I could think of at 3 am.

Where were you interviewed? Because I got the exact same questions in my interview here in ATL. All except the five years from the now, and the fish in the pond question.

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Hi everyone.

I'm just wondering if there is anyone out there who has recently been interviewed for the ICU department or a step down.

I'm planning to apply for those departments and I just want to know what kind of questions they might ask.

I'm actually going to apply to Kaiser Permanente's ICU department.

thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

did you make the switch to ICU?

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Specializes in Psych.

i'm a new grad and i had my interview with icu today. this site really helped i got the why you want to work here? , tell me more about you? and tell me went above and beyond and how you made a difference in a patient's outcome? all questions that i was expecting and had researched my answers. not word for word but the general idea. i was surprisingly calm and confident. don't know if i got the job but you guys and my grandmother's prayers helped me give a good interview. thanks

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Specializes in Psych.

I got the job. I'm going to be a ICU nurse at a top trauma hospital. Yeah :yeah:I'm so excited. Though I was a psych LPN for a year and psych RN for a few months. I feel as green as a new grad. I've never put in an IV and my patients were for the most part physically well. I'm terrified about failing and I think they have all these expectations of me and I'm going to fall flat on my face and end up jobless. :sniff:

I'm less nervous than I was initially because I'm getting soooo excited of all the things I'm going to learn and all the intresting cases I'm going to see. To work at one of the top trauma hospitals in the county is such a blessing and I am so GRATEFUL for the opportunity. Though I'm going to miss my present job and all the great people I work with. I'm looking foward to my exciting future.

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well.... my hospital FINALLY had an opening for ICU training... i have my interview this week....

i'll let you know how things went.

thanks for everyone's help :)

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Received an offer in MICU and start on the 14th. I used this site to see what kind of questions I would be asked during he interview and currently using it to review for orientation. Allnurses.com rocks!!!!! :thankya:

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Specializes in Psych.

What are you reviewing for orientation?

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For me it was the standard behavoiral type questions: When did you face a conflict and what did you do about it? What was the outcome?, When have you felt challenged?...yada yada...

One fun question that I think sealed the deal for me concerned whom I would like to have dinner with, alive or dead, and why? It caught me off guard given the nature of the interview thus far and I gave it a very off the cuff honest answer that got their attention.

I guess the moral of this is that you should be true to yourself. These people interview so many folks that they know BS from BSN, you know? You want to align yourself with a place that is in line with you. If that is not the case, then what's the point. You see yourself in 5 years looking for another job at another hospital.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

So who was it you'd like to have dinner with, if you don't mind me asking?

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What are you reviewing for orientation?

Currently utilizing the resources in the sticky of this MICU/SICU forum- reviewing systems and common diagnoses of my unit. Did u get the position? 1st day of my orientation is over. Love the facility I am at. Wish you well.

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To be honest, it was my great grandfather. I come from a very small family that consisted of those that lived under our roof and some grandparents and one great grandfather. He was a member of mensa and loved to challenge us at holiday dinners after the eating was done. It seemed like the males of our house (and it was all male, except my mother) would sit around the table long after a meal and go over logic problems and the like. I was only 7 or 8 at the time and found it quite challenging. I did not have that type of exposure as my daily life and my great grandfather drew intelligence out of us that we didn't know we posessed. Even if we weren't necessarily "smarter" for this time, I did gain an ability for introspection and search for answers that's driven me to this day. Absolutely priceless.

Further, it's not something I even considered prior to the interview question. I got myself a little exposed in that interview, but I wouldn't have it any other way in retrospect.

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