Interview advice??

[cablefree]

Hey everyone,

I've been a nurse for a little over a year now, I work on a fast past pulmonary/tele unit, and I regularly care for vent patients. I've been afforded the opportunity to interview in a MICU in the same hospital that I already work at. Any advice for my interview would be greatly appreciated! Should I expect clinical/scenario questions? Thanks!

[redtshirt]

They will usually ask you what experience you have and skills you have that you can use in ICU. So you can discuss your experience with vented patients. They also ask for your education - any specific courses or online learning you have done that will benefit you in this post - or would you seek further training to work there. They might ask you clinical scenarios but you should also have basic / advanced life support courses up to date. There is a lot of team work involved in ICU so mention that you are a team player. Can't really think of much more at the moment but hopefully that will have helped. Good luck!

[cablefree]

Thanks for the advice!

[RoubRN]

First, congratulations on your interview in ICU. The ICU is a high stress, high acuity environment. As a previous peer interviewer, one of the most important qualities is the ability to recognize changes in your patient's condition immediately. ICU patients can take a dramatic turn in minutes. Based on the patients' medications and treatments (cardiac drips, CRRT, etc.), you may be required to take vitals every 5 minutes, and intake/outputs hourly. Being an ICU nurse is sometimes like completing a puzzle. Knowing their diagnosis, history, consultants, and trends is essential to advancing their healing. As for general guidelines, many ICU Managers are now utilizing the STAR method, or behavioral based interview questions. The managers are interested in your self-improvement. In other words, define a situation where you overcame an obstacle. You can review the STAR method on you-tube as well.

Finally I would advise you that no patient planned to be in the ICU. The patient and their family are experiencing perhaps the most difficult time of their life. Remember that we don't always know what is happening at home, either. Many patients will lose their current living arrangements due to lengthy and complicated hospital stays. You are a patient advocate and showing compassion is a must. Additionally, you may want to shadow an ICU nurse, or at the very least, attend several codes if you don't already have sufficient experience in that. Finally I would suggest purchasing Critical Care Challenges by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. No one nurse knows everything. But knowing you have resources in other team members and published materials will ensure your success. Good luck!