Last Minute Job Interview - Advice!

[AlyssaAnn]

Hey everyone,

I'm a new grad currently in the oh so fun process of applying for my first position. I'm interested in both NICU and Peds, but, given the current job market, I've applied for a few med-surg jobs as well. About 2 weeks ago I applied for a NICU position at the hospital whose PICU I interned in. A few days ago they contacted me for an interview with the Nurse Manager- this Thursday!

I had an awesome experience at this hospital and I really, really want this job. I'm trying to prepare as best I can, but NICU is such a unique area and it seems like there's so much to go over in the next few days. So, I'm wondering if anyone can offer a few of the most prevalent topics and conditions I can review in the next couple days? I have friends that have interviewed for med-surg positions at this hospital, and have heard that the interviews were heavy on situational questions. Given that NICU is so specialized, I'm not sure if this will be the case in my interview as well, but I definitely want to be as prepared as possible.

My other question is about specialty areas. I love working with little ones, and I would eventually like to work for a few years in NICU, then spend some time in Peds and/or PICU before I decide about specializing further with my NP. Is it okay to mention this in the interview? And, is this something that many NICU nurses do? Is it difficult to transition from NICU to Peds?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you :)

[studystudy]

Congratulations on getting your first interview!!

In my experience, a new grad interviewing for NICU would not get NICU scenario questions because like you said, NICU is very specialized. They know you don't have working NICU experience and you would not be expected to know the answers. When I interviewed for a NICU job, they asked me questions like:

Why NICU?

Describe a time you had a miscommunication and how you resolved it.

Describe a time you had an angry patient (customer) and how you resolved it.

What skills do you think a nurse needs to work in this unit?

Strengths/weaknesses.

Things like that. And because NICU is so specialized, if you do float, I'd think you would float to MAYBE post-partum, or newborn nursery, or if you went to regular peds or PICU, you would probably only be allowed to be assigned to a child no more than 1 year, and no weigh no more than however many kgs.

Hope this helps! Good luck! :)