New Graduate looking for ICU position

suzanne4, RN · Sep 29, 2007

Highly recommend that you take and pass the NCLEX exam first to have the best chances of getting hired. With the number of hospitals in NY, you should not have any issues with finding something there.

But again, highly recommend that you do not start asking about jobs until you pass the NCLEX exam, most employers want to see that first.

EMERGENCYRNNJ · Sep 29, 2007

If you live in NYC you have plenty of options. There are new grad programs, start looking into them now. My suggestion, call the hospital's nurse recruiter and ask about new grad internships in the ICU. I'm a new grad and was just offered an ICU position. However, I was somewhat reluctant because they didn't offer the full six-month internship as most hospitals do. I turned it down and am happy to say that I'll be working in the ED at another facility that does offer 6mos. So, be assertive and confident when you're are calling. Be sure to have your resume in tip top shape. They really look to see that you've crossed your t's and dotted your i's. And, one more suggestion, if you've had a great gpa through school, put it on your resume. Good luck and let us know!

PMFB-RN, RN · Sep 30, 2007

I work at St. Joseph's hospital in Marshfield WIsconsin. We have a 26 bed surgical ICU. Nurses in our unit take nuero, trauma, recover open heart cases and other types of surgical cases. We are on the trauma team and respond to the ER to all level I & II traumas. We also take turns carrying the code beeper and respond to all codes in the hospital. It's a great place to get experience. We have a 9 month training program for new grads who want to work in the ICU called Critical Care Nurse Residency with two classes a year starting in June and February. I graduated from the residency program on March 30 and I already am already taking all patient populations including CRRT, CV, trauma and very sick surgical patients.

I am just a staff RN and not involved in management or recruiting but I have learned so much and had such a good experience I would recommend our SICU and the new grad residency program to any new grad who wants to work in a very high acuity environment.

Cost of living here is very, very low. We just purchased 9 year old 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with 3 car garage on 23 acres only 15 min drive from work for $100K. It is a rural area but large towns are a short drive away.

Feel free to PM me for more info.