NICU to adult ICU

[Tangledskeins, BSN, RN]

I have 5 years experience doing level 2+ within a level 3 NICU. Ive been trying to switch over to adults. Between chronic low census, not being trained to level 3, and adults being what I actually always thought I wanted to do, I'm just ready to move on.

I have had 5 interviews for surrounding area ICU units (new to specialty slots) and not a single bite.

Im obviously doing something super wrong during the interview. What would you look for? What can I do to be a stronger applicant?

[PeakRN]

Moving from NICU to the adult ICU is going to be challenging. The NICU is so sub-specialized that transitioning to the adult unit will be challenging and managers know this.

I don't know what questions you were asked during your interview but I suspect that many of your answers were very NICU related and didn't translate well to adult care.

You may have to take a non-ICU adult inpatient job before you are strongly considered for the adult ICU. Perhaps you want to consider if another NICU would be a better fit for you professionally. If your system has an adult ICU then I would try to cross train to give a good impression, allow you to build some adult skills, and figure out if adults are actually something you want to do before you leave the NICU.