PICU Internship Interview

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 5, 2008

There are a number of threads on this topic already that have offered very good suggestions. Check them out and see if there are still things you'd like to know.

shinyblackcar · Dec 11, 2008

Hey all,
I have a PICU internship interview coming up in a week and I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I've gotten my 4 recommendations from clinical instructors, my resume, and transcript to bring. In addition to the paperwork, I have an hour long interview with HR, another hour with the PICU manager, and then a 2 hour shadow on the unit.
So what should I expect in terms of questions to be asked and things like that? I did my 130 hour preceptorship in the PICU so I'm not completely ignorant of what to expect on the unit, but its the sit-down, face-to-face interviews that I'm most nervous about.
If anyone has any tips, pointers, or random pieces of knowledge to throw my way, it would greatly appreciated. People keep telling me I'll do fine and they just want to make sure the nurse in person matches the my application, but I'm not as confident. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks so much!!

At my PICU interview, I was asked what my greatest challenge has been and how I dealt with it, what my short- and long-term goals are, etc. At another peds interview, I was given a situation where a patient was desatting and asked what I would do, was given 4 tasks and asked to prioritize, etc.

Best of luck to you!!!!

HopefulNurse324 · Feb 3, 2009

I'm a new grad and I just finished my second interview for the PICU in a large South Florida hospital. They asked me the following:

Tell me about a specific difficult situation and how you dealt with it.

If the parents of your patient accused you of being negligent with their child, how would you handle it?

What do you think needs to happen to have a seamless change of shift?

If I were to call one of your previous supervisors, what would they say about you?

I have 100 applications for 10 positions available, why should we give the job to you?

Surprisingly, I was not given any scenarios. They just want to make sure they are hiring a independent and reliable person, especially in a crazy PICU. Just be yourself. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because this is my dream job. I really hope I get it. Best of luck to everyone!

mzjones6 · Feb 4, 2009

Those are actually the same questions that I got asked at the interview in fact. I was offered the job a few weeks later and I accepted, so I'm excited. Thanks for your help though.

HopefulNurse324 · Feb 5, 2009

Congrats...How is it going for you?

mzjones6 · Feb 5, 2009

I'll keep you posted on that...I start on March 23rd in the Neuro/Endocrine unit....excitement!!!

I should point out that the HR person that I would be a better fit for an inpatient unit and then move over to the PICU...so all these questions were asked by the director of the Neuro/Endocrine unit. But getting an internship at this children's hospital was the ultimate goal, so I'm extremely happy with the end result.

loyolagirl · Jun 25, 2009

hey mzjones6!! i saw that you accepted a job at children's memorial in chicago... i actually have an interview for their neurology/endocrine unit coming up.. can we talk? =)