Shadowing tonight- nervous!

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Specializes in Critical care.

I had an interview for an ICU position last Thursday, and today I got a call that they would like me to come in on the shift I applied for (nights) to shadow. It just so happened that I was free and they were free tonight, so I'm going in in a few hours to shadow in the ICU! I'm really excited and really nervous.

I will be in business casual clothes and a lab coat- I'm assuming I won't be doing any patient care since I'm not technically and employee and there's liability on both sides for anything that would go wrong. So, I'm hoping that the nurse I shadow knows I'm not supposed to do care so that I don't look like a big weenie (and of course, if I am wrong and I am actually allowed to help, I will jump in!).

I'm having trouble coming up with questions to ask. Like, I want to know how their shift runs and what times their scheduled assessments are, etc, but I'm not sure what else I can or should ask. I'm sure this nurse is going to be asked how the shadowing went and her opinion of me by the nurse manager later on; I want to make a good impression. I REALLY would love to work at this hospital in the ICU.... it would be perfect!

Any hints or tips on what to do/what not to do? I should also add that I'm a new grad... so, not a lot of experience to draw on here.

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Did they tell you to come in business attire?

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Specializes in Critical care.

Yep the HR lady did. I'm glad she said something because I would have worn scrubs. She wants business casual with a lab coat.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Good luck! I hope you love them and they love you.

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I think you should thank the nurse you're shadowing/them for giving you such a wonderful opportunity. You should also make sure you convey your enthusiasm and interest to your shadower...but I'm sure that won't be hard for you!! Ask questions..engage in conversation about the unit..routine ...etc etc. Just relax and shadow !!

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Specializes in Ortho.

Give us an update on how things go! :up:

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Specializes in Critical care.

So, I think it went well! I got out of there about midnight (the HR lady told me to leave between 1130pm-12am). When I got there, the HR lady was waiting for me and had me sign liability waivers and HIPAA compliance stuff. She escorted me to the floor and as we walked, we talked. She told me that she had, just that evening, sent out the request for references email and so I could start working on getting those in. And then she asked me if I still wanted to interview for another job I had applied for shortly after my ICU interview! I wasn't sure what to say about that (I really just wanted to say that I only wanted to interview for that one if I don't get the ICU spot!) so I asked her if she had any idea about the turn around time for hearing back, either way, from this job. She told me it just depends on how fast my references get back to her, and then she was like "just give me a call tomorrow and we can chat about how tonight went and how you liked the unit and we can decide then." Fair enough. I don't want to turn down a potential job opportunity by NOT interviewing for that second position, but I also don't want to waste anyone's time if I'm in line for the ICU job. Does that makes sense?

Anyways, the actual shadowing experience went well. Although I couldn't think of many questions to ask in advance, I found I had plenty to ask once I was on the floor. I asked about patient care activities and schedules, staff schedules, how far in advance you know your schedule- pretty much any and every little thing. I had a really open shadowing nurse who basically told me to ask anything I wanted. Of course, I kept it professional.

I wasn't able to help with patient care (and believe me, when they were turning a 300lb patient and needed help, I felt bad about that), but I did what I could to be helpful. IE, bagging dirty linens, grabbing a trash can, etc.

I think I got a pretty good sense of the unit- and in terms of the nurses that were there last night (the shift I'll be working), they were all really nice- seemed like a good group. So now, I guess we wait! And, I've got a phone call to HR to make.

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Specializes in Critical care.

Update: just talked to HR. The managers on the floor had a meeting today and the HR lady is going to call and see what the outcome of that meeting was! HELLO, nervous.

i also told her that I hadn't received my email for my references, so she's going to send that again.

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I'm glad it went well! I was going to say that even though you didn't have a lot of questions beforehand, I'm sure you'd think of some when you were actually there. Good luck!

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Specializes in Critical care.

Thank you. I filled out my reference form today; they require 3 as a minimum but request five. So I did five- and three have already gotten back to them. So hopefully that might mean that they can move forward either way since I have the minimum requirement met.... Would love to know either way!

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