Want experience to get hired into ICU

Lee12394 · Jan 17, 2015

I am currently in Nursing School and have three semesters left. I am planning to go to CRNA school and it is required by the school to have at least one year experience in an adult ICU setting. My goal is to get hired as soon as possible into the adult ICU when I graduate.

I have a job offer working as a Burn Technician in the Burn Unit. Would this experience give me a greater chance of getting hired into the ICU when I graduate? Any advice would be great!

zzbxdo · Jan 17, 2015

To put in short, yes. You have the in, patient care experience, and the networking. If you slack off and that's known of you by management then of course it will hurt you. If you're offered a BICU position then you're close to those ICU nurses and that's a plethora of knowledge to pick at. Kind of a common sense answer to me. Unless you rather sit around at home and have a flat resume... I suppose.

mursinary · Jan 18, 2015

Hello Lee,

Yes, Burn Tech experience could be helpful with getting into the ICU. Where do you currently live?

KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

What ever you do, don't be "one of those".

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

Specialty training while still a student is priceless, even if it's not the specialty you are looking towards after graduation. The burn unit will have a relatively close relationship with the ICU folks, so even better. Makes networking with staff on the ICU that much easier. If there's any way you can mange that job without adversely affecting your studies do it!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

duplicate threads merged.

If you are planing to go to CRNA school....my best advice is to NOT share your plans with the hiring manager. This is one of the BIG reasons critical care units are reluctant to hire new grads.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2015

I'd think it would be good experience. What I hear from the RNs where I work who have worked both SICU and Burn is that the severe burn/SJS/TEN pts are often just as critical as the SICU pts...plus the wound care and frequent linen changes. So I would think this would be good experience to sell to CRNA schools.

But whatever you do, DO NOT share your CRNA plans in an interview. This will read: "We will spend six figures training this orientee, only to have to replace her/him in a year."