What makes a new grad RN a competitive candidate for ICU positions?

[X620]

Would especially love to see hiring manager's/nurse recruiters input on this, but everyone's input is appreciated........Aside from the basic required certifications (BLS, ACLS, NIHSS, EKG), what else do you look for in new grad nurses you are considering hiring into the ICU? What made them stand out above the applicant pool even before you interviewed them?

Not every nursing program is able to provide ICU preceptorships to interested students, how strong of a factor, or not, did an ICU preceptorship play?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

I would say that my Capstone/ Preceptorship played a big factor (along with being male) in me getting my job. The only new grads that my unit hires are their Summer Externs and PCAs that worked on our unit during nursing school. I was neither, but had a 135 hr Capstone at another Level IV NICU. I was hired based on a 9 minute phone call and a 30 minute tour of the department.

Managers are looking to make their hiring as easy as possible. If you have an applicant that did their preceptorship on the unit, you have essentially put them through a 120-150 hour interview. They will need far less orientation than a new grad with no experience on the unit. In my case, even though I did not go through the summer externship (I didn't even go to school in the same state), the manager assumed that I went through the same level of training that the summer externs went through.

If you didn't get a preceptorship in the ICU you are applying to, ask for a job shadow. At least when you apply, there may be a possibility that you impress the nurse that you shadowed and give you an advantage during the hiring process.

[llg, PhD, RN]

At my hospital (a children's hospital with a large NICU and large PICU) experience is the key. Any one of the following:

School preceptorship or capstone experience

Summer externship

Employment in an ICU-type environment (ED, PACU, ICU, etc.) as a nursing assistant

For NICU, employment or student preceptorship, etc. in a related area (L & D, intermediate-level nursery, even mother-baby would count a bit)

Without one of those things, it is almost impossible to get a job in NICU or PICU (or ED or PACU) as a new grad. Without any relevant experience, we would like new grads to start on a more general-level unit and then transfer after at least a year.