Nursing student here finishing up their last semester! I loved my critical care clinicals, particularly MICU and SICU. Some professors say just apply for what you want because you can absolutely be a new grad and get into ICU. Other professors say to establish those everyday nursing skills in a med surg unit prior to getting into ICU. I’m going to shoot my shot and throw some applications to some critical care units. How do I make myself a competitive applicant?
One of my classmates from my cohort had an interview in the ICU. She didn't get it but she did say they asked her ICU specific scenario based questions she wasn't prepared for during her interview. Definitely look back on your critical care experience and bring it up during interviews. Research ICU interviews to see what type of questions you might get, and common medications they use.
There are nurses online who give away free resources based on their experience in the ICU that might be helpful. iseeu_nurse and scrublifenotes on instagram come to mind but also have paid material they sell as well. Also there is an SRNA and CRNA who run a website called confident care academy that is geared towards ICU nurses to deepen their ICU knowledge. It's subscription based but has discounts for students and they share some clips and freebies on their social medias. It might be worth checking out to prepare for an ICU interview and also as a new ICU nurse.
Ooo I didn’t even think about them asking scenario questions. Definitely good point! Thank you!!
For sure go straight icu new grad imo.
Some systems will require x amount of hours to be considered for ICU otherwise you can only apply to bridge programs. If you have the time and the drive try to get a tech job on an ICU floor. It’ll probably suck trying to juggle with school, but It will put you up in terms of applications.
Do your research. Some places say just apply. I did and It didn’t work out. But get some critical care experience and some references and your results may be better than mine.
Get those references right now! Especially with critical care instructors. Let them know your goals, how motivated you are, and show them you care by constantly seeking their guidance. They will most likely return the favor with an outstanding referral. Then you just gotta knock it out of the park with the actual interview! There are many resources online that can help with this.