Registered Nurse (RN) - ICU Float Pool
Posted Sep 28, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about your ICU experience so far. Which patient populations are you strongest with, and where would you want support?
What they are checking: Whether they know their limits honestly, which matters when floating to cardiac, neuro or surgical ICUs.
ACLS is required within six months. Tell me about a code you were part of and what role you played.
What they are checking: Whether they have handled emergencies and know how to function in a code team, not just in theory.
Tell me about a time you noticed a patient getting worse before the monitors showed it.
What they are checking: Whether they trust their assessment and act early, a key skill for critical care nurses working nights.
How do you build trust with a home unit's staff when you only see them every few weeks?
What they are checking: Whether they are a good team player who helps others, since float nurses depend on goodwill from many units.
What would you do
As an ICU float nurse you may be in a different unit every night. How do you get oriented to a new unit and two critical patients in the first hour?
What they are checking: Whether they have a fast, safe routine for learning a unit's layout, people and patients when they arrive.
You float to a unit where the charge nurse gives you the two heaviest patients. How do you handle it?
What they are checking: Whether they can speak up about an unsafe assignment professionally without creating conflict with the home staff.
How do you handle equipment or a charting system you are not familiar with on a unit you rarely float to?
What they are checking: Whether they ask for help instead of guessing, since a wrong pump setting can harm a patient.
This is a 0.9 night position with self-scheduling and one weekend every six weeks. How does that fit your life long term?
What they are checking: Whether they can reliably meet float scheduling expectations so the pool can actually cover the units.
A family member at bedside at 3 a.m. demands to speak with the doctor right now about a change in their father's condition. What do you do?
What they are checking: Whether they can calm a scared family and still bring in the right provider when it is truly needed.
About the work
Walk me through how you would manage a patient on multiple vasoactive drips whose blood pressure keeps dropping.
What they are checking: Whether they can titrate safely, look for causes and escalate early in a truly unstable patient.
A ventilated patient's peak pressures suddenly rise and their saturation falls. What is your thinking?
What they are checking: Whether they can work through common causes like obstruction, pneumothorax or tube problems quickly and calmly.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Advocate Health.