Registered Nurse (RN) Intensive Care Unit
Posted Sep 15, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 20, 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.
Behavioral
Walk me through a patient you cared for in the ICU who was crashing fast. What did you see first, and what did you do first?
whether the candidate can recognize deterioration early and prioritize actions under pressure
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a physician or intensivist about a patient's plan of care. How did you handle it?
comfort with speaking up to authority while staying professional and patient-focused
Tell me about a time you had to give feedback to a coworker, maybe about something like a missed assessment or a documentation gap. How did that conversation go?
ability to hold peers accountable without damaging team trust
Tell me about a time a patient or family member was scared or upset in the ICU. How did you talk with them?
communication skill with families during high-stress, high-stakes moments
Tell me about a situation where you caught an error before it reached the patient, yours or someone else's.
commitment to a culture of safety and willingness to speak up about mistakes
What does professional growth look like for you in the next couple of years, and how does that fit with things like unit councils or quality initiatives here?
genuine interest in shared governance and long-term engagement versus just filling a shift
Technical
A patient on a ventilator starts desatting and their pressure is dropping. Walk me through your assessment and immediate steps.
clinical knowledge of respiratory and hemodynamic instability and ability to sequence interventions correctly
How do you decide what to delegate to a nurse aide or LPN versus what you need to do yourself on a busy night in an 18-bed ICU?
understanding of scope of practice and safe delegation boundaries
Walk me through how you'd titrate a vasopressor drip on a hemodynamically unstable patient, and what you'd be watching for.
depth of hands-on ICU clinical skill beyond general nursing knowledge
What's your process for a full head-to-toe assessment at the start of a shift, and how does that change with a fresh post-op or trauma admit?
structured clinical thinking and adaptability to different patient acuities
How do you stay on top of your documentation in the EHR when the unit is moving fast and you're pulled in five directions?
practical time management and whether documentation habits hold up under real ICU pace
Situational
Say you're managing two critical patients overnight and one suddenly needs a rapid response while the other's family is at the bedside asking urgent questions. What do you do?
real-time triage and delegation skills, plus composure under competing demands
If you were told tonight that you might need to float to another unit partway through your shift, how would you handle that?
flexibility and attitude toward system-wide staffing needs, which this role explicitly requires
If a patient becomes combative or needs to be restrained for their own safety, walk me through how you'd approach that.
judgment around de-escalation and safe use of physical intervention
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As published by Advocate Health.
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