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This position has closed. Mercyhealth removed this listing from their careers page on Oct 6, 2026. The interview prep below is still useful, and there are similar open roles at the bottom of this page.

RN Hospital, NICU-nights

Mercyhealth · Rockford, IL · $34.45–$51.68 an hour · Per diem

Posted Sep 11, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 4, 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 NICU experience. What gestational ages and conditions have you cared for?

What they are checking: Whether they have real neonatal depth such as preemies, respiratory support and feeding issues.

How do you support parents who are scared and spending the night at their baby's bedside?

What they are checking: Whether they include parents in care, explain clearly and support their emotional needs.

Tell me about a time you had to tell a provider you disagreed with a plan for a fragile baby.

What they are checking: Whether they speak up respectfully with clinical facts when a baby's safety is at stake.

What would you do

Your baby on CPAP has more frequent desats and bradycardias. What do you check and do?

What they are checking: Whether they troubleshoot systematically and escalate when the baby needs more support.

You may need to float to other units based on competency. How do you feel about that, and what would you need?

What they are checking: Whether they are open to flexing while being honest about their competency with adult patients.

About the work

Walk me through your assessment of a 30-week preemie at the start of a night shift.

What they are checking: Whether they cover respiratory status, thermoregulation, feeding tolerance, lines and family needs.

How do you calculate and double-check medication doses for a neonate?

What they are checking: Whether they use weight-based dosing carefully with independent double checks, since tiny errors are dangerous.

A baby's feeding residuals increase and the belly looks distended. What are you worried about?

What they are checking: Whether they recognize possible necrotizing enterocolitis and stop feeds and notify the provider quickly.

How do you practice developmentally supportive care at night?

What they are checking: Whether they cluster care, limit noise and light, and protect sleep to help neonatal development.

How do you prevent infection in the NICU?

What they are checking: Whether they follow hand hygiene, line care and visitor rules strictly with immunocompromised babies.

Practice this interview out loud.

Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at Mercyhealth from your resume and this job description, asks the questions one at a time, and tells you what landed. The first one is free.

Practice this out loud

The full job description

As published by Mercyhealth.

Provides compassionate, culturally sensitive, holistic nursing care to patients in a clinical setting, supporting the Mercyhealth nursing mission, practice values and strategic plan. May include variable shifts, weekends, holiday and or on-call hours. Performs other duties as assigned including floating to various units based on identified needs and clinical competency. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES • Utilizes the nursing process and collaborates with interdisciplinary team members in caring for patients. • Administers prescribed medications and treatments in accordance with approved nursing techniques, policies and procedures, standards of care, and State laws practice act. • Documents according to standards of care. • Performs assessments, planning, intervention, and evaluation of care. • Develops, initiates, and executes a patient plan of care according to the individualized needs of the patient, as prescribed by Physician and or clinic policy including patient and family instruction. • Participates in department or unit performance improvement activities, may include shared governance. • Utilizes clinical expertise and guidance to other units’ departments in support of the patient’s longitudinal plan of care. • Utilizes critical thinking regarding patient safety and patient experience and appropriately escalates to the appropriate chain of command. • Participates in the professional nursing continuum process, unit practice activities and decisions and peer review process. EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE Graduate of an accredited nursing program. ADN required upon hire, BSN preferred. May require specific years of applicable experience to qualify (per department guidelines) CERTIFICATION/LICENSURE Licensed as an RN in state of practice Approved CPR/BLS certification required within 90 days Other certification(s) per unit requirements. For example : ACLS, PALS, PEARS, and NRP OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES May include color blind test (per department guidelines) LEVEL OF SUPERVISION N/A PAY RANGE: $34.45 - $51.68 Mercyhealth is an Equal Opportunity Employer . All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. Mercyhealth offers competitive pay and benefits, including retirement, time off, on-demand pay, access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and more. Click here for more details. At Mercyhealth, we don’t simply hire people, we empower employee-partners who are passionate about making lives better. As an integrated health system, we deliver exceptional, coordinated across seven hospitals, 85 primary and specialty clinics, and a team of over 7,500 professionals serving northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Mercyhealth has been nationally recognized for our commitment to our people and culture, including: • #1 in the nation on AARP's Best Employers for Workers Over 50 • One of Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers • A Top 50 Company and Top 10 Nonprofit for Executive Women