Trauma ICU RN - Full Time
Posted Mar 5, 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 a time a patient was getting worse and the team hadn't recognized it yet.
What they are checking: Clinical vigilance and the persistence to escalate until someone acts.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a plan during rounds. What did you do?
What they are checking: Confident, respectful advocacy using bedside observations to influence the plan of care.
What would you do
You're receiving a trauma patient from the OR with a chest tube, a fresh laparotomy and two pressors running. What do you check in the first fifteen minutes?
What they are checking: A structured approach to a fresh post-op trauma patient so nothing critical is missed during the busy arrival.
A trauma patient's family arrives and nobody has told them much yet. How do you handle the first conversation?
What they are checking: Compassionate communication that gives honest information within scope and connects them with the team.
How do you support a family when a trauma patient is moving toward organ donation or withdrawal of care?
What they are checking: Understanding the nurse's role in end-of-life care and coordinating with donation and palliative teams.
About the work
How do you monitor a patient with a traumatic brain injury, and what changes would make you call right away?
What they are checking: Knowledge of neuro checks, pressure goals and early signs of herniation in head-injured patients.
What does the lethal triad in trauma mean, and what do you do at the bedside to prevent it?
What they are checking: Understanding how hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy feed each other, and the nursing actions that stop it.
How do you titrate vasopressors, and what are you watching besides the blood pressure?
What they are checking: Safe titration practice that considers perfusion, lab trends and line safety, not just a number.
How do you prevent complications like pressure injuries, VAP and blood clots in a trauma patient who is immobile for days?
What they are checking: Attention to the preventive bundles that protect ICU patients over a long stay.
Describe how you would care for a patient with an open abdomen or multiple fractures in traction.
What they are checking: Comfort with the complex wound, device and positioning needs specific to trauma ICU patients.
Practice this interview out loud.
Offer builds a real interview for this exact role at ThedaCare 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 loudThe full job description
As published by ThedaCare.