How to Answer: As you may be aware, staff in the pediatric critical care setting have been historically known to experience "burn out" on the job. Why do you feel you will be able to handle the mental, physical, and emotional stress this job can bring?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a PICU Nurse job interview.
4. As you may be aware, staff in the pediatric critical care setting have been historically known to experience "burn out" on the job. Why do you feel you will be able to handle the mental, physical, and emotional stress this job can bring?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Because of the great responsibility that comes with caring for pediatric patients in the intensive care setting, many nurses do report experiencing the need to take a break from work due to high amounts of stress and eventual burnout. At some point during your time with them, your interviewer wants to know that you are capable of handling the high amount of stress that will come with this role as a PICU nurse and that you are cognizant of this danger of the job.
Written by Ryan Brunner on May 11th, 2022
How to Answer
Your interviewer is fully aware that the increased stress levels of working as a PICU nurse can cause exhaustion, fatigue, increased levels of absenteeism, and low staff morale as they've likely seen this throughout their time as a PICU leader. As you answer this question, you'll first want to acknowledge that you are aware that you will be stepping into a highly stressful environment. As you do this, you can then talk about the ways that you will join this team that will help prevent you from becoming stressed and burnt out. In the end, stress to your interviewer that you won't let the common stressors in the PICU cause you to perform poorly on the job.
Written by Ryan Brunner on May 11th, 2022
Answer Example
"Coming into this interview, I fully understand that the PICU setting is a whole new world, and providing care for pediatric patients in intensive care can be highly stressful. Throughout my career, I've proven my ability to work successfully in high-stress environments like the emergency setting. For me, this ability really starts outside of work with a healthy diet, an exercise routine, and getting plenty of sleep on a daily basis. This enables me to be fully rested and physically ready to perform for 12 hours. When additional stress hits while on shift, I have a mental toughness that allows me to work through things at the moment and then shift gears when needed."
Written by Ryan Brunner on May 11th, 2022