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?

"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."

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.