Nursing Interview Questions
Page Index:
Standard
Nursing Interview
Questions
- How would you describe your skills as a team player?
- How will you deal with difficult doctors?
- How will you deal with difficult patients and/or their families?
- How will you handle unexpected circumstances, such as being short
staffed and having to perform a treatment you have not done before?
You should also practice answering the tough
nursing interview questions ahead of time.
- If you are a recent nursing graduate, you should be prepared to
explain to your interviewer what qualities you possess that will help
you get up to speed quickly with the demands of your new unit.
- You should be prepared to answer questions regarding any negative
experiences you've had in the work place, what you learned from them,
and how you would use those experiences in a positive way in your new
position.
More Nursing Related Questions:
- What type of nursing experience do you have?
- Where did you get your training and what certifications do you have?
- How long has it been since you worked in (ER, OR, ICU, or particular
specialty area)?
- What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
- Why did you choose (ER, OR, ICU, LTC, FNP, or other specialty area of
nursing)?
- Why do you want to work in
our hospital and/or community?
- Tell me about a time in which you had to handle an irate physician,
co-worker, or patient. How did you handle it and what were the results?
- Describe a difficult decision you've made and the process you went
through to reach that decision.
- Why makes you right for this job?
- What nursing organizations do you belong to?
Nursing Behavioral Questions:
You're
sure the instructions you've received from management are a mistake, not
in the company's best interests. What do you do to warn management of
the your concerns, and how do you deal with your instructions, until you
can get them modified?
ANSWER-You contact your immediate manager, and inform that person
of your concerns, with whatever information you have to best support
your case. Otherwise, you're obliged to carry out your instructions, and
should do so.
Your
supervisor has told you to drop everything, and concentrate on something
you don’t think is important, or even necessary. Do you put up with it,
or try to get your more important work done, and deal with this matter
afterwards?
ANSWER-This is an instruction, like it or not. It's best to deal
with the matter immediately, get it finished, and try to minimize
disruption to the more important things. Even in theory, and even if
you're right, you're making a mistake by re-prioritizing management's
instructions.
You're
getting distracted by extra work and meetings, and it's generating a
backlog of work for you. How do you cope with it?
ANSWER-You may not be able to avoid these things, so it's safest
to establish a separate chain of processes for dealing with your normal
work, where you can make time and space to ensure that work is done. You
can either delegate, or ask to have delegated, some of the work, but it
has to be kept moving. Backlogs are destructive, and should be prevented
at all costs.
You
get two difficult clients at the same time, both demanding your
attention. What do you do?
ANSWER-You get briefings from both clients. You set times for
dealing with their matters, then you prioritize one or the other. You
make sure that each client is attended to as quickly as possible, and
reschedule other work as required.
Your
database crashes, and you have to work on some sort of improvised system
for receipts, while also collecting the data. What do you do?
ANSWER-You set up a paper receipt system and get your data into a
paper form which can be easily used for data entry when the system comes
back online. You take copies of all paper issued and received. You
create a reference system for each document, preferably numerical,
associating each receipt with its related document.
Your
Own Interview Questions to
Ask Your Interviewer.
Below are some examples of nursing interview questions you should ask a
potential employer.
- What is the nurse-to-patient ratio?
- Is there support staff on the unit to assist nurses?
- In what ways are nurses held accountable for high qualities of
practice?
- How much input do nurses have regarding systems, equipment and the
care environment?
- What professional development opportunities are available to nurses?
Monster.com Nursing Interview
Questions You Can Ask and Not Ask:
*By Jennifer LeClaire, Monster Contributing Writer
If you're a trained nursing professional, you can afford to be a
discriminating job seeker, thanks to the nursing shortage. But you still
need to prepare thoroughly for every job interview.
Part of the process of getting ready for an interview is knowing the
questions you want to ask a potential employer. These questions
should demonstrate your interest in the opportunity while helping you
gauge whether the position is the right match for your skills, goals,
personality and lifestyle.
Your inquiries should cover three main areas: orientation and
training, the working environment, and the employer's management and
administration.
Orientation and Training:
- What
is the level and depth of orientation?
- Will
more orientation time be granted if I feel I need it?
- Will
my orientation take place during the shift I will be working?
- Is
there a mentorship program?
- What
are your expectations of new hires during their first six months on the
job?
- Describe
typical first-year assignments.
- What
qualities do your most successful nurses possess?
Working Environment:
- What
is the nurse-to-patient ratio?
- How
long are your shifts -- eight, 10 or 12 hours?
- How
do you go about scheduling? Is self-scheduling an option, or does
someone else dictate the schedule?
- How
long have most nurses been on the unit?
- Why
did the last person in this position leave?
- How
long has this position been vacant?
- Will
I be on call if I accept this position? If so, what are the
conditions/requirements of on-call duty?
Management and Administration:
- How
would you describe your management style?
- How
do you motivate employees?
- How
do you demonstrate that you value your nursing staff?
- How
much autonomy do you give your nurses to make decisions regarding
patient care?
- How
often do you conduct performance reviews?
- Is
the administration open to suggestions that would improve patient care?
- What
challenges is this facility facing?
- What
have been this unit's most notable successes and failures over the year?
- What
are nurses' biggest challenges at this facility?
- What
makes this facility unique among others in this region?
- What
steps do you take to ensure safe working conditions?
- What
are your plans for future growth?
- Why
should I want to work here?
An Offer in Hand
Once
you have the job offer -- and not before -- ask the standard questions
about salary and benefits, such as:
- What
is the salary?
- Is
special compensation awarded for overtime? What is the differential for
second-shift, third-shift and weekend work?
- What
is the benefits package?
- Do
you offer other incentives, such as paid journal subscriptions or
scholarships for dependents?
- Do
you provide financial support for continuing education?
- Are
grants available for ongoing education?
- Are
there special incentives for bilingual nurses?
- Is
there room for advancement? What is the career path?
- How
do you reward employees for exceptional work?
A couple of interview caveats: Never ask about the number of
ethnic employees, and never ask the interviewer any questions that could
be construed as personal.
Think of the interview as a conversation, not an interrogation. While
the meeting is the interviewer's chance to find out about you, it's also
your chance to ask about the issues that can significantly affect your
short- and long-term job satisfaction.
Fifty
Standard Interview Questions for All Majors:
It is not enough to have solid answers for only the above questions. You
need to be prepared for the full spectrum of questions that may be
presented. For further practice, make sure you go through the required
mock interview (see the Competitive Interview Prep chapter); and for
further review, look at some of the following questions:
- Tell
me about yourself.
- Tell
me about your experience.
- What
is your most important accomplishment to date?
- How
would you describe your ideal job?
- Why
did you choose this career?
- When
did you decide on this career?
- What
goals do you have in your career?
- How
do you plan to achieve these goals?
- How
do you personally define success?
- Describe
a situation in which you were successful.
- What
do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
- What
accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction in your life?
- If
you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?
- Would
you rather work with information or with people?
- Are
you a team player?
- What
motivates you?
- Why
should I hire you?
- Are
you a goal-oriented person?
- Tell
me about some of your recent goals and what you did to achieve them.
- What
are your short-term goals?
- What
is your long-range objective?
- What
do you see yourself doing five years from now?
- Where
do you want to become ten years from now?
- Do
you handle conflict well?
- Have
you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor? How did you resolve
it?
- What
major problem have you had to deal with recently?
- Do
you handle pressure well?
- What
is your greatest strength?
- What
is your greatest weakness?
- If
I were to ask one of your professors (or a boss) to describe you, what
would he or she say?
- Why
did you choose to attend your college?
- What
changes would you make at your college?
- How
has your education prepared you for your career?
- What
were your favorite classes? Why?
- Do
you enjoy doing independent research?
- Who
were your favorite professors? Why?
- Why
is your GPA not higher?
- Do
you have any plans for further education?
- How
much training do you think you’ll need to become a productive employee?
- What
qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
- Why
do you want to work in the _____ industry?
- What
do you know about our company?
- Why
are you interested in our company?
- Do
you have any location preferences?
- How
familiar are you with the community that we’re located in?
- Are
you willing to relocate? In the future?
- Are
you willing to travel? How much?
- Is
money important to you?
- How
much money do you need to make to be happy?
- What
kind of salary are you looking for?
Don’t just read these questions—practice and rehearse the answers.
Don’t let the employer interview be the first time you actually
formulate an answer in spoken words. It is not enough to think about
them in your head—practice! Sit down with a friend, a significant other,
or your roommate (an especially effective critic, given the amount of
preparation to date) and go through all of the questions. If you have
not yet completed a mock interview, do it now. Make the most of every
single interview opportunity by being fully prepared!
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