In this post we are going to go over the top 10 nursing interview questions and answers. Question describe the hardest decision you've had to make recently. This is one of those questions that's really going to pitch you on the spot so you want to go in there with something prepared because what that manager is looking at is how you're going to respond to that question and what you perceive as difficult.
So you really want to pull back from either your nursing experience and if you don't have nursing experience pull back from something that happened in nursing school during clinicals. May be a hard decision you and your preceptor had to solve together or even something in your personal life and one example you could pick.
If you're going to think back to your experiences,think about something that involves a patient maybe the patient isn't doing good their condition is going down or they're starting on this new medication and something in your nursing gut is just telling you something isn't right and you're conflicted should you notify the doctor or are you just over-analyzing things. And then elaborate how the situation was difficult for you and how you solved it.
Question number 2: What are your future career goals and how will this position help you achieve them? We haven't already noticed nursing is really goal-driven like whenever we're developing our care plans was a big thing we're thinking of patient goals and whenever you're thinking about career goals they want to know your nursing goals. So whenever you're answering this question you need to remember that this nurse manager if they choose to hire you,they're going to be putting a lot of time and money into getting you trained so you don't want to convey to them that this is just like a temporary position that you're going to take and if something better comes along that you will take that instead. When you're answering this question you want to make sure that your goals really line up with that agency's goals as well. You could talk about maybe if you have a desire of obtaining certification within that specialty that that would be one of your goals that you want to complete or maybe whenever you gain some experience you would like to advance to a leadership position within that agency like charge nurse or maybe nurse manager and this job that you hope that they give you will give you experience and skills to obtain those goals.
Question number 3: Describe what you think great patient care means. Now when you're answering this question you want to keep in mind that nowadays patients when they leave a hospital or some type of agency they're going to get a survey rating the care that they received and these responses by the patient impact that agency or hospitals reputation. So this nurse manager who is hiring you wants to make sure that you're going to be a type of person that's going to go above and beyond with patient care. So whenever you answer this you want your response to be patient centered so how I would answer this is that I would talk about how I think great patient care is patient care that is centered to then not to the nurse or to the doctor but to our patient and that we address all their concerns,that we quickly meet their needs and now we educate them so they'll be ready to go home and be comfortable with providing care to themselves. So whenever you answer this question make sure you keep it patient focused.
Question number 4: Describe a mistake that you made on the job or in clinicals and how you handled it. Whenever you hear this question it's going to make you tense up and cringe because no one wants to reveal their mistakes but we've all made them whether if you've been in the nursing profession for a decade or you're fresh out of nursing school you've made a mistake along the way. So whenever you're answering this question you want to be honest but you don't want to say something that's going to make that nurse manager say hmm this person might be a liability. Whenever you're answering this question,you want to make sure that you pick something that really does happen and you can think of something like maybe a charting error that you've done where maybe you forgot to chart something so you had to go back and chart it was like a clerical error or you were collecting a lab specimen it became contaminated so you had to go back and correct it,redraw it do whatever you had to do.
Question number : Describe a time when a co-worker or nurse manager made you upset. Now whenever you answer this question there's two things you want to keep in mind. Number one,you don't want to come off as petty,a complainer or some type of drama queen and then number two,you want to make sure that you don't really put down your co-workers,the agency you used to work for,or your nurse manager. You want to answer this question professionally. For example think of a time maybe with a co-worker they were calling it a lot or they were arriving late for their shift and that was affecting the workflow on the unit and how patient care could be provided or maybe a nurse kept giving you really shoddy report and this would affect how you can provide patient care,something in that realm.
Question number 6: What has been the most valuable criticism a manager or charge nurse has given you? Again,whenever you're answering this question you don't want to list something that makes you seem incompetent but you want to tell them something that someone has told you that you have improved on and really emphasize how you have improved on it and really grown from that criticism and for me I could talk about how I have been told that I tend to be a little bit too hard on myself and it's true I tend to be a perfectionist and I like to take a lot on myself but over the years I have improved on that and that criticism actually has helped me grow professionally.
Question number 7: Why do you want to work for our company? When you answer this question you want to make sure that you have researched the organization and every organization has their own focus and motto and you want to incorporate that in your response. Some things you could possibly talk about if it's true about that organization maybe they are magnet status which means that they're really a great environment for nurses to work and if that's important to you you can talk about how that is something that you're looking for in an employer or you can talk about how they have a great reputation in the community.You know some people who've had care provided to them from this agency or some people who have worked there and they really enjoy their job or this place has great opportunities for growth that will help you as you grow professionally as a nurse.
Question number 9: How would you handle a rude physician or supervisor? How I would answer this question is that I would say you know whenever a person is being rude to you,you don't know what's going on with them they could be having some personal issues going on or just having a really bad day,dealing with a heavy patient load or difficult patients. So I wouldn't conduct myself in an unprofessional way I would overlook it and as the Bible says you know a soft answer turneth away wrath I wouldn't want to make the situation worse just because I got offended by their rude comment however if the rudeness continued over a period of time I would probably approach them in professional manner and ask them if I have done something to offend you or something like that and if it continued then I would escalate it to maybe like a nurse manager or charge nurse.
Finally question 10: Why are you a good candidate for this job? Whatever you answer this particular question this is where you want to outshine all the other people who are interviewing for this same position. Some things you might want to talk about is your passion or in in this specific specialty that you're applying your love for people or how you're a team player you love being part of a team and working together to provide excellent patient care or how you're punctual for work you strive for hard work and to carry yourself with a professional attitude you love learning new things growing professionally in your career you could even talk about your credentials,your experience,your knowledge that could really bring a lot to this job that you're applying for and how it can help you grow professionally as a nurse .
So that wraps up this post over nursing interview questions and answers and remember before you go to your interview you want to rehearse. So do like a mock interview with someone because whenever you answer these questions you want your response to come off as naturally as possible now if you've already been through a job interview I would love to hear from you tell me some questions that you got and what your response was thank you so much for reading and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more posts like this.Also share it if you found it useful.
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