Whether you’re an experienced nurse or just getting your career started, here’s a guide with sample nursing interview questions and answers to help you prepare for your next job interview.
Searching for a nursing job is exhausting, from filling out applications, uploading your resume and cover letter to passing readiness tests and assessments. By the time you finally land an interview, the process can be overwhelming. Nursing job interviews can feel intimidating for even the most experienced nurse, but interviewing can be something you conquer without breaking a sweat. Here’s a guide to help you master your next job interview, including samples of common nursing interview questions and answers.
Nursing Peer-Interview GONE WRONG| Interview Tips
How do you make sure you minimize the chance of injury to your patients?
Injury can happen in any healthcare environment, and its important that your team knows you have a plan for decreasing the risk of this situation happening. Keeping patients safe under your care and trusting of the healthcare environment theyre in can be crucial to keeping them healthy and progressing in their treatment. Before you answer, think of the various protocols youve had to follow in previous roles so you can develop a response that shows this is something youve thought about or have had training in.
Example answer: “I know there are certain procedures in place for any organization to make sure the facility continues to be a safe place for patients. Because I know that injury can happen when we least expect it, I make sure Im always up-to-date on fall prevention and know how to clean up spills and discard hazardous liquids. I also minimize the chances of injury by cleaning my work area, schedule patient procedures so there isnt overcrowding around the procedure room and teaching patients how to care for themselves so they can avoid injury.”
What is your greatest contribution to a team?
Its important that to fit into a team youre working with so everyone can come up with creative solutions to patient problems and collaborate well as a group. Each employee comes to the workplace with a variety of experiences, both personally and professionally, that can affect how they interact with others. If your peer group asks you this question during an interview, they are probably doing so to understand more about what they can expect from you if you were to get hired.
Example answer: “Although the healthcare environment can be serious, especially since we all have a lot of responsibility, I bring an element of fun to the team. I truly believe that if you can have fun at work and enjoy the company of your peers, youll experience greater job satisfaction and be open to more opportunities to collaborate.”
What do you love about being a nurse?
Peers often ask this question to understand more about you as a nurse, including what motivates you and why you chose this profession. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite parts of the job. While there may be a lot you love, focus on the top one or two parts of nursing that you enjoy the most.
Example answer: “The reason I pursued a career in nursing is to make a difference in the lives of others. That is still a top reason why I continue to grow my career in this field. Ive had the fortune to see how my actions have positively impacted someone elses life, and its a great feeling.”
Emotional Depth Can Be Harder to Gauge
Exploring a nurse’s emotional range is a tougher nut to crack. By nature, caregivers are empathetic, and can wear their heart on their sleeve. Still, the process of going through peer interview nursing questions can identify strengths and weaknesses here as well:
Common themes for nursing interview questions
Because nurses care for patients, provide continuity of care, and interact with different members of a patient’s interdisciplinary team, a lot of nursing interview questions revolve around:
These types of nursing interview questions are considered behavioral interview questions. Using real-life examples and stories is a great way to answer behavioral-based interview questions. The interviewer is often attempting to see how you’d react in challenging situations and if you can adapt to life on the unit you’re applying to work at.
How Do You Practice Self-Care?
Nursing can be a physically and emotionally taxing career, so it’s important for interviewers to see that you know how to balance work and life. And that you’ll be able to take care of yourself—no matter how grueling the work gets—so that you can come back the next day ready to continue to perform.
“Every day you’re opening the obituaries and seeing a patient that you treated for 10 years, or you’re seeing that mom who had three small kids who died of breast cancer,” says Emily Hershey, BSN, RN, Executive Search Consultant of Clinical Nursing at The Roman Healthcare Group. So when she’s interviewing candidates, she wants to know how they deal with and overcome “compassion fatigue.”
Underneath this question, she says, she really wants to know: “How do you handle your emotions changing in a matter of 30 seconds, and be able to go from room to room? And then be able to go home to be with your spouse and your children?” Overall, good nurses have strong emotional intelligence—about their patients, sure, but also about themselves.
There’s no right or wrong answer to this: Just explain how you’ve learned to cope with the stresses and exhaustion of the job. Do you exercise? Bake? Unplug with a good movie and some quality family time?
Bonus: Adding in a couple specific examples of times you’ve had to overcome an especially emotional situation or day can make your answer even stronger.
FAQ
What should I expect at a peer nursing interview?
What questions are asked in a peer interview?
- How would you handle a conflict with a coworker without addressing your supervisor? …
- What are your ideal traits for a coworker? …
- What words would you use to describe the ideal employee? …
- How would you rate your teamwork skills?
What is a peer interview for nurses?
