- Do you work well with other nurses, doctors and staff? …
- How would you handle a difficult patient? …
- How do you handle workplace stress? …
- What do you do if your replacement does not arrive? …
- How would you handle a disagreement with a doctor? …
- Describe how you manage a busy workload.
TOP TEN NURSE Job Interview Questions + MY ANSWERS
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.
Use the STAR method to answer nursing interview questions
The STAR method is a well-known technique that you can use to answer behavioral-based interview questions. The acronym lays out how you should format your answer and tell your story:
By using this method, you’ll be able to fully convey how you’ve handled a real-life situation in the past and how you can successfully administer future ones. Even if you’re just beginning your career and don’t have a lot of experience, this is a useful tactic you can use for tackling new grad nurse interview questions.
Pro Tips For Answering Nurse Interview Questions
The first thing you need to do when preparing for an interview is to go over the job description with a fine-toothed comb.
Make a list of everything the employer is looking for in their Perfect Candidate.
Now, sit down and look back over all your experiences and see exactly how you’ve met all those requirements before.
It doesn’t matter if the experiences you have aren’t 100% related to the job description you’re applying to. Basically, what you want to do is give your potential future employer tailored examples of how you’ve handled situations in the past so they can extrapolate how you’d most likely react in future situations…and in some cases, examples outside of work show how you’re adept at thinking on your feet and handling yourself beyond just your job. Just make sure that no matter what, you’re answering their questions with personal examples that highlight your skills and abilities.
While you’re doing your prep and looking over the job description, it’s a good idea to also do a little research into where you’re applying. Having specifics on their techniques or their way of doing things and relating that to how you do things will not only show them you’re already in tune with their style, but it will also help to reinforce the idea that you’re the Perfect Candidate!
In most situations, being a nurse means working on a team and as a result, your interview might consist of members of that potential future team. Be prepared to meet with the hiring manager, other nurses, doctors, technicians and members of the hospital administrative staff and try to know a little about each person before you go in (just don’t make it creepy.)
Now that we’ve covered some basic tips, let’s take a look at 20 of the most commonly asked nursing interview questions.
In fact we we wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions!
Click below to get your free PDF now:
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 are 4 key skills that a nurse needs for effective interviewing?
- What Are Your Weaknesses? …
- Why Should We Hire You? …
- Why Do You Want to Work Here? …
- What Are Your Goals? …
- Why Did You Leave (or Why Are You Leaving) Your Job? …
- When Were You Most Satisfied in Your Job? …
- What Can You Do for Us That Other Candidates Can’t?
What are some of the interview questions for nursing?
