Top 25 Nursing Interview Questions and Answer Examples

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 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS and ANSWERS Scenarios 2019

The 25 Most Common Nursing Interview Questions

The nursing interview questions and answers below fix the reason most applicants flunk.

Namely, they don’t have answers ready for common questions.

Good answers are specific and draw on real life examples.

They’re not beauty-pageant speeches about saving the world.

They’re, “One time a patient was lashing out at all the staff. I talked to her and learned she was terrified because she thought she was dying. I took the time to educate her and she was calm and friendly the rest of her stay.”

Great answers to nurse interview questions fit what the job offer is searching for. Does the job want communication skills? Budgeting? The best answers fit the manager’s needs.

So, to answer the most common questions for nursing interviews:

  • Read the job description and learn its requirements.
  • Brainstorm your achievements that prove you fit.
  • Rehearse your answers until you can give them in your sleep.
  • Answer right, and the administrators will ask you a question:

    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:

  • Situation. Think of a similar situation that had a successful outcome.
  • Task. What task were you responsible for in the situation? State your contribution clearly and concisely.
  • Action. What action did you take? This is the time to highlight your best qualities and brag on yourself a little.
  • Result. What was the result? How did you specifically contribute to the outcome? What did you learn or take away from the experience?
  • 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.

    STAR: The #1 Strategy for Answering Scenario-Based Questions

    When giving your responses in a job interview, it’s important to stay focused and on-point. If youve had trouble with this in the past, you may want to consider trying out the STAR interview technique. STAR stands for:

  • S ituation
  • T ask
  • A ction
  • R esults
  • By following this response structure, youll be able to organize your thoughts in a more coherent way, whether you’re speaking from past experience or imagining yourself in a hypothetical situation. Here’s how to formulate a thorough response:

  • Situation: State the specific situation, as you understand it. This way, it’s clear what you’re responding to. If you’re speaking from past experience, connect it to the one they’ve presented.
  • Task: Explain the steps that would need to be done, in order, so you come across as organized.
  • Action: Describe how you’d implement the steps.
  • Results: Share the results you would expect to happen. If speaking from experience, also share what did happen.
  • If you’ve been asked a situational question but you’ve had experience with a similar scenario, you can answer it as a situational response and segue into the fact that you had something similar happen. Then, you can set up your behavioral scenario. This is a way to share your experience after answering the question to back up your point.

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