One’s skills are probably the single most important factor when it comes to finding work. A job seeker must highlight: his/her achievements, training and previous job experience,when crafting a resume and during interviews. However, even if you have the requisite skills, if you don’t have the right character and personality and ability to get on with your colleagues, then you may not last long in the job.
Through particular nursing interview questions, recruiters will try and build a picture of what kind of a co-worker and employee you will be. Some of these questions are common and typically asked in other industries, while others will be particular to nursing.
Frequently Asked Nursing Interview Questions
When a hospital, nursing school or any organization tries to hire someone, they will envisage how it will be working with you and how you will fit in. This is one of the many purposes of an interview – to not only validate what you have written on your resume but to take a glimpse of your personality. If they sense there is already some tension or they feel you have an attitude problem, your chances of landing the job will decrease.
All recruiting managers have a list of questions, many are commonly asked even outside the healthcare industry. Here is a list of some of them:
- Tell us about yourself.
- Why did you take up nursing?
- What are you inspirations to pursue a career in nursing?
- What makes you a good fit for this job?
- Why should we hire you?
- What do you do during your spare time?
- Can you tell us about your family?
- What are the best rewards of being a nurse?
- What sacrifices will a nurse have to make?
Just because these questions can be expected, you shouldn’t take the risk of not being well prepared. These questions may be “simple” but they are designed to assess the very important characteristics of being a good nurse – motivation and aptitude. These types of question will give the interviewer an idea about who you really are as a person.
Questions related to families are asked to check for life balance, especially for those married applicants. If they find that these personalities are weak or have problems, they cannot be assured that you will last long in their organization or in the nursing profession.
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Situational Nursing Interview Questions
There are some recruiting managers that like to throw situations at you to determine your personality. Most of these questions are asked, if not during the initial interview stage, then during succeeding interviews, especially if you are applying for a higher post.
As they are also skilled when it comes to selecting the best candidates for the job, they target characteristics and personality traits, such as endurance, honesty, flexibility, leadership, compassion, dependability and initiative. These are just some of the characteristics that a good nurse should possess and you should have them to, if you wish to progress in the profession.
Here are some of situational types of questions:
- You saw a colleague stealing from a resident patient. What will you do?
- Have you clashed with a colleague before? How did you * resolve such conflict?
- What is your response to a patient who is non-cooperative?
- You are done for the day, 10 minutes ahead. How will you spend your remaining 10 minutes before checking out?
- If your shift ends at 3pm and your replacement is still not around by 3:15pm, how will you respond to this?
- Tell us about the most challenging patient you have had under your care. How did you handle him/her?
- Have you experienced working with hard-to-please superiors? Can you share your experience with us?
During your nursing job interview, think clearly and mentally conceptualize your answers. Be honest in every situation. These nursing interview questions will focus on emotional stability, your ability to resolve conflict, interpersonal skills and you as a team-player.
Follow these interview tips to help you ace that interview and land your dream job. Now that you have some idea on what nursing interview questions will be asked, think of your answers. Practice delivering them in front of the mirror or set up a mock interview. Remember that communication skills are vital when it comes to navigating the interview process.
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