Q1: Question that stumped me at a recent interview; tell me about at time that you had to break policy.

Q2: I keep getting asked if I have any other questions at the end of the interview. I ask about patient ratios, overtime policy, and education opportunities. What else do they want me to ask?

Sounds like a brutal interview... and I've had many. I think I would have said...I have not had to break policy... they are there for a reason. ( hindsight is 20/20).

Good answer on the "any questions" question. I always added. .. What do you consider a successful nurse in your facility? Best wishes .. let us know if you got the job.

A few policies I break are animals visiting patients such as those in long term, will need to go into aged care and may never see their pet again or palliative patients. Another is visiting hours.

The questions that you are asking are good.

Those are questions I tend to ask at interviews.

You can answer the policy question along the lines of " I try to maintain the policies wherever possible. I haven't encountered a situation where I have has to break the policy to maintain patient care, but if a patient's well being was at risk, I might circumvent he policy after deliberation with my charge to promote positive patient outcomes. For example, i might order blood work in a situation where I suspected my patient to be crashing before calling the physician to expedite the results before calling the physician to update him/ her on he patients condition ( Not Everywhere Is Allowed To Order Blood work, you Might need a better example)

I recommend an approach similar to Triddin -- emphasize that you try not to violate policies. But if you feel it is in the patient's best interest ... you would discuss the situation with the appropriate supervisor before just going off on your own and ignoring the policy manual.

Those are questions I tend to ask at interviews.

You can answer the policy question along the lines of " I try to maintain the policies wherever possible. I haven't encountered a situation where I have has to break the policy to maintain patient care, but if a patient's well being was at risk, I might circumvent he policy after deliberation with my charge to promote positive patient outcomes. For example, i might order blood work in a situation where I suspected my patient to be crashing before calling the physician to expedite the results before calling the physician to update him/ her on he patients condition ( Not Everywhere Is Allowed To Order Blood work, you Might need a better example)

That's interesting. Most labs won't do that without an order first. Where are you allowed to do that?