?? to ask potential employer

[natrgrrl]

What kind of questions should I ask when I get an interview?

Also, what should I be looking for at the facility?

I am concerned about the staff to patient ratio. What is a good ratio? What ratio should make me refuse a job?

What else to ask?

[CaseManager1947]

Is this a medical center (hospital) or a LTC environment??? Some questions I liked to hear when I was interviewing people were:

1. how do you describe your leadership style (notice I didn't say management style).

2. What ways do you assist employees with conflict?

3. Is there an employee council??

4.What are your quality indicators, who monitors them, and how do staff get feedback?

5. In what fashion do you communicate new info on the units --staff meetings, emails, or the dreaded memo??

6. Do staff have input into new equipment purchased?

also, i agree, your questions about staff ratios are valid as well

You, I think get my drift.... questions that will help you decide if you want to work there.

Good Luck

[natrgrrl]

Thanks. This really helps.

[Plagueis]

Some other questions you may want to ask (I asked some of these during my interview last year): What is the policy on mandatory overtime? Do you have any mechanical lifts? What is the pay rate, and how often are raises given? Do you offer any flexible scheduling? How many hours will I be working per week? Will I get any paid days off, and how many? What is the call-out policy? Do you offer any tuition reimbursement? The question about staffing is important, too. Ask specifically about the ratios for the shift that you are going to work. I hope this helps you. :)

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i've been compiling a list of these questions in a file over some time. here they are (i taylored them to a cna):

• what kind of advancement is available to me here as a cna?
  
• if i were to get a job offer from another facility, why would i want to work for this one?
  
• what is the criteria you use to hire a cna?
  
• what kind of support can i expect from the nursing educators and preceptors?
  
• how does the hospital handle new cnas that might be slow in becoming oriented to their new jobs?
  
• how long have you been the don of this facility and what is your nursing background?
  
• how many nurses have quit and how many hired for this facility in the past 6 months? how long have some of the nurses and cnas been working on this facility?
  
• who will be orienting me? can you tell me something about them? will i always have the same person orienting me or will there be more than one?
  
• have you ever had a new cna who didn't seem to work out? how was it handled?
  
• if for any reason it seems that orientation is just not going well for me what will happen and who should i talk to about it?

this is a website that has questions for nurses to ask potential employers. mind you, these questions were designed for rns looking for their first jobs, so you might need to modify the questions to your own situation:

http://www.hospitalsoup.com/employerquestions.asp - questions for nurses to ask employers during interviews

before you leave your interview, if you haven't been given an offer of employment, ask when you will hear from them about the job. ask when you should call back and who to ask to talk to in order to find out when they will make a decision. this is far better than waiting at home for two weeks waiting for your phone to ring!

good luck!