interview questions for new grad

Specialties Cardiac

Published

Hello all,

I'm going to graduate in Dec and am being considered for several jobs on cardiac units. I did my initial screening on the phone with a recruiter and then will find out what managers I will be interviewing with and what floors. My quesion is, what might they ask me during these interviews? I don't really have any experience in cardiac, so will they ask me specific quesions related to the heart or will they just want to know more about my patient experiences? Any help on what to expect would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Specializes in Cardiology.

Typical question may be "how will you handle a situation when a pt complains of CP?". O2, 12 lead, nitro, morphine. Aspirin, vitals and MD call would be appropriate too ;-) Depending on the presentation of the pt, you may proceed in a different order. The acronym MONA is one that is often used for CP (morphine, oxygen, nitro, aspirin).

That was the only cardiac specific question asked in my interview. I remember other questions like "think of a time when you and your boss didn't see eye to eye. how did you resolve that situation?"

Don't forget to ask questions too! You want to know their nurse to patient ratio, whether there are techs/CNAs on the floor, how scheduling works, length of orientation, is classroom teaching involved in your orientation, when will they send you to basic ecg class, etc. Good luck!

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Specializes in neuro, med/surg/, cardiac care.

Agree with the MONA scenario for sure, it is a given. I also got asked what drugs would you potentially see a change in your ECG strip and why would you be worried. I thankfully had reviewed my meds and remembered the Amiodarone with prolonged QT intervals which could lead to R on T --> VT. They were sufficientally impressed , and I got offered jobs on both the units whose managers were interviewing me at the same time. Good luck to you!!

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Specializes in Emergency.

Funny that I did not get many heart related questions on my interview.

I mainly got questions that related to dealing with communication issues such as "How would you handle a situation where a MD starts yelling at you in the hallway?" Errrr...I have no idea, does this happen often? Or "you get to a room, and the pt is lying on the floor. What do you do?" My reply:" Assess pt (vitals, pain, etc. If coherent ask them what happened), Get them back to bed. Ensure pt is stable, let TL know, call MD."

I think the mgrs know since you are new that you do not have all the answers, but they will let you squirm a little. I really thought that my interview went badly until she hired me at the end of the interview. They really want to see how you deal with pressure. I found that even if I was unsure of the answer, if I stated that I would ask someone with more experience, or said I really had no idea how to handle a situation, she liked that better than me trying to "wing it."

Amy

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

A personal work story of importance

Why did you choose our facility?

What is the most difficult situation you have encountered and how did you deal with it?

What personalities do you struggle with?

And the biggest.... tell me abour yourself!!

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.
Agree with the MONA scenario for sure, it is a given. I also got asked what drugs would you potentially see a change in your ECG strip and why would you be worried. I thankfully had reviewed my meds and remembered the Amiodarone with prolonged QT intervals which could lead to R on T --> VT. They were sufficientally impressed , and I got offered jobs on both the units whose managers were interviewing me at the same time. Good luck to you!!

Way to go, My hair on my arms stood up when I read R on T.! I take it you took one of the positions?

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Specializes in neuro, med/surg/, cardiac care.

Unfortunately I took the job on the cardiac surgery unit, but only stayed 10months until a fabulous jobshare postion came up on the cardiology/cardiac sx floor right above. It was not a waste of time , learned a heck of a lot, just got tired of working understaffed almost every shift, and under a manager who never followed the union contract when booking part timers.

:lol2::lol2::lol2:

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The only cardiac related question I got at my interview was "why are you interested in cardiac nursing?" As al7139 mentioned, I think most managers realize that as a new grad you don't have very much knowledge regarding a certain specialty. However, I think I got every single interview question that Achoo listed!

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Hi,

I am a newly graduate nurse who's about to have an interview at the Cairlion Clinic in Va next week. Do you know what questions will be asked of me??? Anyone here who had an interview with Carilion Clinic. I really want to get the job.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paolo

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