Conflict with instructor/nurse

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Hi all! So I posted about having my resume passed along not too long ago and today I finally set up an interview for the other unit it was passed to. When talking to HR they told me I did not get the other position because of how I answered the questions: explain a time you had a conflict with your instructor or a nurse during clinical and how did you deal with it? I blanked at this one and it took me a little while to answer it since I couldn't really think of anything. Eventually I mentioned how sometimes nurses take shortcuts (real world nursing vs. textbook) and how as a student its a conflict on whether to follow the shortcut or not. I said I would deal with it by always following policy and getting my instructor if necessary. In retrospect, this answer was definitely a bad one and I guess by the way I phrased it the NM was concerned with me following policy. Plus, I was throwing other nurses under the bus which I wasn't really thinking about...just trying to come up with an answer.

Fortunately, HR is still giving me a chance to do another interview in another unit but I'm wondering how others would answer this question. I was thinking that since I can't really think of a time truthfully, next time I would answer saying I haven't had a real conflict with another nurse or my instructor ever but if I did I would follow the policy and the chain of command. As a student I would go to my instructor if I had a problem with another nurse and my instructor would likely talk to the NM. As a nurse I would go directly to the NM and deal with it that way. Is this acceptable or should I try to think of some actual conflict? Thank you!

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I would think that if you were having a conflict with a co worker, you should try to work it out with them first, then if that fails, follow chain of command.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Tell them you have not had a conflict with a nurse or instructor, because as a learner, you took instruction from them. Tell them if you did have a conflict, your first instinct would be to listen to the other person to understand their position. If you absolutely could not work out a reasonable agreement with the other person, you would ask the charge nurse or nurse manager to mediate.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

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