Do you think interviews for nursing school can lead to discrimination?

[SilverNova]

I am currently in my final quarter of nursing school at my local community college. There wasn't an interview process when I applied, and everyone was accepted based on grades, work experience, and volunteer work. One of my nursing instructors let us know in class that they were adding an interview process to requirements of acceptance. She was talking about how it would help weed out the students that couldn't make it in nursing school or wouldn't make good nurses, despite good grades and work experience. All the other nursing schools in my area have an interview before acceptance into the program, and my community college was the only one that didn't. Deep down this kind of bothers me because I feel like if you have the grades, work experience, and volunteer work, someone's subjective opinion of you shouldn't stand in your way of following your dreams. I know that a lot of people don't make it through nursing school, and some don't make good nurses despite graduating and passing the NCLEX, but i find it wrong to deny someone with good grades and completion of prereqs. That is two years of your life or more. It also personally bothers me because I have had social anxiety my entire life. I feel like if I was interviewed, I may not have made the cut despite good grades and 5 years of work experience as a CNA. I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a CNA because I'm awkward and fidgety. I just does not seem ethical to me. I am aware that when you graduate as a nurse you will have to face the interview process, but I have been offered two jobs so far at my clinical sites based on my performance as a student nurse. I was able to prove myself, and I have worked with enough nurses to get letters of recommendations. I feel like overcame a lot of my personally flaws by hard work. If I was interviewed I would not have had that opportunity. Nursing is full of gate keepers and it really bothers me sometimes.

[MotoMonkey, BSN, RN]

Maybe this is a phenomenon in your area, but your experiences certainly do not align with mine. My cohort is 28% male with many single parents and non traditional students. After our application and essays we had a pretty thorough interview process.

You say that having an interview could preclude students with good GPA but poor personal skills from attending school. What about the other side of that coin? Is it fair for a school to reject someone who has a less than stellar GPA but great interpersonal skills? I would argue that interpersonal skills are far more important to the day to day aspects of being a nurse than prerequisite GPA and volunteer hours. Should schools then accept every student who can successfully fill out the application?

At the end of the day schools, like employers, have a right and obligation to choose the candidates they feel will best fit and succeed within their organizations. Schools, at least in my area, have a huge number of students applying each year and are therefore able to be picky and only take the candidates they feel are most qualified and best matched for their programs. Unfortunately this will always end with some seemingly qualified candidates not being accepted.

As an aside, I think this would be a really interesting research study and if no one is looking into it maybe you are the person to do so.

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

On 3/3/2019 at 10:18 AM, Mergirlc said:

I feel the interview should be mandatory. As a nurse, one must be able to communicate effectively to patients, family members, other staff, etc. If you are unable to communicate during an interview, this might show a deficit when it comes to sharing important medical information to others once you are employed. The admissions committee will see this. Grades and knowledge are fantastic and should count for something, but in the end, you need to be able to communicate.

This. A couple of my instructors told me the reason they went to an interview process was previous cohorts had some brilliant book smart people (that were completely incapable of communicating to other people).

The blind style interviews and essays show the candidate's ability to think critically and communicate under pressure.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

21 hours ago, SilverNova said:

I also want to state that I do see a difference between the other schools in my area that have interviews, and the community college I attend that does not. I notice the other nursing school's students are younger, thinner, and look more financially comfortable. They wear things like lulu lemons and other designer clothes. The students in my quarter are not as pretty and thin, and many are older, and a lot are single moms. We also have a lot more males in my school than the other nursing programs in my area. I'm not the only one that noticed it, and even had instructors talk about how our schools are a lot more "real" people that have more life experience.

The fact that you attend a community college may actually be the exact reason you see your student population vs the other schools. Community colleges have a tendency to be a bit less expensive and possibly more flexible. Both of those would suit the needs of those who are older (and sometimes wiser having gone to college in the past) as well as the single parents. Those younger students at other programs may still be seeing financial help from mom/dad (and most likely mom/dad are accounted for in financial aid via the FAFSA application). They also don't have to worry (yet) about having already exhausted student loan limits, while those who are returning for another degree might have that concern.

[SilverNova]

3 hours ago, gere7404 said:

"A couple of my instructors told me the reason they went to an interview process was previous cohorts had some brilliant book smart people (that were completely incapable of communicating to other people). "

I get that some people have extreme limitation on their interpersonal skills, but I still feel like it's wrong to discriminate based on this. Basically most of you agree someone with poor social skills can never be given the opportunity flourish, despite hard work, intelligence, or knowledge. That is what bothers me. I believe in diversity of thought and ability. If you are a safe nurse it really shouldn't matter, if you have Asperger's or something. Should these brilliant book smart people just accept that even though they are smart and have 4.0's in all their prerequisite classes, that they are just unworthy of following their dreams and go live under a bridge?

[SilverNova]

"Should schools then accept every student who can successfully fill out the application?"

That was not my argument. my argument was that I feel an interview process could discriminate against awkward and shy people with high GPA, high test scores, and significant work experience in favor of people with more charismatic personalities with a lower GPA and lower test scores.

"You say that having an interview could preclude students with good GPA but poor personal skills from attending school. What about the other side of that coin? Is it fair for a school to reject someone who has a less than stellar GPA but great interpersonal skills? I would argue that interpersonal skills are far more important to the day to day aspects of being a nurse than prerequisite GPA and volunteer hours."

That is a good argument. It's hard to say. I feel like awkward and socially inept people always get the short end of stick when it comes to life, despite being extremely capable and intelligent. I feel many people that would make safe and efficient nurses will not be given the opportunity, and I find that sad. It hurts to know that because I have a deficit in my social skills, I may have never been able to achieve my career ambitions. Obviously charismatic people deserve chances too, and having good social skills could help you in your nursing practice, but I don't think getting into a college program should be a popularity contest.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

41 minutes ago, SilverNova said:

That was not my argument. my argument was that I feel an interview process could discriminate against awkward and shy people with high GPA, high test scores, and significant work experience in favor of people with more charismatic personalities with a lower GPA and lower test scores.

That would not meet the legal definition of discrimination. And all of those "high GPA, high test scores, and significant work experience" don't guarantee success in nursing school. An interview as part of the admissions process is a tool that can be used to help determine who would be best qualified. Book smart doesn't always mean the best nurse.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

59 minutes ago, SilverNova said:

That was not my argument. my argument was that I feel an interview process could discriminate against awkward and shy people with high GPA, high test scores, and significant work experience in favor of people with more charismatic personalities with a lower GPA and lower test scores.

First, interviewing for nursing school is NOT discrimination. At all.

Second, my humble suggestion is for you to change your mind frame because it appears that you may be being your own worst enemy.

What I mean by that is you’re making a lot of assumptions and acting on them. You’re assuming that the interview is going to weed out people who are “awkward” or shy, when it could just as easily weed out people who come across arrogant or cocky. You’re also assuming that you wouldn’t make the cut had you had been interviewed, but you really don’t know that.

For future job interviews and nursing in general I would suggest you work on your confidence. Own your awkwardness and quirkiness and roll with it.

[SilverNova]

"That would not meet the legal definition of discrimination. And all of those "high GPA, high test scores, and significant work experience" don't guarantee success in nursing school. "

i didn't necessarily mean legally discriminate. I was more arguing that interviewing allows nursing staff to pick and choose who they let in the program. Obviously that means qualified people will be left out, even if they meet all the academic qualifications.

"Own your awkwardness and quirkiness and roll with it."

I am pretty awkward, and I roll with it to the best of my abilities. Most people think i'm nice and endearing, but I do think that I have had instructors see my awkwardness as a weakness. One example is when I was having a one on one meeting with my instructor, she kept asking me why I'm nervous. I said that this is just how I act all the time. She said that that could a problem because doctors may not respect me, and I may not be able to handle the pressure. I basically said that although I can appear nervous, I am able to handle criticism and conflict professionally. I don't know if she fully bought my answer, but I still passed the class so who knows.

"You’re assuming that the interview is going to weed out people who are “awkward” or shy, when it could just as easily weed out people who come across arrogant or cocky."

I do agree that cockiness and arrogance could pose a problem. No one in my cohort is like that at all, but I have heard horror stories. One story was a nursing student yelling at a CNA, and insisting that she take orders from him/her, because they out ranked her. Very awful. Maybe interviewing could weed out abusive people or cruel people, but most people are on their best behavior during interviews.

[Sour Lemon]

Everyone wants the selection process to favor their personal strengths. People post complaining about their GPA keeping them out despite extensive work experience and intense "passion" for nursing, too.

[Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN]

I had a nursing school interview decades ago on the same morning I received some very upsetting news,they were impressed that I showed up,and I was accepted.In the end I was not able to attend due to those circumstances. Years later I was finally able to attend a different school( no interview required)All in all it was the same level for both schools.

You are making too much of this,get professional help to deal with it,you will be glad .

[Golden_RN, MSN]

I think it is awesome that schools are taking a more holistic approach with admissions. My ADN program's admissions were based solely a lottery system, with no accounting for experience, interview etc.

The fact is, each school's NCLEX pass rate is posted (in CA at least), and the schools WANT to have good pass rates. It behooves them to make sure they are admitting the right students.

Communication skills are very important in nursing - not just for job interviews, but for dealing with families, management, other disciplines, MDs. If you have communication difficulties you have got to work on them.

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

The more you interview the better you get at it and it helps your critical thinking skills improve. It can help prepare you for a nurse career battery test for employment. Some employers require you to take a DNA test before the interview. I have taken this test twice and passes with high scores.