examples of situational interview questions

[shrimpchips, LPN]

I had my "screening" interview about 2 weeks ago and now I have another interview with a nurse manager on a med-surg/renal unit. I have a friend who works on that floor as a nurse assistant (I am interviewing for a nursing student technician position) and she said her manager likes to ask a lot of situational questions. Can anyone give me examples of situational questions (and maybe some good answers to them...lol) because I find situational questions are hard to answer, especially with my level of experience - most of the time I have never dealt with that sort of "situation" before. During my screening interview the only "situational" question that I was asked what if I have ever dealt with a difficult patient and if so, how did I go about it. Well I have never dealt with one before lol but I told her I would remain professional and remain calm and try to calmly talk to the patient without raising my voice and sounding "authoritative" and also use my resources (co-workers) if the situation escalated. I don't even know if that was a good answer, that one caught me off guard and that was what I could come up with right then and there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...I just want this job more than anything. My current job just isn't cutting it for me

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

If this hiring manager is following standard behavioral interviewing guidelines, the questions are designed to discover you handle various situations. Questions usually begin with a phrase like "Tell me about a time when you . . . .". You will need to talk about what you did - essentially telling a story. Be sure to focus on what you actually DID, not what you felt, or what you would normally do in that tye of situation.

So, just take a deep breath, gather your thoughts and answer truthfully.