First Nursing Interview

[ETT_8.0]

Hello AN.

I have an interview for a MICU RN position coming up this week (this is my dream job!). Needless to say I am nervous since 1) this is going to be my first professional interview and 2) the last time I actually sat for an interview was over 6 years ago! Fortunately I know someone that works on this unit and was able to give me some sample questions to expect (interview is behavioral and a panel).

There are two questions that for some reason, have a difficult time finding an appropriate answer to.

1) Tell me about a time your honesty was questioned.

2) Tell me about your weaknesses.

Any insight on how to approach such questions? Thanks in advance!

[RN403, BSN, RN]

Wow, the first one is difficult. I have never heard of that question before. Have you ever experienced a time when your honesty was questioned for any reason? Even out of the clinical setting? If you have you might tell they story. If you have not, I would just tell them that I have never experienced such a situation, but, if I had I would do xyz ( tell them how you would handle the situation).

For your weakness, pick something that you struggled with as a student nurse or as a nurse. Do you struggle with time management? Are you task-oriented? Then tell them what you have been doing to work on the issue and how you will continue to improve.

Good luck!

[ETT_8.0]

RN403. Ya that first one is killing me! I can't think of a time where someone confronted me about my honesty. Hopefully I don't get asked that one. I am a new grad so this would be my first RN position. But thank you on the advice! I think I'm more nervous because it's the unit where I have dreamed of working on throughout school and now that I got an opportunity to interview with them, I don't want to mess it up! Thanks again for the insight!

[RunBabyRN]

It can be helpful before an interview to review your clinical reports and to take some time to think about some specific patients that you remember, and any challenges that have come to mind. I had one question regarding a miscommunication and how I handled that, another about a time that I went above and beyond for a patient. Having some specific patients in mind and situations from clinicals can be really helpful!

Good luck!

[scaredsilly, BSN, RN]

mxnurse, I just saw this thread and wondered how you did?

I agree with the others, I think that question 1 is a bit odd, and if you can truthfully say 'no one ever accused me of that', I would say it. Question 2 is easier. All new grad nurses struggle a bit with things that get easier as they get more experience. A safe answer would be something like 'I am still working hard on my time management skills, I have improved but I have a little way to go'--that is something that doesn't interfere with patient care too negatively and it is expected from new nurses.

I agree you need to think about experiences you have had to be ready with an answer. Two common questions are 'tell us about an extremely difficult patient you had and how you coped', and 'tell us about a conflict with a co-worker and how you managed it'. Be ready to respond to those.

There also seem to be some HIPAA related questions that should be pretty easy to answer, and a couple more difficult ones that are legal oriented like 'a 70 year old man is diagnosed with terminal cancer and his family is asking that he not be told his diagnosis, what do you do?'.

Best of luck, and let us know how you do!

[ETT_8.0]

Hello all! So overall my interview went well! And of course the first question I was asked in my interview was the honesty question! Luckily I remembered of a patient situation that helped me answer that question. Unfortunately, I wasn't offered a position at this time since I don't have my license yet but it seemed like the director liked me and said to let him know once I have my license and he would see what is available on his unit. So there is some hope! I have another interview coming up for a new grad program so this first interview was good practice! Thanks for all your advice!