Got Any Tips For An ER Interview?

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Specializes in NICU.

Hi everyone!

I am a recent new grad and I am preparing for an ER interview. I have no RN experience, however I have been employed at this hospital for almost two years as an EKG tech. Currently, I am ACLS, BLS, and EKG certified.

If you have any tips and suggestions about preparing for an interview for the ER unit, please feel free to share. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much! :spam:

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

The questions I find hardest are "tell me about yourself" "describe a case where you gave good customer service" and "how would you handle conflict with a (patient, coworker, professional ethics, a neighbors dog, oh whatever). There are sites with much better answers (have you looked on Nurse Together?). Good Luck.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Medsurg.

Ughhh I hate that "tell me about yourself" question. Another one I hate is "why do you want to work in the ER". I can never come up with a good answer.....because I want to treat em and street em just doesn't seem very compassionate. LOL. So be prepared with a good answer and ifyou find one, let me know lol

Oh and another one is "what do you consider are your weaknesses". A good way to answer this is with a potential positive. For example, I tend to be a little OCD when it comes to patient wait times. What the interviewer is hearing "she may be a little over the time trying to get to patients but better then having them wait for hours".

Good luck!

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Couple of things to think about before you go:

-How does your personality or previous job experiences (including non-hospital) relate to a position in the ED. (fast pace, critical thinking, working with diverse populations)

-Read and print the job description. Learn about the hospital and ED (trauma center, accredited stroke center, etc.) Write down question to ask before you go. Even if all your questions all answered take out your piece of paper and look over it. This along with the job description and research on the hospital show that you are interested in the job and willing to work a little work and actually THINK how you might fit in their department.

-Finally write a thank you note to the person/people you interviewed with. Ask for a business card so you can get their address. I would write an actual paper and envelope, not an email. You can find examples online but please tailor appropriately to your interview. (have heard of managers typing in phrases from resumes and thank you notes into Google to see if any direct matches pop up).

Hope this helps give you some ideas.

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Specializes in NICU.

Thank you soo much! I will definitely look at Nurse Together, research the hospital, and try to be prepared with the common potential interview questions. I have been sending thank you cards but i wasn't aware that they may google the phrases...in that case, I would probably fix mines :)

Thanks for your help again!

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There's a certification for EKGs??????? It's not part of the standard schooling?

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Specializes in NICU.

Dear ImThatGuy,

Yes, there is an EKG certification. I took it one summer when I decided to take the summer off from nursing school. It was a four day class. Many health care providers were in my class, inc RN's, LPN's, EMT's, nursing students, etc...

I was introduced to EKG's in nursing school during my last semester, critical care. Since I already took a basic EKG course months before, it made my life easier :)

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Hmmm. Odd.

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Specializes in NICU.

Interview's in two days...still prepping and kind of nervous. I am so excited though! I'm going to show up at the interview with such enthusiam and prove how much I want this position!

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I hope you get it good luck!:)

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Specializes in ER.

so how'd it go?

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