How to prepare for a Nursing Interview?

[BFofaNurse]

My girlfriend is preparing for a nursing interview. Background: She has 5 years experience, 3 are in an ICU. She only had 1 interview really in her past. She is going for a transplant coordinator opening, which she really wants.

Do nurses bring a few copies of their resume with them?

Do they wear a business suit?

What will help give her the best chance?

Its a 5 day/week job instead of 3. Does she ask about 4, 10 hour day possibility at some point?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Yes, for that type of position, I would reccommend dressing to impress - suit, heels, the whole 9 yards. A nice briefcase with several copies of her resume would be expected. Transplant coordinators are frequently called upon to function as a representative of the organization - dealing with outside agencies. They would want to make sure that applicants are capable of this. As she is interviewing, they are likely to be imagining her in those types of situations.

I would also urge her to do a lot of background prep. Make sure she knows the mission & history of the organization - including their transplant stats - as well as all pertinent industry information, rules & regs that govern transplants. She also needs to be able to articulate all of the legal/ethical issues - there will likely be questions about this to get a sense of her specialty knowledge and how she would interact with donor families.

If she is serious about the job, I would urge her to avoid any discussion of limiting her schedule/availability, particularly if this is an exempt (salaried) position. The nature of the job means that the hours are not predictable. They certainly don't want their transplant coordinator to be 'unavailable' when a potential donor rolls in through the ED. She will undoubtedly be carrying a beeper (or tech equivalent) and expected to respond when needed.