Interview of a nurse

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2011

There are alot of these requests here. The problem is that I personally believe that your instructors want you to do a face to face interview. This is an important part of your daily interactions with patients. I think your instructors are looking to expose you and help you become more comfortable in talking with complete strangers.

The interview process in nursing is extremely important. It is imperative that you learn to pick up on verbal and nonverbal clues from the first moment of contact whether triaging or interveiwing you new admission. A lot of information can be obtained through non verbal communication and eye contact (or the lack thereof) Like " is anyone hurting you mentally of physically at home??" I can easily say no now but in person ....What does the body language show? Is someone hurting them and they are afraid to say????

I am thinking it is the face to face skills that your instructors are looking for.....not something tweeted or FB'd or blogged. Make an appointment at your own doctors office to talk to that nurse (just make sure they are a nurse and not a medical assistant...your assingment is to talk to a nurse.) Go to a minute clinic at CVS or Walgreens and talk to a nurse there......go to your town's board of health or health services. Go to your local schools.....elementry,middle,jr or high and speak to the school nurse. Go to the health stop on campus....there should be a nurse there too.......Good Luck..!

jammin246RN · Mar 4, 2011

1. Occupation:

RN. I work Ortho/Medsurg at one facility and Rehab/ER at another :)

2. Organization/Company:

Both are hospitals. One is a mid level size roughly 200 beds, the other very small only 15 beds.

3. What are your main responsibilities?

As charge nurse at the larger facility I supervise the other nurses, lend a hand when I can. I take responsibility for anything that one of the other nurses under me might have done. Also you battle with the house sup trying to keep your staff, or get more staff. Since I work nights, it means I take a full team of patients as well. While working you also have to assign new admits fairly to the other nurses. And assist in any IV starts, and have a working knowledge of all patients on your floor. At the smaller facility I supervise one lpn and act as the ER nurse, and charge nurse.

4. Which of your duties takes the most time?

Charting, Charting, Charting......some more Charting....That was easy :). For example at the smaller facility it takes 2-3 hours to admit one person... sometimes you have 3 admits.... plus charting on all the other patients.

5. Which do you enjoy the most?

Talking with the patients an hearing their stories. Making a patient laugh.

6. Which do you enjoy the least?

That druggie crackhoe who decided to walk off the floor with her boyfriend, and came back higher then a kite with the narc nod. She was so drugged she couldn't keep her eyes open. Then throws a temper tantrum on the floor when she gets narcan..... Or the guy who had chest pain, so he smoked some meth, did some crack, smoked some weed, and still had chest pain so decided to come to the hospital.

7. How much would a new worker earn?

Typical starting salary for a new grad is $18-19 an hour in the missouri/ill area. Although some hospitals offer bonus, double bonus and the like.... When I was a new grad 6 years ago I only made 18 an hour, but in 2 weeks I grossed $4700 with overtime, bonus, and double bonus.

8. Is there room for advancement? Yes/No

Yes

9. How did you get into this line of work?

Both parents are RNs

10. What skills do you need?

Time management, workable knowledge of computers, compassion

11. What kind of training or schooling is needed?

1 Year vocational for LPN (starting salaries for them are 12-14/hr) 2 years for RN.

12. Where did you get your training?

Texas

13. Do you think this job will exist in 10 years? Yes/No

Yes

14. Does this occupation fit well with your over-all-plan of life? Yes/No

Yes... Lets see work 6 days have 8 off, and still be considered working full time, I like that!

15. What other jobs could you do that would be related to your training?

Phlebotomist, open my own business inserting PICC lines, Agency, IV start team, Occupational Nurse, in many states you can act as a paramedic if needed and run an ambulance, the special niches are almost endless.

16. What recommendations do you have for someone entering this career?

Start with good time management skills, develope a system, stick with it. What I find useful is to introduce myself to all my patients and ask about pain nausea etc. Make a note of it. Then come back around with their pain/nausea meds and do a full assessment, at 8 start giving evening meds and doing assessments, if someone requests something don't automatically drop everything you are doing and do that.... That is a good way to get WAY behind... but work it in. Try to multitask. Ask about your patients and show them you care.

systoly · Mar 4, 2011

While there are a lot of these requests on this board, yours stands out. You took the time to fill out a profile (a cool one at that) and you gave us your background, two things I really appreciate. You did get one set of answers which is, what I believe, all you need. If I can be of any help to you in the future - you got it.

MouseMichelle · Mar 4, 2011

1. Occupation:

RN

2. Organization/Company:

Long Term Care

3. What are your main responsibilities?

Passing out meds, charting, 24 hour reports, checking new orders making sure they are processed, guiding my CNA's, testing glucometers, answering call lights, answering body alarms, charting--oh I said that LOL, making out the next shift's schedule, sending out reqs for labs due that day, calling docs for emergencies, sending out patients, assessing patients for all I have to chart on, restocking, cleaning rotation (ie cleaning med carts, treatment carts etc), there's more but that's all I can think of now.

4. Which of your duties takes the most time?

charting on new admits and filling out appropiate forms, paperwork.

5. Which do you enjoy the most?

Knowing that I'm keeping my patients comfortable, knowing that my patients are safe, talking to my patients.

6. Which do you enjoy the least?

Being screamd at by docs, having falls or emergencies at the wrong time

7. How much would a new worker earn?

I have no clue, currently I'm being paid 30 an hour and I've had 13 years experience.

8. Is there room for advancement? Yes/No

Yes

9. How did you get into this line of work?

Always wanted to be a nurse since I was a child.

10. What skills do you need?

Time management and excellent assessment skills.

11. What kind of training or schooling is needed?

BSN so two years prereqs and three years nursing school, then as a new nurse you basically learn on the floor.

12. Where did you get your training?

College

13. Do you think this job will exist in 10 years? Yes/No

Yes

14. Does this occupation fit well with your over-all-plan of life? Yes/No

Yes

15. What other jobs could you do that would be related to your training?

ANYTHING......seriously......

16. What recommendations do you have for someone entering this career?

Be certain this is what you want to do, realize it's stressful and learn healthy ways to manage stress, have compassion, be respectful to your coworkers, learn as much as you can from experienced nurse, and be safe in your practice.

Hope this helps.

guest042302019, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2011

Thanks for your time! I appreciate it.

rkitty198, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2011

I feel like you are looking for an easy way out of doing your homework. You can always call a hospital and ask for a nurse manager and set up an interview, on a floor in which you are interested in working. I think you would gain a lot more from performing your assignment this way. That would introduce you to what nursing is like where YOU live. You could even meet people to help you get a job when you graduate, because jobs are very hard to find these days.