Interview for nursing

Bellarubia18 · May 24, 2009

I went into my nursing interviews thinking it would be a piece of cake. Instead, I got these questions:

1. "Give me an example of a conflict you had with a nurse or a PCA, etc and how you handled it?"

2. Why nursing? Why this specialty?

3. Tell me about yourself

4. What was your favorite part of nursing school? What was your least favorite part of nursing school?

5. what is your biggest weakness? Your biggest Strength?

6. Why should we hire you?

7. Tell me about an ethical dilemma you came across in clinicals/nursing school.

8. Where do you see yourself professionally in five years?

These are likely the hardest questions you'll be asked, so it's good to prepare for the worst and have answers for these. These are questions typically seen in behavioral interviews. They want to see what kind of person you really are. A good example of this is the first question I gave you; if they ask you this, do not say you have never had a conflict in school or clinicals(I made that mistake on an interview on an oncology unit!), and my interviewer responded that we all have conflicts every day.

So, they want to see how honest/real you are. However, construct answers to these questions that put you in the most positive light possible...don't lie...just downplay any negatives. Here are examples of answers to two tricky interview questions:

1. "Give me an example of a conflict you had with a nurse or a PCA, etc and how you handled it?"

"During my first clinical in a nursing home, there was a nursing assistant who was consistently impatient with some of the students, including me. It wasn't very helpful, so one day I took her aside after patient care and asked her if there was something we could do differently. I think open communication is key."

2. what is your biggest weakness?

"Because of my background in customer service, I like to please people and prefer to avoid confrontation. But I know that being a patient advocate sometimes requires assertiveness, especially when there are unclear medication orders or unresolved patient concerns. During my final clinical, I had to phone the physician a few times about my patient's unrelieved pain. Although the physician was a little annoyed at being paged, my patient was grateful in the end." Although lack of assertiveness is a weakness, notice the plug to customer service skills. It's still a positive in the end!

These are just examples, of course(ones that reflect my own experiences); the key is to have honest answers planned for these questions in case they do come up. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

Atrain · May 24, 2009

Thanks those are really helpful I should of made myself clearer sorry but I mean interview questions for nursing school