Interview Panel, riddle me this?

[ORTech2RN]

My apologies if this has been posted to the incorrect forum.  Mods, please move if so. 

I was recently interviewed for a position in primary care.  I currently work for the VA, so this would have been a lateral move, but a good chance to develop more experience. I was rejected for the position. However, I note on the interview panel, there were: 2 RN's (one being the NM), an LPN, social worker and a medical support assistant (clerk). 

Am I missing something, isn't the case that a Nurse should be interviewed by fellow RN's or leadership?

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

As the nurse is part of a team, I guess I don't have a problem with other team members being in on it, at least at some stage of the process.

Did the non-nurses ask many questions?

[Davey Do]

56 minutes ago, ORTech2RN said:

on the interview panel, there were: 2 RN's (one being the NM), an LPN, social worker and a medical support assistant (clerk). 

My former employer had an array of people on the panel, just like this.

On a side note, back in '02 I was the defendant on a $50,000 civil suit case that went to trial. I told my Lawyer, "If the jury is going to be comprised of 'my peers,' at least three need to be Nurses". He replied, "There's not much of a chance of that happening".

Lo and behold, the jury was comprised of three RNs and all I ended up paying was $3500 in legal costs.

I met with one of the RNs after the trial, and she said, "We tried to get you off scot-free, but one Juror wouldn't budge".

The varied approach to situations such as these are sometimes a good idea, but really, only RNs know who, how, and what other RNs are.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

In my experience this is pretty common practice.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

Often team members are included in the interview because they have valuable feedback on how a potential employee may fit, they are more familiar with the team dynamics than management in many situations. 

[klone, MSN, RN]

I always like to involve the entire team in panel interviews whenever possible. I mean, you need to be able to get along with everyone, not just the other RNs.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

Most interviews of new staff include being interviewed from several different team members.  Everyone can bring their perspective and ask questions and see how you would interact with different levels of care providers.

This way it is more of a 360 degree picture of the candidate.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

I work in an FQHC, and the interviewers are often anyone who has thirty minutes to spare. (The second interview is done by HR.) Our poor nurse manager has been known to interview pharmacy technicians with nobody from the pharmacy team present. Is it a good idea?  No, but sometimes you just go with what’s available.