Interview Questions When Entering Nursing School

For those of you about to go thru the nursing interview process. Here is the list of questions and suggestions I have accumulated. I hope this helps everyone. Nursing Students Pre-Nursing Knowledge

Updated: Apr 14, 2023

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You are reading page 6 of Interview Questions When Entering Nursing School by Maggie in NC

The first part is from a nursing instructor at a college so, YOU KNOW IT's good stuff!

Dress as if you were going to a business interview.

This would include:

Solid color, conservative suit (black, blue)
Coordinated blouse
Moderate shoes
Limited jewelry (pearls are a nice touch)
Neat, professional hairstyle
Tan or light hosiery
Sporifice make-up & perfume

Try to relax and be yourself. Project a positive, self-confident, sincere, congruent attitude (not cocky or arrogant--this will turn off the interviewer fast). Lean forward slightly in the chair, smile, make eye contact, don't cross arms or legs. Appear at ease and enthusiastic. Speak in complete sentences with correct grammar and intelligent vocabulary.

Interview Questions to Anticipate:

Why do you want to be a nurse? or Why have you chosen nursing as a career?

Be creative on this one ... they have heard "to help people" a million and one times.

How are your finances?

Things to think about ... Will your employer support your scheduling needs during nursing school? At this point, consider your limitations--no working past 11 PM on clinical nights, no working more than 20 hours /week with a full time school.

Is your family supportive of your schooling?

Do you have adequate transportation for clinicals?

Things to think about ... Some clinical sites may be 2 hrs away.

Consider your requirements for CPR certification, immunizations, a complete medical examination, by a certain date. Have as many of these done prior to the interview as possible! It really helps!

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Never give much information about weaknesses--this is just supplying reasons for you NOT be chosen.

Case Scenario Questions

It is even possible they may throw a case scenario at you to test your critical thinking skills: You are the nursing student on a clinical unit and the patient (on the 4th floor of the hospital) asks you "Would I die if I jump from this window?" What would you do? Or, you are the nurse and you are reporting an important change in patient condition to a doctor and the doctor yells at you and calls you stupid, what would you do?

Interview Tips

Be honest.
Do not give vague or general answers - they want specific examples.
Review your application and essay - assume that the interviewer is not familiar with it.
Be familiar with current trends in nursing - helps to demonstrate why you want to become a nurse and how you feel you can make a contribution in the profession.
Don't be afraid to show emotion. I cried twice during my interview in relating some life examples.

Practice with a partner. Anticipate these questions and think up the most positive attributes about yourself.

jillianbeans

22 Posts

I am in my second semester of the RN program at JCCC. I interviewed for both the LPN and RN programs. There was only one interviewer for the RN program, but there were three people in the room for my LPN interview. I don't know if I would have been accepted to the LPN program because when I received my acceptance to the RN program I withdrew my LPN application. Good luck with your interview!

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nursingstudent2458

66 Posts

Wow, this is very helpful. Thanks!

nesher said:
Well since we are posting questions -I have posted these before - I think they pertain more for interviewing for a nursing position - not a place in nursing school. However who knows? They are from the book "Interview Power" by Tom Washington - I recommend it.
The idea is to cut and paste these questions into Word - write out small outline type answers so when you practice you aren't reciting an answer, but answering from your outline. The second section are the tough ones - the behavior based questions - they require a story or example to answer. Same idea - write outlines and practice.
Good luck!
QUESTIONS
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What is your greatest strength?
3. What can you offer us that no one else can?
4. What are your three most important career accomplishments?
5. How would you describe yourself?
6. Why should I hire you?
7. Describe the biggest crisis in your life (career).
8. What is unique about you?
9. How would your supervisor describe you?
10. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10.
11. Tell me a story.
12. How have you benefited from disappointment?
13. What is your greatest weakness?
14. Have you ever been fired or asked to resign?
15. Why have you changed jobs so frequently?
16. Why have you been out of work so long? What have you been doing?
17. What is the biggest mistake you ever made?
18. What are your career goals?
19. What do you want to do in life?
20. How long have you been out of work?
21. What personal, non-job related gals have you set for yourself?
22. Are you willing to relocate?
23. Are you willing to travel overnight?
24. How do you feel about overtime?
25. What have you learned from your past mistakes? What are some of them?
26. What do you think determines a person's progress with a goof company?
27. Who has exercised the greatest influence on you? How?
28. What public figure do you admire most and why?
29. What are your primary activities outside of work?
30. Would you have any concern if we did a full background check on you? What would we find?
31. What qualities do you most admire in people?
32. What have you done to increase your personal development?
33. What type of books and magazines do you read?
34. What was the last book you read (movie you saw) and how did it affect you?
35. How do you feel about your career progress?
36. Can you work well under stress?
37. Do you prefer to work as an individually or as a part of a team?
38. Are you a team player?
39. Tell me about the last incident that made you angry. How did you handle it?
40. What are the things that motivate you?
41. How do you handle people that you really don't get along with?
42. What have you done that shows initiative?
43. What personal qualities are important for success in this field?
44. Sell me this pen.
45. Are you willing to take calculated risks?
46. Describe your perfect job?
47. What is most important to you in a job?
48. Why do you want to change careers?
49. Why do you want to get into this field?
50. Why did you leave your last job?
51. How long will it take before you make a positive contribution to our organization?
52. What do you like least about this position? Most?
53. Tell me about your duties at your present job?
54. What is the most important aspect of your job?
55. Describe a time when you were criticized for your job.
56. What is the most difficult situation you have ever faced?
57. What frustrates you about your job?
58. What jobs have you enjoyed most? Least? Why?
59. What duties have you enjoyed most? Least? Why?
60. What is the worst thing your have ever heard about this organization?
61. What position do you expect to hold in five years? (similar to, Where do you expect to be in 5 years?)
62. Why would you like to work for us?
63. What is opinion of your present (or past) employer?
64. How long would you stay if we offered you this position?
65. What do you know about our company?
66. Why do you want to leave your present employer?
67. Starting with your first job out of college, tell me why you left each organization.
68. What kinds of recommendations will you get from previous employers?
69. Describe your relationship with your last three supervisors.
70. What are your supervisor's strengths and weaknesses?
71. What kind of supervisors do you like most? Least? Why?
72. How has your supervisor helped you grow?
73. What did your supervisor rate you highest on during your last review? Lowest?
74. What kind of supervisor gets the best results out of you?
75. What is your boss like?
76. What actions would you take if you came on board?
77. Can you supervise people?
78. Describe your management philosophy and management style.
79. How many people have you hired? How do you go about it? How successful have the people been?
80. How many people have you fired?
81. How would your subordinates describe you as a supervisor?
82. Some managers watch their employees closely while others use a loose rein. How do you manage?
83. How have you improved as a supervisor over the years?
84. Why did you pick your major?
85. What kind of grades did you have?
86. What course did you like the most? Least? Why?
87. How has your schooling prepared you for this job?
88. Do you feel you did the best work at school that you were capable of doing?
89. How did your summer jobs benefit you?
SOME BEHAVIOR BASED QUESTIONS
Tell me about a time when you:
1. Achieved a great deal in a short amount of time.
2. Were disappointed in your performance.
3. Made a major sacrifice to achieve a work goal.
4. Were unwilling or unable to make the necessary sacrifice to achieve a goal.
5. Worked effectively under a great deal of pressure.
6. Didn't handle a stressful situation very well.
7. Really got angry over a situation at work.
8. Felt under a great deal of pressure from an internal or external customer.
9. Were really bothered by the actions of a coworker.
10. Were especially creative in solving a problem.
11. Were not as creative as usual.
12. Organized and planned an event that was successful.
13. Planned and coordinated a project that was very successful.
14. Were unable to complete a project on schedule despite your best efforts.
15. Really had to remain flexible.
16. Had to deal with a personality conflict with a boss or coworker.
17. Were unable to sell your idea to a key person.
18. Felt really good about a decision you made and the process you went through.
19. Were very effective in your problem-solving ability.
20. Used facts and reason to persuade someone to accept your recommendation.
21. Utilized your leadership ability to gain support for what initially had been strong opposition.
22. Were able to build team spirit during a time of low morale.
23. Were able to gain commitment from others to really work as a team.
24. Used your political savvy to push through a program you believed in.
25. Were particularly perceptive regarding a person's or group's feelings and needs.
26. Were able to predict someone's behavior or response based on your assessment of him or her.
27. Were particularly supportive and reassuring to a person who needed a friend.
28. Built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
29. Wrote a report which was well received by others.
30. Were particularly effective at prioritizing tasks and completing a project on schedule.
31. Identified potential problems and resolved the situation before the problems became serious.
32. Were highly motivated and your example inspired others.
33. Found it necessary to tactfully but forcefully say things others did not want to hear.
34. Were particularly effective in a talk you gave or a seminar you taught.
35. Had to make an important decision quickly even though you did not have all the information you wanted.
36. Had to make a decision you knew would be unpopular.
Were in a situation when events and circumstances changed rapidly.

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gailwindsRN

28 Posts

I was wondering if anyone has any tips for nursing school interviews? I *hopefully* will be having some interviews soon and am honestly pretty terrible at interviews and have a ton of anxiety in these situations where it feels like my brain just turns off. I don't have any previous medical experience, I am a stay at home mom right now and have been taking my prerequisites over the past 18 months a little at a time. I've gotten A's in all of these and have worked my butt off to get to this point but I am afraid it isn't enough. I am not sure how to respond to not having experience, which I am sure would come up in an interview. Also these are all ABSN programs. Thanks in advance!

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guest825264

82 Posts

Congratulations on competing those prerequisites! So my advice would be to come up with some basic points about yourself and what has interested you in nursing and write them down. Also write down anything you would like them to take note of. Write it down and then practice talking about it to friends, relatives even your kids. That way whatever questions they ask you can work that info into the answers. Smile a lot and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you need clarification.

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ParaMolly

2 Posts

Preparation is key! Some super common questions to prep for are (I was asked all of these in my interviews):

Why do you want to be a nurse? What motivates you? Why do you think you're the right fit for this career?
What is a trial or conflict you've overcome in your life? How did you handle it, and what did you learn about yourself?
Why is this the right time in your life to pursue nursing? Why do you think you're ready for this?
What are the most important qualities for a good leader? How have you demonstrated these in your life? How do you think this translates to nursing?
Describe a time in your life where you stood out from the crowd. What motivated you to be different and stand up for what you believed in?

Also, be sure to research the school you're interviewing for and prepare accordingly. One school I interviewed for was particularly big on diversity and they ended up having a 10 minute interview question just on that. Read up about the school's history, how it started, and do NOT underestimate the importance of understanding and remembering their mission statement. Weave that into your answers discreetly, show them that you were made for a school just like this one.

I agree with what Krispy said as well - smile a lot, and also let them know if you don't understand the question. Communication skills are super important, and honestly probably one of the biggest things they're looking for, along with people skills. So practice your answers as much as possible, and when it comes time, pretend like the interviewer is someone you'd really like to become best friends with (I know it sounds weird, but that mindset helps me sometimes). Smile, listen attentively, and watch what you're doing with your hands. No fidgeting. Gesturing as you're talking is ok, even good, but it needs to look natural, not like a nervous behavior.

As to having no medical experience, I was in the same boat and was offered a spot in 2 different nursing schools. It's not the crutch it's made out to be! If you have perfect grades (which you do, congrats!), an open friendly personality, and a teachable spirit, you'll be in good shape to get accepted. If that question comes up in the interview, don't focus on the fact that you don't have any direct experience. Instead, explain how the experience you DO have translates well into the medical field. In my case, that was experience in caregiving, customer service, teaching, and volunteering with people affected by disabilities.