Job Interview HELP

Carlitosway · May 18, 2011

Relax (I know its hard but try anyways!) Take a walk if you can before the interview. You'll prolly be asked Scenarios (Brush up on prioritizing skills, nursing skills, ABCs, always assess first before doing anything) and Behavioral (Strength and weakness, where do you see yourself 5 years from now, why should we hire you?, conflict with coworkers, patients, doctors, define nursing? what made you chose nursing? etc. My first interview was quite something, 11 person panel (all Dept Managers) I did ok but my lack of experience killed me. Good luck!What interests you in this career? This question is basically your chance to speak about the company/institute and how working with the company would make a great impact on your career. You would also have to talk about your desire to help individuals and nurse them back to health.

What drives you? This question is very common in the various healthcare departments. These professions mostly have people who work for other reasons than the financials. Therefore, you should inform the interviewer about the inherent need to serve people and help them get better that drives you to work with the healthcare department.

Emergency Situations The medical world is full of emergency situations, and there is at least one case which a person involved in the medical world will have experienced. When answering this question, you will simply have to tell about some of the most difficult cases that you have faced. You can also tell them about the problem and how you managed to control it. Make sure that you speak about the added value that the situation gave to your medical experience.  Day to Day Work Every person in the medical world should be resourceful and organized in their work. Without organization, even the greatest of genii have not been able to achieve their complete potential. Therefore, you will have to inform the interviewer about how organized you are in your work and even in your personal life. This diligence goes a long way in deciding whether you deserve the work.

How did you share your knowledge with colleagues? Or assist your colleagues. Nursing involves helping, sharing and efficient medical team work. These capabilities are nursing fundamentals. Therefore, tell interviewers about your positive past experience and try to convince the employer that you have these qualities.

What are your likes and dislikes about the job? You cannot escape this question. All jobs have their advantages and disadvantages. Any experienced interviewer will ask you this question. You have to be careful that you do not say anything that puts your pervious jobs in a bad light. There are some distinct problems in any job, and you would be safe to talk about them when asked about the likes and dislikes of the job.

Why should we hire you? This is mostly thought to be a trick question, but is not. This question, in fact, gives you a chance to speak about your talents, qualifications and experiences. Make sure that you give brief information about your professional past when asked this question. This will help the interviewer get to know more about you and your professional life.

Where did you get your qualifications from? This is another important question in the medical world. Medicine and doctors are so important to life that any problems or errors can have drastic ramifications on a person’s life. This is why such questions are asked during an interview.

Where do you see yourself in a few years? The timeframe may depend, but any medical institution that wishes to hire a nurse will surely need to know how serious you are about the profession and where you see yourself in five or ten years. The correct answer to this question would be a very real answer as to whether you intend to pursue your career after five to ten years.

The following list is a behavioral interview questions for nursing. These questions, often call situational interview questions, are meant to determine if you will work well in stressful situations as seen in the medical staff environment.

• Give an example of situation when you had to resolve conflict with an uncooperative/abusive/angry patient while providing care. What did you do?

• Tell us about a time where you had to handle a problem arising while no other medical staff available around and/or your replacement hasn’t show at her shift.

• Have you had a situation where you had to demonstrate a strong ethical attitude at work, despite pressure to do the opposite – weaken your integrity and ethical stance?

• Describe a stressful situation when you had to monitor your own stress level while managing to control others stresses level.

• Give an example of a case when you have to explain a medical issue to someone who didn’t speak your language or didn’t understand medical terms.

• Give an example of situation where you didn’t get along with another co-worker. How did you handle the situation and what was the result?

• Have you had situations when you had an unfinished day and a new patient has just arrived in need after the end of your shift?

• What will you do in a situation where a patient is in severe medial status, in intense pain or under stress and you had to provide care while relaxing him?

Answering the above questions:  How would you answer these questions impressing your interviewer? When you answer a behavioral question, you may use the structure techniques called STAR (situation, task, action, result) or “PAR” (problem, action, result). Using this technique you actually break the answer into fragments –  Begin your answer with a situation or a problem you had faced, and then describe the tasks you’ve decided to take, the actions that were taken and the result. Incase you do not able to provide a real past situation, you may give an example of a theoretical case and they way you would handle it.

Question: “Why do you want to work as a nurse?”

Answer: “Because I love the work, caring for and working with people. Being a nurse is not an easy job. You need to be attentive; sensitive to people’s needs and have a drive to address the need in utmost concerned manner. It is one of those thankless jobs that require long working hours and many a times, you are required to overlook your needs and cater to patients.

Having said so, I have reasons which validate my role-fit in the job profile. I am a sensitive hard working individual; perhaps, that is the reason why I got selected and was able to perform exceptionally well at Cheshire homes (* Cheshire homes are old age homes).

Being there and having served old people has taught me to imbibe positive value in life and I have also learned to not panic in case of emergencies. I strongly feel that my skill sets and my experience will surely help me excel in the service oriented job.”

Reasons that make my answer stand out in front of the rest:

1.If you look at the first paragraph of my answer, you will realize that I have been able to highlight the fact that I know the job profile and I do not have any false perceptions about it. By using words such as ‘Attentive’, ‘Sensitive’, Thankless job’ and ‘long hours’ I have been able to let the interviewer know that I am well informed about the job and have absolutely no hang ups.

2.The second paragraph validates my interest and states my experience in similar job profiles.

3.The third paragraph is an amalgamation of the two paragraphs and it showcases profile-Candidate match mix. By mentioning ‘service oriented job’, I have further emphasized that I consider the job as not a job but as an ongoing social service.

Question: How would you describe the primary duties of a staff nurse? 

Answer: The primary duties of a staff nurse are the general nursing duties: facilitating and monitoring patient progress towards recovery, charting progress, giving medication, and making sure patients are comfortable.

Question: What can you tell me about team work as part of the job? 

Answer: There is usually a team of staff nurses working together and in cooperation. A team of nurses has to get along well and coordinate their actions, usually by dividing their responsibilities into sectors or specific activities. They help each other perform tasks requiring more than one person.

Question: How is patient progress monitored by a staff nurse? 

Answer: Nurses monitor vital signs and look for symptoms. They chart progress for use by other nurses and physicians. They report progress to physicians on duty.

Question: In what cases does a staff nurse contact patient’s family members? 

Answer: Family members are contacted during emergencies. At other times, family members are informed on patient’s favorable progress. Nurses consult family to decide on the best course of recovery treatment for the patient.

Question: What personal characteristics should a staff nurse possess to be good at the job?

 Answer: Being organized, with a good memory, is important: a nurse performs her duties quickly, on time, and efficiently. Nursing are sensitive and pleasant with others. Their attitude must be not simply to administer technical treatment mechanically, but to make patients feel comfortable and as much as ease as possible.

Question: What are the typical duties of a registered nurse?  

Answer: Nurses implement healthcare plans, keep patient records and reports. They cannot make diagnosis, but they do monitor vital signs and symptoms and report them. They can then modify care plans, according to their observations, patient response, and the advice of the doctor.

Question: What personal qualifications should a registered nurse possess, besides professional training? 

Answer: Nurses are patient and emotionally intelligent. They are efficient and organized, and kind at all times. It is as much the job of the nurse to offer sympathy to the patient as it is to perform the more technical tasks, like shot and taking temperature.

Question: Do you think interpersonal communication is important to the profession of a registered nurse?

 Answer: Nurses interact both with patients and other medical personnel. Communication skills are very important. Patients require patience and sensitivity. Medical personnel requires team work, coordination and cooperation, clearly communicated information which facilitates planning and implementing adequate care plans.

Question: Do you have experience with administrative duties and team work? 

Answer: Nurses usually do not work alone. They are part of a team of medical personnel. More experienced or senior nurses manage units or shifts, instruct and supervise new personnel. They keep an eye on other nurses to make sure care is administered properly.

Question: Do you have experience preparing facilities and equipment? 

Answer: Nurses maintain stocks and inventories, arrange rooms and equipment, prepare sterilized instruments prior to its by patients or other medical personnel. This may be as simple as it sounds, because it requires attention and experience to know when a room is required and which specific piece of equipment might be the most important, which is something doctors do not always have the time to explain in so many words.

You got lab back on your patient and Potassium was 2.5 what would you do next?

You came into your patient's room and they were complaining of chest pain what would you do?

You came on shift and you got report on 4 patients - 1. scheduled med is late 2. complaining of pain 3. their doctor is on the phone regarding potassium lab value of 2.5 4. complaining of chest pain what order to you go see them and why?

Your patient had abdominal surgery yesterday, what care do you anticipate for the day?

Then she went into the hard stuff (which i wasnt expecting or was not prepared for at all)

-pt. has CHF, what medication are you expecting to be prescribed and what are you suppose to look out for

- talked about dig and lasix (lab values, sign and symptoms, what to report to doctor)

-received a pt post op from knee surgery and presents with decreased BP, increased HR, whats wrong with him and why

- 2 days later same knee surgery patient complains of chest pain upon inspiration, whats wrong and why

- doctor gives you difficult time, what do you do.

- where do i see myself in 5 years

Why did you choose nursing?

Tell me about a challenging patient.

What is your best quality?

What is your worst quality?

What would you do if you were confronted by a staff member? (I asked for a senario because I said that every situation can sightly change the response so they followed with.....)

What would you do if a staff nurse got in your face and yelled at you that you did not do something for a patient in front of everyone at the nurses station?

What if it was a doctor what would you do?

Where you see yourself in 5 years? Are you interested in continuing your education?

Why should we choose you?

They also asked if I was familiar with their computer system and if I had experience with Telemetry.

I was just honest.... if I didn't know something I told them and reinforced that I am not only willing to learn.

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · May 19, 2011

There are about ten thousand other threads on this same topic. I suggest you search Job Interview in the search box and read some of the threads that come up.