Labor and Delivery Interview. Help!

I just had an interview in L&D, and I also only have 4-mo of medsurg experience(current though), and nearly 3 years as an RN in other areas. My interview had no clinical questions, and surprisingly not a lot of why I want L&D. I can only guess that was because some of the things I've done showed that I am committed to this area (Doula, and EFM training). I was asked a lot about prioritization, how I work with others, etc. To be honest there wasn't a lot of specific questions, but more general, like "how do you feel you do with prioritizing" "what would your references say about you", etc. In the HR interview I was asked what do I like most and least of all RN responsibilities, and what clinical skills have helped/hurt me.

Good luck!

Hi Erin! I actually was just offered a position in L&D myself, with only 2 years of long term care experience. I had one of those panel interviews with the nurse managers of both the L&D unit and the Mother Baby unit, the lactation consultant and the nurse educator. Similar to loveandj I got a lot of scenario questions dealing with co-workers and physician communication. I was asked 1 clinical question on COPD exacerbation presentations. Hope that helps!

Hello everyone! Good luck to those of you who have interviews. I actually have an interview this week for an internship program in L&D, as I am a new grad. I'm not exactly sure what kind of questions I'm going to be asked by the directors and employees, but I would like to be prepared. From what I was told by the HR recruiter, it's going to be fast-paced and is going to take but only about 30 minutes. She advised me to tell them that I'm a new grad who just got my license, and looking forward to working in L&D, but that's about it. Also, this is my very first interview for a nursing position right out of nursing school, so I am pretty excited and nervous! L&D is what I've always wanted to go into. Any pointers?

Thanks!

I had a peer interview this week for L&D. I was actually told I would be interviewing with the managers, but when I walked in, it was a surprise peer interview. They actually did not ask me as many questions as I thought they would. I got questions about dealing with difficult patients, why L&D, describe clinical experiences and skills, describe work experiences, and why should they hire me. It lasted only 30 minutes, and I was kind of disappointed at the end because I felt like there was so much more I wanted to say, but they had no further questions. They never asked about teamwork or working with others, which also surprised me. I'm still not really sure what to think about it!

I have an new grad L&D interview coming up and wanted to know some suggestions on questions specific to L&D that I should ask the interviewers.

I would steer clear of questions that ask about the particular unit (ie. staff to pt ratios) - the question portion of the interview is not so much about you gathering information as it is a way for you to tell them something else about yourself. If you ask too many questions about the unit in particular, you might come off as uninformed. Those are excellent questions to have and ask, but during the interview I would recommend sticking to questions that have THEM think a little and reflects your desire to be prepared and the best nurse for the job. Questions of this nature include:

1. What is one thing you wish you would have known when you starting working for this hospital?

2. What do you think is the most challenging aspect of this internship?

3. If I was offered the job, is there anything specific you would suggest I do to prepare before it starts?

4. How do you measure pt satisfaction?

5. Is there any other information I can provide you to evaluate my candidacy for this position?

That's just my opinion though, I hope it helps!