Need advice for upcoming NP interview!!!

Trauma Columnist · Feb 27, 2008

First congrats on your upcoming graduation! Now as to the interview. I live in central IL and I'm an adult health CNS. The job market is tight in my area so this is what I found out...

Questions: Why do you want to work for us? What will you bring to the practice? They also asked general nursing questions about whether I sought out additional educational and community involvement, why I went back to school.

Salary: Always a touchy subject. I had 12 years RN experience when I graduated and I knew I wasn't willing to take a pay cut. I asked them what a general range or ballpark figure would be for the position. Then...I asked about billing for my services - in the hospital this is different and much less than in the outpt realm. So...basically it is what can you bring in to the practice.

I didn't take a job until 3 months after graduation - I just continued to work as a staff nurse in the ER. For me, that worked out fine.

Good luck - let us know how it goes.

yellow finch, BSN, RN · Feb 27, 2008

While I'm still in school, your questions are very much at the forefront of my mind. Just as RN interviews, I'm sure they will ask you why you chose to apply to the position, they will want to know your background and how you became a nurse and the reasons for transitioning to mid-level provider, and what sort of experience you have with the client base within their practice.

When it comes to salary, I have always said that "it's negotiable" and let them address the numbers first. If they push you for a base salary, start high and work down from there. Remember that it's not just an hourly or set wage. You can ask them about their client reimbursement, bonus plans, on-call pay, tuition reimbursement, and the like...

There's so much more than meets the eye in these groups. As an aside, the Pulmonary group I'm hoping to work with reveals more in their billing than they realize. I am one of their client's for allergic asthma and allergy shots... well, my insurance company pays 100% for nearly all their services. However, I repeatedly receive a bill from them for the excess amount due after a visit. This tells me that they "overcharge" for standard procedures and make a nice profit on their interventions. They can't lie and tell me they can't afford the salary I have in mind. It's clear they make above and beyond average billing practices.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Trauma Columnist · Feb 27, 2008

Yellow Finch - you go! You are so right...if they want you, they have to be willing to come up with the bucks.

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Feb 27, 2008

Ok, I feel a little better now, thanks! :) And is it normal/usual to meet with 5 people within the dept. on your interview?! They sent me a schedule for my interview! That freaked me out a little, I have to admit. I'm meeting with 5 people (chair of dept, vice-chair, 2 associate professors, and the dept. administrator) separately for 15 min each. Maybe they'll all ask me the same questions so that the time I get to #5 I'll have it down pat. :) lol

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Mar 2, 2008

Ok, I feel a little better now, thanks! :) And is it normal/usual to meet with 5 people within the dept. on your interview?! They sent me a schedule for my interview! That freaked me out a little, I have to admit. I'm meeting with 5 people (chair of dept, vice-chair, 2 associate professors, and the dept. administrator) separately for 15 min each. Maybe they'll all ask me the same questions so that the time I get to #5 I'll have it down pat. :) lol

I would say that's the usual. In my first NP job, I interviewed with the Practice Manager (who was a non-clinical person with an MBA), an attending physician, an advanced practice nurse who works for the group, and the chief of the particular service I was interviewing for. In my current job, I had a schedule like yours. I had a meeting with the Chief of Trauma and Critical care, then I met with 2 ICU NP's, the ICU nurse manager, and lastly, the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and one of his PA's.

How did the interview go?

Dixiecup · Mar 4, 2008

I don't know about the rest of the interview, but when it comes to wages, I would not advise you to accept a salary position. All the NP's I know tell me you pretty well get screwed if you're not paid an hourly wage.

yellow finch, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2008

Dixiecup... I didn't know NPs could be paid hourly. Even within a group practice? How fascinating. Can you tell me more about how this works? Sorry... I feel a little stupid not knowing about this possibility.

Editorial Team / Admin · Mar 6, 2008

I've had several positions that were hourly. It is done. But, the majority of my positions were/are salaried. You can negotiate either way and added benefits package can really soar your overall salary.....

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Mar 6, 2008

Thanks everyone for all the advice. :) I had two different interviews this week, for two different NP jobs-both turned out to be very interesting...although I do hope I get one a bit more. I had a Dermatology NP interview---it would be with a private practice, with a physician and 2 PAs...the only NP there is retiring. Everyone there is super nice and the job itself sounds fascinating and the hours and training and location from my home are all great. :) And the salary sounds good too! I'm going to go back there again and spend several hours with the physician seeing some patients together to get a better feel for how I would like it since I have zero experience really in derm. So I have no idea how many other NPs/students he is looking at-I don't want to know actually! :) I'm just taking it one step at a time to make sure it is really what I want to do and then of course to see if he chooses me over anyone else.

#2 job interview was yesterday with the Pain Service NP position at a large teaching hospital in the city-and I interviewed with the (it is within the dept of anesthesiology) dept. Chair, vice Chair, 2 professors and the administrator. All very nice down to earth people who seemed very intelligent and honestly seemed like great people to work with. They have not had an NP work with them in the dept before (although at the instituation there are NPs everywhere else...in cardio, pulm, ICUs, ER, you name it....but they all seem very interested in working with an NP in this new role they are creating for Acute Pain management....it would involve getting to be an expert on managing post-op pts with their epidural pain med management and I would also be doing the pain consults that we get for pts in the ICUs, floor, etc...which is right up my alley!!!! I think I did the best job I could on my interview....so now we will see what happens. I definitely would take this Pain Service NP position if they were to offer it to me....I can really see myself doing it as they described the pain consult process-seeing the pts, doing H & Ps, reviewing their current meds/treatment plan, considering the type of surgery they had, and then working as a team to come up with a better treatment plan, and evaluating the pt to be sure it is working....I want to do this!!!! :) But I am trying not to put all of my eggs in one basket of course! :)