New Nurse....the dreaded interviews

[RNmichaelJ]

Hello:

Happy to be part of this cohort. I am a recent ADN gradute licensed RN looking to get hired in a local mangnet hospital. I have an interview next tuesday on a "cardiac" floor. The floor is the least critical of the cardiac floors in this hospital catering to CHF, new pacemakers, cathlab, dialysis, etc. I will be interviewed by a panel of 3-4 nurses...yikes. I have had one other interview in the same hospital on a critical care floor which I was likely not qualified. I was very nervous and I over prepared on the garden variety of interview questions like, "tell me about yourself", who is your greatest influence, give an example of a difficult situation you encountered, what are your weakness/strengths.....etc. After a lot of preparation on this generic questions, my interviewer only asked about the number of critical patients I cared for. I blew that question, and looking back i did have some decent examples that I could not produce.

How would you folks suggest I prepare for this next interview catering to a cardiac floor with a majority of patients with CHF, new pacemakers, cathlab, dialysis, telemetry, etc? I can come across as visably nervous and my remedy in the past was to be prepared, that did not seem to work on that first interview. Should I take an ativan :) Stupid sympathetic nervous system!!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Wait-- didn't I read this exact same thing awhile back? This seems so familiar to me.

The advice is the same for any interview. Tell the plain truth, say you don't know when you don't (and say how you would find out), and do some homework about the kinds of things they do there and tell them what you are looking forward to learning (post-cardiac cath care, more about metabolic derangements in end-stage renal failure, heart sounds assessment, for example). People already know you're new, so don't try to blow smoke about what they already know you don't know. They are looking for someone who's going to be interested in what they do, will be smart enough to catch on, confident enough to dive in and learn, and willing to be a good team member.

(And for sympathetic nervous system overload you want a beta-blocker, not a benzodiazepine!! You want to aim for calm, not sedation. :) )

[RNmichaelJ]

Ok so telling the truth is helpful.....I guess I was trying to sell how smart I am to a couple of seasoned nurses, my bad. Providing assurance of my interest, ability to learn, confidence and desire to collaborate in a team environment are things I own, will do.

I just registered today and this was my first allnurses posting. I can certainly understand how someone might have the same question. Cardiac floors are not easy for a new nurse to broach.

....the ole Beta-blocker trick, I am out of my leauge here:)

Thank you!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If you're going cardiac, you might want to look up beta blockers :)

Good luck!