Ortho/Trauma RN Advice

[alissan6]

Hello all,

I am interviewing for an ortho/trauma RN position at a Level 1 trauma center in the Texas Medical Center. Do you have any interview tips? Anything special that I should know? I have about 10 months of med/tele experience and that is all.

Also, What is there to expect with an ortho/trauma unit?

Thank you fellow nurses.

Alissa

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

I can't really speak for trauma, but as for ortho...

On my ortho floor we deal with a lot of post-ops, knee & hip replacements, so I'm sure they will ask if you are comfortable with that. They might ask you how you would handle emergencies like a hypotensive or febrile patient, or about dispensing lots of narcotics.

For my interviews (I worked ortho as a tech before I was a nurse) they didn't ask me very many questions about ortho specialty... more like, describe a situation in which you had a conflict with a co-worker, and how it was resolved. Ya know... pretty general interview questions like that.

Good luck!! I started out right in ortho, and I love my job and my patients let us know how it goes!

[steelerfan502]

Like the above post mentioned, In my experience (I am a new nurse, but I have had several interviews fairly recently), most interview questions are general, "tell me about a time when..." questions. I worked ancillary positions in a level 1 trauma hospital for 7 years, and when I interviewed for an RN position on a trauma/stroke PCU floor there, all of the questions were like that. If you haven't already looked up sample interview questions and thought of some answers, my best advice is do that beforehand. Then (because I get quite a bit of interview anxiety) after the interview, as soon as I got back in my car, I would write down all the questions that I could remember being asked so that I could use them for future interview prep and keep them in a folder (bc of course, you dont want to spend several minutes thinking of an answer to each question). In my first interview I was a little caught off guard at how I was asked to tell about a time I had a conflict w/ a coworker and how I handled it, then when i thought of one, they'd ask me ab how I handled a MISCOMMUNICATION w a coworker. I felt like the only answer I could think of, I had just used for the CONFLICT question, you know? So just think of a couple possible answers for things like conflict, and some "accomplishments that you are proud of" from work and school. Even a tiny accomplishment is better than none. Also be ready to describe your strengths and weaknesses, why you want to work on that particular floor/discipline, and why that ORGANIZATION (so obviously, read up on any organization before before you interview). Also think of times you adjusted to being behind/understaffed. I found a career counselor too who does interview coaching. A couple of things I had not done before that he STRONGLY suggested make all the difference were to wear a suit and definitely (not optional;) send a thank you e-mail afterward. I know a lot of that seems like common sense, but you never know. better too much info than not enough. Be confident! Good luck!