Questions during a GN interview

[Tua15395]

What are some good questions to ask during a graduate nurse interview. At a previous interview on a medsurg floor i was not hired, and one of the reasons is becasue I did not ask enough questions. Thanks for any help.

[llg, PhD, RN]

1. Ask about the patients ... their needs, the most common diagnoses and treatments, length of stay, etc. Show an interest in them. A lot of new grads forget to do that. A good manager will want to hire someone interested in the patients and in doing the type of work required.

2. Ask about the resources available to meet the patient needs. For example, if a lot of your patients will have diabetes, ask what resources are available to the patients to help them with their diabetes concerns. Are their printed materials? Is there a diabetes educator? etc.?

3. Ask about the typical patient assignment (number of patients, turnover of patients during the day, etc.) and the typical work schedule.

4. Ask about the orientation ... and then the ongoing education available for staff to help you develop further.

That should get you started. Keep the questions focused as much as you can on the patients, the type of work that you would be doing, and the resources available to help you do your job. Avoid emphasizing questions that sound like you are only interested in "What's in it for me?"