Initial Questions

Initial Questions

• Tell me about yourself.

Or

Tell me about your education, training and work experiences that have helped prepare you for this position.

Or

Tell me something about you that is not on your resume.

• How would you describe yourself?

• How would a supervisor describe you?

• Why do you want to be a nurse (or pediatric nurse)?

Or

What led to your interest in nursing?

Or

Why did you select a nursing career?

• Why do you want to work for this hospital?

• Why do you want to work on this unit?

Or

How would you be a good fit on this unit?

• How are you a good team member?

Or

Why should we hire you? What contributions will you make?

• What can you bring to the floor that no one else has?

Or

What makes you special? What is unique about you that you would bring to our organization?

• Of all the applicants out there, why should we hire you?

• What do you consider to be your strengths? Your weaknesses?

Or

If we asked your last supervisor what your weaknesses are what would he/she say?

• How do your strengths, interests, and work values relate to the requirements of this position?

• How have your educational and work experiences prepared you for this position?

Behavioral Type Questions

• What is leadership to you? Give me an example when you demonstrated leadership.

Or

What is your definition of leadership, and why do you feel it is important? How have you demonstrated leadership? Tell me about a situation in which you should have shown more leadership than you did.

• Describe a time when you were asked to perform a procedure/treatment that you have never done before.

• When you are experiencing a stressful work situation, how do you relax?

• Have you ever been burned out? When? What did you do about it?

• What are some things you have done to show consideration for others?

• What type of colleague do you least like to work with?

• What type of nursing tasks do you find most objectionable?

• How do you go about making a decision?

• What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishments? Have you accomplished something you had thought not possible?

• How do you handle pressure?

• What was your favorite job? Why?

• Describe your best boss.

• Describe a typical day during your senior capstone rotation.

• What was your favorite part of nursing school/clinical rotations?

• What was your worst nursing experience?

• How have you grown or changed during your time in nursing school?

• Describe how your nursing care reflects national patient safety goals?

• How would you deal with low moral on your unit?

• Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a superior’s / clinician’s authority.

• What overwhelms you and why?

• How do you handle criticism?

• How do you define success?

• What do you find annoying in the work place?

• Tell me about a time when your performance did not meet your expectations.

• Tell me about a time when you had to correct a potentially bad situation and what was the outcome.

• Tell me about a time you disagreed with a client’s opinion, and how you handled it.

• Tell me about a time when you felt frustrated. What did you do?

• Tell me about a time when you received difficult (or less than positive) feedback from your supervisor. How did you respond to the feedback? What changes did you implement as a result?

• Define pro-active and give me an example of a time when you behaved this way.

• Tell me about a situation in which you had to work with someone with whom you were uncomfortable. Describe the working relationship that developed and your influence on this relationship.

• What personal qualities do you feel are important to be successful in this position? Which of these qualities do you possess? Give an example of how these qualities have helped you in your present position.

• Give me an example of when you had to make a quick decision. What were the results?

• What are the motivating factors for your personal happiness? For satisfaction in the workplace?

• Describe what you feel to be an ideal working environment.

• How do you establish rapport with colleagues? With patients?

• In your current or last position, what features did you like most? Least?

• What is the most important thing you’re looking for in an employer?

Or

Describe what you believe to be an ideal supervisor.

• What work experience has been the most valuable to you and why?

• Tell me about an important goal you set for yourself and how you were successful in achieving it.

• Describe how you demonstrate professionalism in your activities. What behaviors and characteristics contribute to that image?

• Describe a situation where you persuaded an individual or group to follow your course of action rather than their previously stated position.

• What frustrates you the most?

• How do you educate your clients?

• Tell me about a clinical mistake or near miss you made and what you learned from the experience.

Challenge

• Describe an encounter with an angry or frustrated patient and family member and how you handled it.

• Describe a challenging problem you faced on one of your clinical rotations. How did you solve the problem?

• What has been your greatest challenge?

• What was the hardest job you held, and what did you do to get through it?

• Describe a stressful clinical situation and how you handled it.

• Describe the most challenging patient experience you’ve had. Explain why.

•Describe a situation connected with nursing that made you angry.

• Describe a time when you had to deliver services to a difficult patient, customer, coworker, supervisor, or professor.

• Tell me about a time when you faced an ethical or moral dilemma.

• Tell me about a hardship you faced.

Work ethic

• Describe a situation where you had to rapidly change your priorities?

• Give me an example of how you handled rapid or unexpected change.

• Tell me about a time when you weren’t satisfied with your work.

• Tell me about a time when you had conflicting priorities, and how you handled it.

Conflict resolution/Teamwork

• Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone to get a task completed.

• Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with another person.

• Recall a situation or relationship which suffered from poor communication. What happened and how did you resolve it?

• Describe a situation in which you found yourself working with someone who was very sensitive.

• Tell me about a time when you witnessed a dysfunctional team, and what you did about it.

• Tell me about a time when you had to build motivation or team spirit with members of a work group.

• Tell me about a time that you showed team spirit.

Patient Advocacy

• Tell me about a time when you felt you were a patient advocate.

• Give a specific example of a time when you knew you did a good job as a nurse.

Clinical/Scenario Type Questions

• How would you respond if asked by the charge nurse to do some of the menial tasks for patients that are normally not your responsibility?

• How would you respond if in a rude and haughty tone a doctor questioned your work, which you knew to be top-notch and absolutely accurate?

• You have 5 pts, 1 is bleeding, 1 was found on the ground (fell), 1 is to be discharged now, 1 needs to go to the bathroom, 1 is having chest pain. You have one LVN and one nursing assistant working with you. How do you delegate and prioritize?

• A patient is frustrated because she has been kept waiting for her appointment. How do you handle it?

• You went into you patient’s room. He complains that you ignored him because you haven’t been in the room all day. What would you say to this patient?

• You overhear your friend telling a new nurse on the unit not to worry about wearing sterile gloves when changing the patient's dressings because "he has an infection any way”. What do you do?

• What would you do if you realized another nurse had made a medical error?

• How would you handle a conflict with a physician, particularly if you disagreed with a medication order?

Other

• Why are you interested in this RN Residency Program/position?

• How many years do you see yourself staying with this hospital?

• Do you think you will be a career nurse or eventually look for another profession? Why?

• Why did you decide to become a nurse rather than a doctor?

• What are some ways that you feel nursing can become more professional?

• If you were told that the nursing field was closed & that you could not become a nurse, what would you do?

• What are your short-term and long-term career goals?

Or

• Where do you see yourself in 3, 5, 10 years?

• To what extent are your goals compatible with the objectives of this position and the mission of this organization?

Or

• How does this position meet those goals?

• What challenges are you looking for in a position?

• Hospital-acquired infections pose a significant risk to patients on our unit. Describe some general strategies to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

• What else should I know about you?

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Prepare your own questions for the interviewers