NURSING Interview Questions for freshers and experienced :-
1. Why do you want to be a nurse?
I geniunly care about people. I never want to be in a situation where someone is in need of immediate medical assistance where I’m the only person nearby, but I don’t know what to do. Seeing someone suffering and knowing that there is nothing that you can do to help is the worst feeling.
2. How Do You Handle Pressure In Nursing?
- I actually work better under pressure and I’ve found that I enjoy working in a challenging environment.
- From a personal perspective, I manage stress by visiting the gym every evening. It’s a great stress reducer.
- Prioritizing my responsibilities so I have a clear idea of what needs to be done when, has helped me effectively manage pressure on the job.
- If the people I am managing are contributing to my stress level, I discuss options for better handling difficult situations with them.
- I find that when I’m under the pressure of a deadline, I can do some of my most creative work.
- I am not a person who has a difficult time with stress. When I’m under pressure, I focus and get the job done.
3. Give Some Examples Of Teamwork In Nursing?
I was part of team responsible for evaluating and selecting a new vendor for our office equipment and supplies. The inter-departmental team reviewed options, compared pricing and service, chose a vendor and implemented the transition to the new vendor.
4. If You Know Your Boss Is 100% Wrong About Something How Would You Handle It?
An answer that works well is:
- It depends on the situation and the personality of the supervisor.
- To elaborate, give examples:
- My prior supervisor was more easy-going and if I told her “You know, I think it might work better if I do what you asked in such and such a way,” she would say “Okay, try it.”
5. How Do You Evaluate Success In Nursing?
In your answer, you should be cognizant of the type of job you are applying for. Whereas a large corporation might place all their emphasis on the bottom line, a non-profit would measure success not in money but in social impact.
6. What Type Of Work Environment Do You Prefer In Nursing?
I can be flexible when it comes to my work environment in nursing.
7. Do You Prefer To Work Independently Or On A Team In Nursing Field?
I am equally comfortable working as a member of a team and independently. In researching the company, your mission statement and the job description, I could see similarities to my previous position where there were some assignments that required a great deal of independent work and research and others where the team effort was most effective. As I said, I’m comfortable with both.
8. If The People Who Know You Were Asked Why You Should Be Hired As A Nurse, What Would They Say?
I am sure if you asked my friends that they would say you should hire me because I have the skills outlined in the job description and I bring 10+ years of expertise to this position.
Words they have used to describe me are:
- Hard working
- Professional
- Trusted and a team player.
9. Why Did You Choose Your Major In Nursing?
You might reference a fascination with how groups function or the dynamics of effective communication.
Example: Think about projects you have completed or specific courses which you have taken in your major that have the closest connections to the job. Use them as examples during the interviewer.
10. Would You Rather Be Liked Or Respected As A Nurse?
In most work roles, being respected should be given greater emphasis, since it is typically linked more closely to competence and productivity. However, a significant factor to consider is the nature of your relationship with your colleagues.
11. What Won’t You Miss About Your Last Job As A Nurse?
Finally, pick three aspects of your past or current job that held the least interest to you. Make sure that any tasks you mention are not likely to be prioritized by your target employer nor should they be frequently performed or highly important aspects of the position.
12. What Strategies Would You Use To Motivate Your Team As A Nurse?
One important dimension of your interpersonal style is how you motivate others, especially if you will be supervising staff, managing projects or leading teams of co-workers. In addition, you may also encounter this type of questioning while interviewing for jobs in sales and public relations, where you need to motivate customers and clients.
13. What Makes You Angry In Nursing?
Your answer should contain two components, first a description of the situation that angered you and then a reference to how you processed the event and handled your anger.
14. What Is The Worst Thing That You Have Ever Gotten Away With In Nursing?
The thing to remember with the tricky questions is that it is fine to take a moment or two to frame a response. Then be honest, relatively speaking, so you are answering the but not in a way that would make the interviewer not want to hire you. Keep it positive as much as you can.
15. What Is The Biggest Criticism You Received From Your Boss In Nursing?
You should be ready to share an issue or two that has surfaced over time. Pick a performance area that is not central to the job you’re applying for. If possible, pick an issue that you have addressed and improved upon.
Example: If in your past job, your supervisor critiqued your public speaking skills, leading you to take steps to enhance your skills, you might share that story. This approach would work best if excellent public speaking skills are not crucial in the new position.
16. What Do People Most Often Criticize About You As A Nurse?
There is no on-going criticism. I’m open to personal and professional growth and welcome the opportunity to improve. One of the things that I am sometimes criticized for is being too much of a perfectionist. I tend to expect very high standards of work from myself.
17. What Are Your Pet Peeves?
If something is bothering me, I step back, analyze “why” and find a good solution. If you asked my teenage daughter she would tell you my pet peeve is the volume of her music and the mess in her room.
18. How Much You Are Passionate About Nursing?
Your response doesn’t need to be work focused but do be sure that what you share isn’t something that could potential cut in to your working hours.
19. What Has Been The Greatest Disappointment In Your Life As A Nurse?
If possible, tell about a personal disappointment i.e. the early death of a parent, child or school friend. Believe it or not, it is okay to have not had a “greatest” disappointment.
20. What Do You Find Are The Most Difficult Decisions To Make In Nursing?
Give concrete examples of difficult situations that actually happened at work. Then discuss what you did to solve the problem. Keep your answers positive (Even though it was difficult when Jane Doe quit without notice, we were able to rearrange the department workload to cover the position until a replacement was hired) and be specific. Itemize what you did and how you did it.
21. How Do You Handle Stress As A Nurse?
Stress is very important to me. With stress, I do the best possible job. The appropriate way to deal with stress is to make sure I have the correct balance between good stress and bad stress. I need good stress to stay motivated and productive. I react to situations, rather than to stress. That way, the situation is handled and doesn’t become stressful.
22. Explain Your Work Style As A Nurse?
- I am very focused on my work and consequently, I am able to work quickly.
- I keep a steady pace and check my work as I go along to prevent mistakes from snowballing.
- Because I am very organized, I am able to accomplish a lot in a limited amount of time.
- I am organized and efficient and I’m able to multi-task very well.
23. Do You Work Well With Other People In Nursing?
Companies want to know how you work well with other people and you will need to say more than you enjoy working with others, which is the standard response.
24. Please Tell Me How Do You Handle Failure As A Nurse?
Recruiters will also want to determine if you have the confidence to admit your failings and learn from your mistakes. In addition, this type of is another device for uncovering your weaknesses to determine whether you have the right stuff to get the job done.
25. What Is Your Greatest Weakness As A Nurse?
One approach to answering this is to analyze the key skills and strengths required for the position you are interviewing for and then come up with an honest shortcoming which is not essential.
26. How Would You Handle A Patient Who Complains About Everything?
I would first be sure that the patient had no valid complaints and then just be patient and reassure them that we were doing our very best for them. I understand that some patients will complain about everything, just because they are unhappy about what brought them to our care. I just reassure them that everything possible is being done to make them comfortable.
27. What Would You Do If Your Replacement Did Not Arrive As A Nurse?
- I would wait until she arrived or until someone else was called in.
- I would notify the supervisor and offer to stay until my replacement arrived.
- Try calling her to see if she were on the way or if she needed help making arrangements for someone to take her shift.
28. Are You A Self Motivator As A Nurse?
Absolutely, I can always find something productive that needs doing. I am very motivated to do a good job at what I take on and I like to stay busy. I am a self motivator and I take great pride in my job as a nurse.
29. Would You Describe Yourself As Organized As In Nursing Field?
Absolutely. I like to have a check list and make sure that each item gets the attention it needs. Sometimes a little too much so. I make sure that everything is neat and in order. I am a very organized and thorough person, which I think contributes to my success as a nurse. I use several online and desktop tools to stay organized. I like to carefully plan my daily, weekly and long term work project. That helps me stay organized.
30. What Do You Find Most Rewarding About Being A Nurse?
- The most rewarding thing for me as a nurse is seeing the joy when a family first holds their baby.
- Interacting with the patients and their families is what I find most rewarding.
- I find helping patients through recovery after surgery, which is often one of their greatest challenges, to be most rewarding.
31. Would You Become A Doctor If You Had The Opportunity As Nurse?
No, I enjoy the personal contact with my patients and the comradeship with my colleagues unique to nursing. I chose to become a nurse because I find the field fascinating. I plan on advancing my career as a nurse, not a doctor.
32. How Has Your Training Prepared You For The Challenges You Will Face As A Practical Nurse?
I had an internship position at a center after graduating last year, which gave me hands on experience with patients and I am anxious to pursue my career specializing in cancer treatment.
33. Do You Have Any Professional Affiliations As A Practical Nurse?
Absolutely, I feel it’s important to stay informed about the nursing profession. I’m a member of the hospitals and associations.
34. What Do You Find Difficult About Being A Nurse?
- Sometimes I find it difficult to leave work at work, as I tend to become very involved with my patients.
- I think the most difficult part of being a nurse is when I have a patient that is very unhappy or in a lot of pain and I can not comfort them to the degree I would like.
- I prefer to look at difficulties as challenges, and I enjoy conquering challenges.
35. What Do You Feel When You Contribute To Your Patients As Practical Nurse?
- I offer my patients the very best care and advocacy I can.
- I believe that I offer my patients comfort and confidence that they are being well cared for.
- I feel that my patients know that I am there to provide comfort and understanding, that I will listen to their concerns and that I will act as their advocate if necessary.
36. How Would You Handle A Patient Who Constantly Complains About Pain As Practical Nurse?
- I would confer with the attending doctor to make sure that the patient’s pain was being managed in the most effective way.
- I would reassure the patient that everything possible was being done to alleviate their discomfort.
- I would listen sympathetically to their complaint, reassure them that their concerns were being heard and that we were doing everything possible to help them.
37. How Would You Deal With A Doctor Who Was Rude?
- I would bring the to my supervisor. If the doctor was displeased with me in some way, I would want to find out so I could take action to rectify the situation.
- I would ask the doctor if there was something in my care of the patient that she felt needed discussion.
- If it were a one time occurrence, I would figure that she was just having a bad day. If it happened repeatedly, I would notify my supervisor.
38. How Do You Handle Stress On The Job As Licensed Practical Nurse?
- By focusing on the most important thing, the care of the patient. I feel I owe it to my patients to stay calm and focused on them.
- There are often stressful situations that arise. I just make sure that the stresses of the job don’t interfere with the care of the patient.
- I am generally an easy going person and I don’t allow on the job stress to interfere with my work.
39. What Do You Do To Keep Current With Medical Findings And Practices As Licensed Practical Nurse?
- I offer my patients the very best care and advocacy I can.
- I believe that I offer my patients comfort and confidence that they are being well cared for.
- I feel that my patients know that I am there to provide comfort and understanding that I will listen to their concerns and that I will act as their advocate if necessary.
40. How Would You Handle A Family Who Is Displeased With Your Patient’s Care As Practical Nurse?
- I offer my patients the very best care and advocacy I can.
- I believe that I offer my patients comfort and confidence that they are being well cared for.
- I feel that my patients know that I am there to provide comfort and understanding, that I will listen to their concerns and that I will act as their advocate if necessary.
41. WIll you be working, etc. while working in the program?
I will be continuing my work in the ER full-time as long as it coordinates well with my schooling.
42. How do you respond to stress? Do you feel like you live a high-stress life?
I’m pretty good at keeping my cool. I’ve learned how to manage stress by staying organized to the best of my ability. I’m the type of person that writes To-Do Lists every morning. It’s easier for me to write things down to prevent confusion, and I have a pretty keen memory. I can prioritize well and handle several different things at once. Time-management is very important. I would not say that I live a high-stress life, but a little stress does me some good; it makes me prepare more and work harder.
43. What is the most difficult thing you have ever done? Why?
Having to step out of my comfort zone is difficult for me. Working the night shift, we get several intoxicated individuals. I’ve dealt with inappropriate men and women before. Once, I had to help a man use the restroom who was to drunk to help himself. This was difficult for me, but I put my emotions aside and considered the patient and the fact that he was not in the right state of mind. I don’t mind asking for help. This same man needed to be restrained a bit in order to have a CT done, so I asked help from one of the male nurses.
44. What attracts you to nursing?
What do you find unappealing about nursing? I like the idea of helping people and how rewarding that can be. What I find unappealing would be how I’ve seen nurses drained of their compassion. I’m pretty resilient. You have to le some things go like when a patient calls you something foul, because they’re in pain and won’t be acting in an acceptable manner.
45. What do you think a nurse’s responsibility is in today’s society?
A nurse’s responsibilty is to aid in however way they can in easing the pain of a patient and prolonging their life guided by the orders of the doctor.
46. What qualities do you possess that will make a good nurse?
I’m disciplined, compassionate, eager to learn and help, and I don’t give up on people.
47. In regards to nursing, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I see myself working in the hospital setting still pursuing a higher education. Recently, I have been considering becoming a nurse practitioner, so I see myself attending school.
48. What is the most exciting part of becoming a critical care nurse?
The most exciting part of becoming a critical care nurse is knowing that you are the critical patients last line of defense. You are among the most educated and experienced nurses in the hospital and are looked upon as a resource person by other nurses. I have been a night shift nurse for the majority of my 18 years and on those nights it is just you and your critical patient. The patient and their family is relying on you, the Critical Care Nurse, to make sure that they are safe and receiving the best care possible. The doctors are at home sleeping and if its 2 am and you have a critical issue with a patient, it is up to you to make the call to the doctor and paint your picture of the situation at hand. It is the critical care nurse that can persuade the doctor for orders that they feel they need to keep their patient stable and safe. How you paint the picture of your patient to the doctor can mean life or death at times. Confidence in your assessment skills and your communication with the doctor is of the utmost importance to your patient. It is an exciting area of practice that demands continuing education so that you can anticipate and intervene for your patient to achieve successful outcomes.
49. How long does it take to be a critical care nurse?
Ken: Well.in reality all you have to do is take your hospitals Critical Care Course, Basic Arrhythmias Course, CPR and ACLS and you can work as a critical care nurse after a few months of 1 on 1 orientation with your Critical Care Nurse preceptor. On the other hand it may take years of experience and book knowledge to really be a good Critical Care Nurse. It involves continuous learning and yearly competencies to maintain the status of a practicing critical care nurse.
50. How would you compare critical care nursing from other nursing specialties?
I would say that all nurses in any field have an impact on their patients by the care and knowledge they bring to the table. However, there may be more of an impact by critical care nurses as they have the ability to change the course of their patients’ life because of the fragile state of health that they can be in. Life or death may hang in the balance and an intervention by a critical care nurse could and does save lives every day in this great country of ours. Saving that life changes the family tree and the future of their children and their children’s children. I don’t want to get too philosophical, but you can see how one life can affect generations into the future. Critical Care Nurses save lives and preserve family trees all the time.
51. What is the most exciting part of becoming a palliative care/hospice nurse?
It is very rewarding to me to help someone who is suffering to get their symptoms under control. For example, if I go to see a patient for the first time and find them in severe pain, or having severe nausea and vomiting, or some other terrible symptom, being able to help them relieve that symptom quickly and allowing them to get some rest is very rewarding to me. I can’t stop the dying process but I can help them to have as smooth a road as a possible to the end of their lives.
52. As palliative care/hospice nurse, how is your work schedule? What does your job entail from day to day?
I am currently in management, I’m scheduled to work 8 hour days, with no weekends or holidays, but of course I work as many hours as I need to in one day.
53. How long does it take to be a palliative care/hospice nurse?
Becoming a house on some palliative care nurse is a specialty. You become a registered nurse a first or a license practical nurse first and then you get your certification.
54. How would you compare palliative care/hospice nursing from other nursing specialties?
I worked on oncology for about a year after graduation, and I did Home Health for about a year there is nothing like hospice and palliative care nursing.
55. What interests you in this career?
This question is your chance to speak about how important human life is and about your desire to help individuals and nurse them back to health.
56. How did you share your knowledge with colleagues? Or assist your colleagues?
Nursing involves helping, sharing and efficient medical team work. These capabilities are nursing fundamentals; it is impossible to work alone. Therefore, tell interviewers about your positive past group experiences and try to convince the employer that you are a team player.
57. Where did you get your qualifications from?
Here is a chance to speak about your training, any courses you have taken, related books and articles you have read, as well as all the experience you have accumulated, including volunteer and part time positions.
58. What are your likes and dislikes about the job?
All jobs have advantages and disadvantages. As you respond, be careful – do not say anything that puts your previous jobs in a bad light, unless it was a well-known or extreme situation. Focus on the positive, mention a few good things about previous job(s). If you feel it is important, briefly outline any disadvantages. Close with more positive comments.
59. Emergency Situations?
The medical world is full of emergency situations, and anyone with any experience at all must have a few incidents to speak of. When answering this question, tell about some of the most challenging and difficult cases that you have faced. You can also talk about a specific problem and how you handled it. Make sure that you speak about the added value that the situation gave to your medical experience.
60. Describe A Difficult Work Situation And How You Overcame It In Nursing?
Give concrete examples of difficult situations that actually happened at work. Then discuss what you did to solve the problem.
Keep your answers positive (Even though it was difficult when Jane Doe quit without notice, we were able to rearrange the department workload to cover the position until a replacement was hired.) and be specific. Itemize what you did and how you did it.