5 Common Nursing Interview Questions and Sample Responses

5 Common Nursing
Interview Questions and
Sample Responses
Melissah Misquitta
Melissah Misquitta is a career coach whose mission is to help
her clients find fulfillment in their lives by connecting them with
a career they will love, and teaching them new skills to gain
confidence, sell themselves, and land the job of their dreams.
Melissah has a passion for empowering job seekers to recognize
and tap into their talent and strengths, and to teach them to
understand the true value they can provide.
Empowering Strengths
www.empoweringstrengths.com
[email protected]
Question #1
Can you tell me a time when you showed compassionate
care to a patient or family member?
Background:
• Interviewer is looking to understand in detail your level of compassion.
• Do you give the impression of someone who is kind and caring?
Key Points:
• Provide actions/feelings that demonstrate:
- You were genuinely concerned
- You truly cared
• If you have provided compassionate care to a patient and have a strong
example to share, then use this first; otherwise, share how you provided
compassionate care to a family member.
Guidelines:
 Describe in detail how the patient or family member was more
comfortable and satisfied overall because of your care?
 Share the patient’s problem/challenge.
 Provide enough detail that shows that you are indeed compassionate.
 Demonstrate how you strive to provide compassionate care to all
patients, but provide one example of your action.
 Describe the result as experienced by your patient.
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Sample response:
(each response will be unique and will be based on the candidate’s own patient experience)
“I always strive to provide compassionate care to all of my patients. A specific
example was when I was working in the Wound and Acute Burn Unit at North Bay
General Hospital. I had a twelve-year-old patient who had multiple burns across
her body and was in a great deal of pain. I helped my patient by very delicately
changing her bandages and speaking to her in a soothing voice to comfort her.
Throughout her stay, I also patiently educated her on how to care for her wounds.
In addition, I listened to and acknowledged her concerns and made her feel that I
truly cared about her. I also taught her family members how to provide care for
her upon her discharge from the hospital, as well as provided additional
community resources for them that would assist in the patient’s recovery. The
family was so grateful for the compassionate care I provided, and they told me
they had never met a more caring nurse.”
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Question #2
Can you tell me about a life-changing experience you have
had?
Key points:
• Interviewer is looking for your ability to share a personal aspect of your life
to better understand your character and values, and to learn more about
you on a personal level.
• You do not need to make your response nursing-related, but it certainly can
be. The most important thing you can do is to be truly authentic in your
response.
Guidelines:
 Discuss an experience that was very profound and life-changing for you.
Often times, this experience occurred before nursing school and
involved a family member (i.e. you took care of a sick family member for
many years or the journey to get to nursing school was actually the lifechanging experience).
 Share a response that is honest and heartfelt and provide enough detail
for your interviewers so they can fully understand how it was truly lifechanging for you.
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Sample response:
(each response will be unique and will be based on the candidate’s own personal experience)
“A life-changing experience for me was when I moved with my family to the
United States from the Philippines at the age of 12. At the time, I didn’t
know how to speak English, and I had to very quickly adapt to an entirely
new culture. It was very challenging at first, but I soon learned how to
speak English, and I started to understand the culture and make friends. I
had always had a strong background in math and science, and I really
enjoyed caring for others, so during high school, I started thinking about
pursuing nursing as a career. After doing research and asking more
questions about the nursing field, I ultimately decided to attend nursing
school, and started working toward completing my prerequisite courses.
Several years later, I was enrolled in nursing school and am proud to say
that I graduated with honors. I know that if I had not had the opportunity
to move to the U.S. that I would probably not be the nurse that I am today.
This was definitely one of the defining moments in my life.”
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Question #3
Can you tell me about a difficult patient situation you
have had?
Key points:
• Interviewer wants to know what experience you have had in dealing with
difficult personalities or difficult patient situations.
• What kind of contributions have you made in a difficult patient situation?
• How can you demonstrate that you have dealt with stressful or
uncomfortable situations in a calm manner?
• This question can be related to an actual patient’s condition or it can be a
patient situation that was difficult to handle.
Guidelines:
 Describe what made this patient difficult.
 Demonstrate that you have insight to understand what is really
happening behind the patient’s actions.
 You could then describe what you did to help the patient feel like
he/she had some control in his/her care, and describe how you
helped the patient by using your compassion and overall
understanding.
 Or you could describe a patient situation that was difficult for you to
handle. (i.e. the patient was very young and had been told that he
was going to be paralyzed for life. It was difficult for you to see the
struggles that he and his family were going through).
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Sample response:
(each response will be unique and will be based on the candidate’s own personal experience)
“ A difficult patient situation I experienced was when I was working in the
Med/Surge unit at St. Mary’s Hospital. I had an older male patient with diabetes
who was often non-compliant with his medication and who often complained
about his situation. When I first entered the patient’s room, I tried to make a
connection with him by introducing myself and really tried to understand what his
concerns were with taking his medication. As I began talking to him, I realized
that he didn’t have family or friends nearby, and he really just felt alone. His
refusal to take medication seemed to be a cry for help, and I realized that he
simply wanted attention. After this realization, I spent more time listening to him
and focused on making him feel that he was truly important and that someone
cared. At the same time, I spoke to him about how critical it was for him to take
his medication. After some time, he finally agreed. From that point on, he took
his medication regularly, and his attitude became much more positive overall.”
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Question #4
Can you tell me what some of your strengths are?
Key points:
• The interviewer wants to know what your strengths are, but most
importantly how your strengths will provide value to the job in which you
are applying.
• It is important to be completely honest and always provide details as to
what your strengths really are.
Guidelines:
 The first part of this question is to really understand what your
strengths are. Your strengths are ultimately the key to your success.
 After you have clearly identified your strengths, you can respond to
the question in an interview by providing three of your top strengths.
 After you mention each strength, provide an example of how you
have demonstrated that quality.
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Sample response:
(each response will be unique and will be based on the candidate’s own personal experience)
“Overall, I feel that I have many strengths, but there are probably three strengths
that are my greatest.
o My first strength is I have a very strong multi-cultural background.
During nursing school, I had the opportunity to participate in several
oversees humanitarian relief efforts to provide medical care to the
underserved population. This experience allowed me to work with
patients from different cultures and really understand how to work
more effectively with a diverse patient population in the clinical
setting. In addition, my bilingual skills in English and Spanish have
given me the opportunity to serve as a strong patient advocate for
non-English speaking patients, and ensure that their needs are being
met.
o I also feel that I have a very calm demeanor. This has allowed me to
connect to my patients very easily and build strong relationships with
them, which has ultimately contributed to more positive patient
outcomes.
o Finally, I feel that I am an excellent listener. As a nurse, it is very
important to be a very strong communicator, a part of which includes
being an active listener. My ability to listen to and acknowledge my
patients concerns has allowed me to help in providing the best care
possible and serve as a strong patient advocate.”
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Question #5
Can you tell me a time you approached someone with
whom you were in conflict?
Key points:
• Interviewer wants to know how you have dealt with or would deal with
conflict.
• Are you someone who is conflict-averse or are you the type of nurse who
would deal with the conflict directly, if necessary?
• It is best to use an example of a time you were in conflict with someone in
the clinical setting, not in your personal life.
Guidelines:
 The key to responding to this question is to provide a specific
example and the reasons as to why you were in conflict with
someone.
 You would then identify for the interviewer the steps you took to
deal with the conflict and describe how it was resolved.
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Sample response:
(each response will be unique and will be based on the candidate’s own personal experience)
“During my preceptorship in the Telemetry unit at Marin General Hospital, there
was some miscommunication between my colleague and me, which resulted in her
getting upset and walking away. Earlier that day, I had asked another nurse to
assist me with a patient, but my colleague thought it was her responsibility to help
me. I knew it was important for us to resolve this miscommunication so we could
provide the best possible patient care. Several hours later, in an effort to resolve
the situation, I very calmly approached my colleague and let her know I was sorry
she was upset. I then listened to and acknowledged her concerns. In turn, I
expressed my concerns, and she listened to me. Together, we were able to
identify where the miscommunication had occurred, and we successfully resolved
the issue.”
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this has been useful and if you have any other comments or ideas to share.
Also, please let me know if there are other items I can provide that would be
useful to you!
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Empowering Strengths.
I look forward to providing you with more career strategies and inspirational tips.
Remember, life's biggest opportunities should not be left to chance!
Here’s to your bright future!
Melissah
Empowering Strengths
www.empoweringstrengths.com
[email protected]
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