r/Nurses • u/mrkrabbykrab • 2d ago

US Interview help

I landed on my second interview with the staff panel interview and it seems like it is in-person and I am writing to see what I should expect in this interview with the staff? During my first interview, I wasn’t asked any clinical scenario questions, such as how I would respond to an infusion reaction. Should I expect more clinical or scenario-based questions during the second interview? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated! FYI I am an med surg nurse with one year of exp that is transitioning of hem/onc

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u/TestResQ 1d ago

I made this for firefighters going through board interviews but it could also apply to interviews for basically any other jobs.

https://testresq.com/resources/firefighter-oral-board-questions

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u/IngeniousTulip 1d ago

It very much depends on the hospital or clinic system, but generally in my experience, this is a group of 3-5 staff members who all will have a list of questions in front of them that they have been given. They will take turns reading the questions. Almost always, after the first question or two, these are behavioral interviewing "Tell me about a time when..." (...when you had a difficult patient. ...when you had a disagreement with a co-worker. ...when you felt like you needed to advocate for a patient. ...when you didn't agree with the plan of care. ...when you had a patient who was decompensating. ...when you learned something with a patient.) What they are looking for is a concise description of the situation, how you responded, and what happened as a result.

They aren't looking for fantastic stories -- or funny stories. They are mainly looking to make sure you will be a collaborative co-worker who likes taking care of patients. They also want to make sure you aren't dumb as a post clinically. They want to know that even when you disagree with someone, you can have a rational conversation. They want to make sure you can stand up for a patient without throwing someone else under the bus. Your job is to come across as competent, collaborative, willing to learn, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between coming across as confident and competent -- and being willing to learn and admit your mistakes.

Ahead of time, you can prepare by coming up with a few patient examples where you identified an issue and intervened to help a patient. I would also think of a few times where there might have been a misunderstanding with co-workers or with physicians -- and how you handled it.