Four Common Nursing Interview Questions

How well do you work with nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals?

This question is meant to determine if you are a team player or not. Teamwork within the healthcare field is crucial to ensuring the health and safety of your community. You don’t necessarily have to get along with every difficult coworker. If you can’t work together during an emergency, however, then this can prove detrimental to the patient who needs your help the most.

Here’s a sample answer to use:

“As an intern for Example Hospital’s optometry department, I often coordinated appointments and team meetings for my mentor, the Head Optometrist Jane Smith. I learned a lot about patient care and the optometry field by shadowing her, and she trusted me with charting incoming patients’ vision changes.”

How would you deal with a difficult patient?

As a registered nurse, you may need to care for patients that are less than stellar. It might help to talk about any similar situations you have been in where you dealt with a problematic customer or patient. Sample answers might vary depending on your specific experiences. Showing that you are able to successfully deescalate a situation is always a valuable skill to have.

Here’s a good sample answer to this question:

“At my last job as a caregiver, my coworker was having difficulty getting the patient to sit still for a blood draw. I talked to the patient to help them relax, and my coworker was able to draw enough blood for a thorough CBC.”

What would you do in stressful situations (i.e., an outbreak or emergency involving high numbers of patients)?

Difficult situations are never fun, but they are all a part of the job. Adaptability is key. Though nurse practitioners often handle multiple tasks per day, this can increase during an emergency situation. Stressful situations can crop up at any time in the healthcare field. How you are able to handle them will say a lot about your time management skills and communication skills.

Take a look at this sample answer:
“I once interned for a small medical clinic next to a road that had frequent accidents. A sixteen-wheeler had crashed into a bus, so the EMTs brought some of the accident victims over to our clinic. I admitted several patients, checked on their vitals, and admitted them to the limited rooms within the clinic until they were moved to a larger hospital.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?
This question gives hiring managers more insight into your career goals and whether you see yourself in a leadership role once you gain enough experience.

Here’s a great sample answer:

“In five years, I see myself working as a full-time general practitioner within Example Hospital. My experience as a Medical Assistant at my previous job has given me a glimpse into what that would be like, and I feel like it would be a great way to help my community.”