Nursing Interview Questions

Question: Has your department’s budget been cut; and, if so, how have you met that directive?
Answer: Met corporate directives for budget cuts, eliminating overtime, and out-sourced contracts to achieve savings of $750,000+. Maintained a 100% record for budget compliance throughout tenure as Medical/Surgical Nurse Manager.

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Question: Was there a particular problem—for instance, from lax documentation—that you corrected?
Answer: Brought past-due evaluations of nursing staff into compliance for 90-day, 120-day, and annual performance reviews; maintained strong record for documentation of disciplinary action (with no legal repercussions).

Question: Did you conduct staff training?
Answer: Introduced staff-development program “Seldom-Used but Vital Equipment”; program improved competency on critical emergency department instrumentation and ensured rapid response in emergency situations.

Question: Did you restructure staffing or job descriptions?
Answer: Initiated use of no licensed assistive personnel to assume non-nursing functions, freeing licensed staff to focus on trauma care.

Question: Did you revise outdated policies?
Answer: Revised outdated department policies (last updated circa 1980) for compliance with federal and state mandates.

Question: Were there morale issues you were able to address?
Answer: Accepted challenge of supervising medical unit clerks with history of chronic absenteeism; increased their accountability, improved productivity, and negotiated changes in scheduling despite union opposition.

Question: Has your department undergone major changes; if so, how have you managed these changes?
Answer: Aided in conversion of Labor & Delivery Unit from traditional model to Labor Delivery Recovery setting; designed staffing and communications systems to accommodate change. Survey feed-back from new mothers indicates 96% would return to hospital for their next birth.

Question: Did your hospital work include special or more difficult assignments?
Answer: Performed all facets of circulating nurse responsibilities in an open-heart setting, including significant medical/pharmacological preparation and intervention.

Question: Did you work in a teaching hospital or regional trauma center?
Answer: Provided full-time staff nurse-anesthetist functions in 350-bed regional trauma center/teaching hospital.

Question: Did you serve as a Team Leader or informal resource?
Answers: Functioned as Team Leader on Acute Ortho-Neuro Floor serving Level III and IV post-trauma (MVA, GSW) neurovascular injuries.
Served as resource and clinical expert for nursing staff in Post-Anesthesia and Burn/Pediatric Trauma units.

Question: Is your scope of experience broader than others?
Answer: Extensive experience in post-anesthesia recovery, burn care, wound therapy, neurological care, hyperbaric oxygenation, and cardiac care.

Question: Did you work in a rural setting where you typically see a higher level of acuity?
Answer 1: Responded to rural health-clinic patients presenting with a high level of acuity, multisymptom disease, and complex emergent care needs.
Answer 2: Utilize functional literacy in Spanish to communicate with a primarily Spanish-speaking, migrant farm-worker patient population.

Question: Did your home health nursing include exposure to multisystem disease processes?
Answer: Provided high-tech nursing services for home health patients with multisystem disease processes.

Question: Did your home health nursing skills lower return-to-hospital rates?
Answer: Reduced return-to-hospital rates to record low through strengths in assessment, problem solving, and clinical intervention.

Question: Did you write nursing protocols?
Answer: Designed nursing protocols that assisted physicians in expediting patient care.

Question: How would others describe you?
Answer 1: Proactive patient advocate with in-depth knowledge of Patients’ Rights.
Answer 2: Characterized by supervisors, patients, and their family members as a competent clinician with the ability to bring a reassuring presence to crises.
Answer 3: “Ms. Benayan consistently handles diffi-cult situations in a calm and efficient manner—making extra efforts beyond the explicit requirements of her posi-tion to ensure a well-integrated treat-ment outcome.” Dr. John L. Manton, Director of Medical/Surgical Services, St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Nursing Related Jobs

These Nursing interview questions can be used in other related careers. Check these 40 jobs related to Director of Nurses, Department Management or Employee Supervision:

  • Hospice Nurse
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  • Pharmaceutical Nurse
  • Learning Disabilities Nurse
  • Insurance Firm Nurse
  • Diabetes Management Nurse
  • Nurse Midwife
  • Legal Consultancy Nurse
  • Nursing Informatics Specialist
  • Oncology Nurse
  • Toxicology Nurse
  • Health Coach
  • Dermatological Nurse
  • Occupational Health Nurse
  • Pediatric Nurse
  • Rehabilitation Center Nurse
  • Plastic Surgery Nurse
  • Burns Unit Nurse
  • Physician’s Office Nurse
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse
  • Nurse Case Manager
  • Research Nurse
  • Paramedic
  • Staff Nurse
  • Surgery Nurse
  • Critical Care Nurse
  • Prison Nurse
  • Nurse Lobbyist
  • Environmental Health Nurse
  • Rural Nurse
  • District Nurse
  • Health Visitor
  • NGO Nurse (NGO: Non-Government Organization)
  • Public Health Nurse
  • Outpatient Care Nurse
  • Plasma or Blood Bank Nurse
  • Home Health Nurse
  • Charity Nurse
  • Nursing Students Mentor
  • Health Facilities Survey Nurse