Questions to Ask When Hiring a Nurse

Whether you are hiring a nurse for a hospital, clinic, or other medical organization, you will want to learn everything about the potential employee. Learning how a nurse handles stress requires the interviewee to give an introspective point of view. There are a number of questions an interviewer can ask in order to reveal important information about the suitability of the nursing candidate.

Questions an interviewer can ask when hiring a Nurse include:

Tell me about yourself: The candidate should talk for several minutes about details that are not included on the resume. Look for rational, logical, and clear thinking. Assess communication skills and body language.

What are your most significant accomplishments? Look for accomplishments that are relevant to the nursing job (tough work, lengthy hours, and handling a lot of pressure.) Look for how the candidate was personally involved in the accomplishment (a leader or a follower.)

Why do you believe that you are qualified for this position? Look for such traits as being progressive, can adapt to change, works well with others (team player), open to change, and has management skills, medical skills, and organization and planning skills.

How do you handle pressure? Look for situations where the candidate was in a high pressure situation. How did the candidate handle the incident, from the moment it happened up to its conclusion? Look for honesty and if the candidate came out of the situation with a positive outlook about handling future stressful incidents.

How do handle deadlines and difficult people? Look for examples of situations where the candidate had to resolve a frustrating situation with a person or group of people. How did the candidate resolve the problem? (Positive or negative outcome) What did the candidate learn from the experience? Look for a common sense approach to resolving the problem.

How would you handle the following situations? Provide a scenario or a couple of scenarios where a candidate has to resolve a medical or interpersonal problem. Look for how the candidate assesses the situation, implements the resolution plan, and concludes the problem. How well does the candidate think on his or her feet? Does the candidate understand the issues? How detailed is the candidate when describing how to resolve the problem?

How have you changed or matured over the past several years? Look for a response focusing on improved medical, technical, leadership, and interpersonal skills. How did the candidate overcome personal weaknesses? How did the candidate acquire new strengths? This will reveal confidence, self reflection, and a solid and trustworthy candidate.

Why do you want to work here? Look for a candidate’s knowledge of the medical facility, valuable assets that will contribute to the organization, what the candidate will bring to the medical organization, strengths, management traits, and interpersonal skills.

What do you consider your most significant weaknesses? Look for weaknesses that the candidate successfully overcame and how he or she overcame it.

What are your career goals? Assess if the candidate is being realistic and is motivated to achieve these goals. Look for an introspective answer.

A career in nursing is not only rewarding and lucrative, but challenging and stressful. Making sure you have hired the right Nurse candidate for the job requires asking questions that provide detailed and thoroughly thought-out answers.